Port of the Mediterranean
Being one of the largest Mediterranean ports, Piraeus is also one of the largest cities in Greece. It was the port of Athens for many hundreds of years. The Great Wall between Piraeus and Athens began to be built in 480 BC by Themistokles. Unfortunately the wall was destroyed in 86 BC by Sulla, and back in the Middle Ages the Piraeus was just a fisherman village. When Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, the Piraeus was revived again, with new buildings that were Neo-Classicist, and new and modern factories. In 1923, 100,000 refugees arrived here from Asia Minor, bringing with them their culture and traditions, and contributing to the cosmopolitan atmosphere.