They form the highest hill range within the city complex of Athens, at an altitude of 337 meters, dividing the basin into eastern and western. However, few know that at the top of the Turks there is a settlement, which is essentially the only village within Athens. CORVERSE The reason for the settlement “George Papandreou”. As is known, Turkovunia is the natural boundary between the municipalities of Galatsi (west, northwest), Filothei (north) and Psychic (northeast), while the southern part of them, which is also located in the specific settlement, belongs to the Municipality of Athens. The settlement “George Papandreou” consists of 145 residences and has a permanent population of over 800 people. It has an area of about 100 acres (including roads, squares, aqueduct, etc.). From the settlement, one can enjoy the view of the Acropolis and Lycavittos, as well as the other districts of Athens. CORVERSE Property owners began building buildings from 1944. The bulk of the buildings, however, took place in the 1960s either by the current inhabitants or by their franchisors. At times, of course, the Greek State has questioned the ownership of this area and that is why many and contradictory decisions of civil courts have been adopted. Since then, the ownership of the dwellings there remains unclear until our day. The settlement has also been described as a “village within Athens”, as most houses are single-storey brick-built, while in the picturesque district one encounters whitewashed mantres, pastures and bostania. At the same time, roads are not paved, while no transport network has been developed in the area. The area was named this, because, during George Papandreou’s Prime Minister (1964) an area of 300 acres on the Polygon side was granted to needy families. Thus, about a hundred houses began to be built and this part of the hill was called “Episma G. Papandreou”. In addition, the “Old Man of Democracy” had promised them that arbitrary dwellings would be legalized. However, a year later the Papandreou government “has fallen”. After two years came the dictatorship of the colonels and George Papandreou announced the expropriation of the area in order to build the Church of the Saviour to fulfill the Order of the Nation, the promise of the Greek rebels of 1821 to build a church in gratitude for the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman yoke. In fact, a special fund was established by law to collect the resources necessary to implement the project. However, although an enormous amount was raised, the work never began and so, plans to erect the magnificent temple remained on paper. In the area, however, there is the Holy Monastery of Prophet Elias and the church of Agia Kyriaki. Three years after the fall of the junta, some residents managed to acquire property titles and in 1993 the area was watered and electrified, following a decision of the former PEHODE, while the Municipality of Athens incorporated the area into the 7th Municipal Apartment, giving names to its streets.
Papandreou Settlement: The unknown village of Athens
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in Greece