Palaio Faliro or Paleo Faliro (Greek, Modern: Παλαιό Φάληρο, Ancient/Katharevousa: -on meaning Old Faliro), older forms Palaio Faliron or Paleo Faliron is a suburb in the southern part of Athens, Greece. The area is famous for its beaches and is Athens' nearest beach and Piraeus' only beach. The city is linked by the famous Poseidonos Avenue (GR-89 to the west and the southwest along with a main unused road to the east central. The speed limit on the avenue is 70 km/h. Poseidonos Avenue has an interchange with Syngrou Avenue which link to Athens and, outside the suburban city, Kifissou Avenue. It is located SW of Athens (number 65) and is also known as the Hymettus Ring which opened in 2004 with the Katechaki interchange. It is also located SE of Athens W of Vouliagmenis Avenue, NE of Vouliagmeni, NW of Cape Sounio, SE of Piraeus and SE of Kifissou (GR-1/E75 and westbound GR-8/E94 ). The average speed limit on this main route ranges from 40 km/h to 50 km/h. Other main streets include the two one-way streets of Naiados and Afroditis and Megas Alexandros (southbound) and Proteos (northbound) and, to the east, Amfitheas Avenue. The streets in the northwestern part are grid-patterned to the ENE. Nea Faliro ("New Faliro" in English), is a part of Faliro (ancient form: Phaleron or Phalerum) and lies to the northwest and is a quarter of Piraeus. Streets named after various mythological figures can be found in the western part of Palaio Faliro.

The area used to be made up mainly of farmlands. Mixed farming was common. Much of the agricultural production at the time was from various pastures and groves in the area. Urban development replaced much of the farmlands in the 1920s and the 1930s. Today, most of the municipality is urbanized or residential. The area is hilly to the north, and also has a few hilltops which run east to Mt. Hymettus. Much of the industrial buildings and businesses, along with shopping outlets, are aligned within Poseidonos Avenue and other main streets. Palaio Faliro 2004 is linked by a tramway which is not connected with any road and is the northernmost terminus. The streambed includes the Pikrodafni .

Palaio Faliro has beaches within the Saronic mainly in the western area. The yacht with several piers lies to the northwest and the entrance to the yacht has forests where the two USS ships USS San Marcos (LSD-25) and USS Chester (CA-27) were visited. North of the yacht is a small bay named the Faliro Bay. The beaches are aligned with the coastline.

A 1.8 m tall marble torso of a young man was spotted on a Thursday night of January 25, 2005 in the Pikrodafni streambed in the intersections of Pikrodafnis and Dimokratias Streets. The statue dates back to the 1st century A.D., and was a copy of a 4th century BC classical original that may depict Apollo Lykeios . Construction workers working on the site discovered the statue, but dumped it into the streambed, fearing that archaeologists might call for a stop to any construction work being done if something of archaeological or historical significance was discovered.

Other

Palaio Faliro has schools, lyceums, gymnasia, banks, a post office and squares (plateies).

Palaio Faliro also has a A1 water polo team named AC Palaio Faliro .

Sites of interest

• Cultural Centre of Palaio Faliro

Neighborhoods

• Amfithea, NE
• Batis, south
• Edem, south
• Fleisvos, northwest

Historical population

External links

• http://www.falirorama.com/
• Map of Palaio Faliro
• http://users.otenet.gr/~nopf/ - Yacht
• Ancient Roman work in Faliron Stream - Ekathimerini
• Roman work in Faliron stream - Archeonet
• Roman work founded from a Faliro stream
• Palaio Faliro Piraeus (A2 backetball team)