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Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, Marathónas; Attic/ Katharevousa: Μαραθών, Marathṓn) is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound (Greek Τύμβος, tymbos, tomb) of the 192 Athenian dead, also called the "Soros," which was erected near the battlefield, remains a feature of the coastal plain.[2] The Tymbos is now marked by a marble memorial stele and surrounded by a small park.
The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the herb fennel, called marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek,[3][n 1] so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennels".[5] It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.
After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.
The name of the athletic long-distance endurance race, the "marathon",[n 2] comes from the legend of a Greek runner who was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the Dilessi murders, which happened nearby in 1870.
In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century the village was inhabited by an Arvanite (Albanian) population. Thomas Chase, an English traveler, describes his meeting with "an old Albanian" in Marathon and also says that he "accosted some Albanian children playing near a well, but they did not understand modern Greek".[n 3] Another English traveller Robert Hichens writes in 1913: ‘Some clustering low houses far off under the hills form the Albanian village of Marathon'.[7]
The sophist and magnate Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km² of forested land were flooded to form Lake Marathon.
The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town and it is a popular windsurfing spot and the Olympic Rowing Center for the 2004 Summer Olympics is also located there. At the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Marathon was the starting point of the marathon races (for both women and men in 2004).[8][9] The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli especially in 2006.
The municipality Marathon was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:[10]
The other settlements in the municipal unit are Agios Panteleimonas (pop. 1,591), Kato Souli (2,142), Vranas (1,082), Avra (191), Vothon (177), Ano Souli (232), and Schinias (264).
Greece, Greek language, Basketball, Berlin, London
Herodotus, Plutarch, Greco-Persian Wars, Ancient Egypt, Suda
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Marathon, Greece, Kallithea, Tennis, 1896 Summer Olympics, Fencing
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