Greece: Travel Guide: Attica

Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attiki; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.

Attica is located in what is today Southern Greece, and covers about 3,800 square kilometers. In addition to Athens, it contains within its area the cities of Peiraeus, Eleusis, Megara, Laurium, and Marathon, as well as a small part of the Peloponnese peninsula and the islands of Salamis, Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, Kythira, and Antikythera. About 3,750,000 people live in the periphery, of which more than 95% are inhabitants of the Athens metropolitan area. Athens was originally the capital of Central Greece.

Attica is a peninsula jutting into the Aegean Sea. Mountains divide the peninsula into the plains of Pedia, Mesogeia, and Thriasia. The mountains include Hymettus, the eastern portion of Geraneia, Parnitha, Aigaleo and the Penteli mountains. To the north it is bordered by the Boeotian plain and to the west it is bordered by Corinth.

The Saronic Gulf lies to the south and the island of Evia lies off the north coast. Athens' first and only large reservoir, Lake Marathon, is about 42 km northeast and is called the Marathon Dam, which first opened in the 1920s. Since that time, it has been Attica's largest lake. Forests cover the area around Parnitha, around Hymettus and into the northeast and the north in the hills and the mountains, except for the mountaintops, but the mountains to the west and the south are grassy, barren or forested.

The climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot dry summers and generally low rainfall totals. Annual precipitation varies from 370 mm to over 1000 mm. Winters are cool and generally mild in the low-lying areas adjacent to the sea, but are harsher in the mountains. It is often the case that snowfalls cause disruptions in parts of Attica, with the latest cases being in January 2002, February 2004 and January 2006. However, these disruptions are hardly ever widespread for the whole of the region of Athens. The absolute minimum temperature of the region is -10.4C and was recorded at Votanikos, Athens, while the highest temperature was recorded in Elefsina and was +48.0C. Forest fires and flash floods are common.