Ο Σχοινιάς ή Σχινιάς είναι παραθαλάσσια περιοχή της βορειοανατολικής Αττικής και μικρός οικισμός. Βρίσκεται στο βορειοανατολικό άκρο του κάμπου του Μαραθώνα, στην παράκτια ζώνη, και διαθέτει μία από τις μεγαλύτερες παραλίες της Αττικής. Στην περιοχή του Σχοινιά διαμορφώνονται έλη τα οποία αποτελούν σημαντικό υδροβιότοπο. Στον Σχοινιά επίσης υπάρχει και ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα δάση κουκουναριάς στην Ελλάδα (ο Σχοινιάς μαζί με το δάσος της Στροφυλιάς στην Αχαΐα και το δάσος Κουκουναριάς στη Σκιάθο είναι τα σημαντικότερα δάση κουκουναριάς στην Ελλάδα). Λόγω της μεγάλης οικολογικής της αξίας, η περιοχή σήμερα χαρακτηρίζεται εθνικό πάρκο και ανήκει στο δίκτυο Natura 2000. Η παραλία του Σχινιά είναι δημοφιλής για καλοκαιρινά μπάνια.

Στην περιοχή του Σχοινιά δημιουργήθηκε το κωπηλατοδρόμιο για τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες της Αθήνας το 2004, χωρητικότητας 14.000 θέσεων.

Στο δυτικότερο άκρο της παραλίας του Σχοινιά τοποθετείται το μέρος όπου διεξήχθη η μάχη του Μαραθώνα, ενώ κοντά σε αυτή την περιοχή (περίπου 4 χλμ.) βρίσκεται και ο Τύμβος του Μαραθώνα.

Η παραλία

Η παραλία του Σχοινιά είναι δημοφιλής για καλοκαιρινά μπάνια, ενώ κατά καιρούς έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί και για γυρίσματα ταινιών (π.χ. το 1971 στην ταινία Κατάχρησις εξουσίας με τον Νίκο Κούρκουλο, όπου στον Σχοινιά διαδραματίζεται το φινάλε της ταινίας και το 2008 στην ταινία Ι4 - Λούφα και απαλλαγή, όπου το στρατόπεδο στο ακριτικό νησί της πλοκής, βρίσκεται στο δάσος του Σχοινιά)

Ο πρωθυπουργός Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου λάτρευε την παραλία του Σχοινιά και πολλές φορές ξεκινούσε την ημέρα του με ένα κολύμπι εκεί, πολύ νωρίς το πρωί πριν πάει στο γραφείο του.

Πηγή: wikipedia

St. Raphael was a monk martyred by Turkish soldiers with his companions St. Nicholas and St. Irene on 9 April 1463.The Monastery of St. Raphael is located on a hill with an amazing view. It has as protectors and patrons the wonder-working martyrs St. Raphael and St. Nikolas and the 12 year old martyr St. Irene, who are guides and shining models of faith, life and self-sacrifice.

They are specially revered, honored, invoked and ministered to by the Monastery. There are numerous accounts of miracles worked by St. Raphael and his companions for people who show devotion, including supernatural healing of the sick
and injured people.

Photo: agiosrafael.gr

Marathon Lake is unique worldwide because of its external cladding of white marble, the same marble used for the construction of Parthenon and all other buildings at the Acropolis site. The lake is a water supply reservoir constructed to meet the increase in the Athens area. The Water Museum has been created near the dam of the Marathon Lake. The area contains exhibits from the period of construction of the dam, which was built in 1927.

Photo: gtp.gr

The European Bread Museum of Varnavas is the largest of its kind in Europe. It exhibits more than 3.000 decorated loaves of bread, in unique shapes and embedded designs from Greece and 40 countries from all over the world.

Small villages all over Attica are strongholds of traditional baking, and the quest for the right loaf is the ideal excuse for a short trip. Varnavas, a village of 1,300 inhabitants, is one of the most sought-after destinations for baked goods aficionados, which makes it a particularly suitable place to host a Bread Museum.

The Museum, which is part of the Interactive Folk Museum of Varnavas, is housed in a refurbished traditional mansion; exhibits include 520 types of decorated bread from 23 countries, which visitors can follow as a visual map of the widespread practice of bread decoration. Methods and techniques vary significantly according to the region and the occasion, while some decoration types and themes can even be unique to specific families. In the free workshops organised by the museum, local decorating traditions are kept alive and passed on to the next generations.

Source: MyrtoHotel and yougoculture.com

Ramnous was an ancient Greek city in Attica situated on the coast, overlooking the Evia Strait. Its impressive ruins lie northwest of the modern town of Agia Marina in the municipality of Marathon. The site was best known in antiquity for its sanctuary of Nemesis, the implacable avenging goddess, the most important in ancient Greece.

An ancient deme in northeast Attica, on the Euboian gulf. Excavations have brought to light the sanctuary of Nemesis - the most important sanctuary of that divinity in ancient Greece - the fortress, public buildings, remains of houses and many grave enclosures. Human activity in the area is evident as early as Neolithic times. Archaeological evidence shows that there was a sanctuary here from the beginning of the 6th century B.C. The archaic temple was destroyed by the Persians in the attack of 480-479 B.C., as were many other buildings in Attica. This was followed by a period of prosperity during the 5th century B.C., when the temple received its definite architectural form. Herodes Atticus took an interest in the sanctuary and he may well have repaired the big temple. This is followed by a period of decline ending in the dominance of the Christian religion.
 

The first excavations in the area were carried out by the Dilettanti in 1813 and by D. Philios in 1880. This was followed by the excavations of V. Stais during the years 1890-1892 which exposed the temple, the fortress and many grave enclosures. A short exploration of the area was made by E. Mastrocostas in 1958. From 1975 to now, systematic excavation and research has been carried out by the Archaeological Society under the direction of V. Petrakos.

Source: Myrto Hotel and gtp.gr

Photo: irafina.gr

The ancient temple of Artemis is of Doric style and flourished in the 5th-4th century B.C. According to a myth, this is the temple where Iphigeneia was brought by her brother Orestes when they met in the land of Tauris, where she served as a priestess in a local temple of Artemis. Iphigeneia had been transferred to Tauris by goddess Artemis herself when she saved her from the sacrifice in Aulis. Returning to Greece, Iphigeneia brought with her a wooden statue of Artemis from Tauris.

In the Temple of Brauronian Artemis, the goddess was worshiped as the protector of nature and women. She was mostly worshiped as the protector of child delivery. In fact, women who had a good delivery offered their clothes and personal items to goddess Artemis, while the clothes of women who died during delivery were offered to the grave of Iphigeneia, who was considered a chthonic deity (deity of the Underworld). The grave of Iphigeneia can be seen even today in a cave in the archaeological site.

Every four years, an important festival was also taking place to honor the goddess. A parade with girls aged 5-10 dedicated to the goddess would start from the center of Athens and would terminate in the temple. The girls were wearing furs of bear, the sacred animal of the goddess. This was like a preparation process that symbolized the passage from childhood to youth and marriage. In fact, most items found in this archaeological site were female personal items, clothes, and jewelry.

In the ancient site of Brauronian Artemis, visitors can see today the remains of the temple, the sanctuary of Iphigeneia, the gymnasium and other buildings. Many findings have been transferred to the interesting Archaeological Museum of Vravrona and other in the new Acropolis Museum. The surrounding nature is lovely and you will see a stream crossing the site. This small river has been crossing the site since the ancient times and has caused many problems to the buildings. Actually, it was due to an overflow of this river that the temple was abandoned in the 3rd century B.C.

Source: greeka.com

Photo:atlasobscura.com

Cape Sounion is found about 70 km to the south-east of Athens, on the southernmost tip of Attica peninsula. According to the myth, this is the site where Aegeus, king of Athens, fell into the sea because of a misunderstanding. Theseus, the son of Aegeus, had traveled to Crete to kill Minotaur, the legendary monster who lived in the palace of Knossos, and to release Athens from the obligation to send seven boys and seven girls every year to the king of Crete, only to be eaten by Minotaur.

Theseus thus had said to his father that if he killed Minotaur, he would hoist a white sail on the return home. Theseus indeed killed Minotaur and was returning to Athens safe and well but unfortunately, he forgot to hoist white sail and had a black sail on his mast. Aegeus saw the black sail from Cape Sounion and believed that his son was dead. His despair made him fall into the sea and, later on, the Athenians gave the sea his name, the Aegean Sea.

Some of the archaeological items found in this site date from as early as the 8th century BC, while Herodotus affirms in his documents that in the 6th century BC, the Athenians used to celebrate a quadrennial festival at Cape Sounion. In Homer's Odyssey, Menelaus while returning from Troy, stopped at this temple where he buried Phrontes, his helmsman.

In fact, this place was emotionally important for the Athenians, as this was the last point of their land that the ancient Athenian sea farers and warriors could see when they sailed away into the Aegean and around the Mediterranean Sea and also this was the first spot of Attica to see when they returned from the journey or war. That is why the Athenians decided to built a temple there, dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea, to give them nice sea trips so that they would come back home.

The first version of the temple was built in the archaic period but it was destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C, in the second Greco-Persian War. Pericles, the famous Athenian leader, rebuilt the temple of Poseidon probably around 440 B.C. but only some columns of it stand till today. A 5m tall statue of Poseidon used to stand inside the temple, but today only a part of it survives and it is displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Athens. The frieze of the temple was made of marble from Paros island and it depicted the legends of Theseus. On one column, you can see the word "Byron" on it, engraved by the famous poet Lord Byron during a visit in 1810.

Many daily excursions are organized to Cape Sounion from the centre of Athens. It is considered among the sites you should definitely visit if you come to Athens. Apart from the archaeological remains, Cape Sounion is also famous for its beautiful sunset and the great views to the Aegean Sea. This site can be accessed through a scenic highway that crosses many residential resorts, like Glyfada, Vouliagmeni and Varkiza. There are also regular tours to Sounio departing from Omonia Square. The trip lasts for about one and a half to two hours.

Source: greeka.com

Photo: greeka.com

The Olympic Rowing and Canoeing center was built to host the rowing and canoe events of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. It is one of only three FISA-approved training centers in the world. Rowing and Kayaking Marathon Academy offers a great variety of programs under the supervision of specialized trainers.

Photo: wikipedia

In 1424 the Monastery of St. Ephraim was destroyed by marauding Ottoman troops. Monk Ephraim survived and for another year stayed as a hermit among the ruins of the Monastery. Later he was captured in another Turkish raid. He was held captive and tormented for more than 8 months, until he was finally tortured to death on 5 May 1426. A mulberry tree, believed to be that on which the saint was hanged, stands inside the re-erected monastery until today as an object of veneration. St. Ephraim is known to heal the sick and thousands of people visit the monastery every year to pray for cure.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Just a few meters off the sea, at the southern end of Marathon beach, is a rare and exciting archeological site: the ruins of a large Egyptian temple from the Roman Period. Moreover, two large Egyptian statues stand at the left side of the entrance. One of the statues shows Isis keeping in each hand three small roses.

Photo: tripadvisor.co.nz