Lavrio, Lavrion or Laurium (; (later ); from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια Ergastiria) is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greece. It is part of Athens metropolitan area and the seat of the municipality of Lavreotiki. Laurium was known in Classical antiquity for its silver mines, one of the chief sources of revenue of the Athenian state. The silver was mainly used for coinage. The Archaeological Museum of Lavrion shows much of the story of these mines.

It is about 60 km southeast of Athens city center, on a bay overlooking the island of Makronisos (ancient Helena) to the east. The EO89 road runs through Lavrio.

History

thumb|left|upright=1.2|Map of the mines of Laurion

thumb|Ruins of the ancient theatre at Thorikos

thumb|Archaeological Museum of Laurion

The modern town of Lavrio is at the site of the ancient village of Thoricus; its name is taken from that of the entire region of the Mines of Laurium.

The earliest evidence for mining dates to the beginning of the Bronze Age, ca. 3200 BC.

Systematic exploitation of mineral resources seem to have begun in the 6th century BC under Peisistratus.

After the battle of Marathon, Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to devote the anticipated revenue derived from a major silver vein strike in the mines of Laurion circa 483 BC to expanding the Athenian fleet to 200 triremes, and thus laid the foundation of the Athenian naval power. The mines, which were the property of the state, were usually farmed out for a certain fixed sum and a percentage on the working; slave labour was exclusively employed.

Towards the end of the 5th century, the output fell, partly owing to the Spartan occupation of Decelea. But the mines continued to be worked, though Strabo records that in his time the tailings were being worked over, and Pausanias speaks of the mines as a thing of the past. The ancient workings, consisting of shafts and galleries for excavating the ore, and washing tables for concentrating the ore, are still visible in places.

The mines were reworked in the late 19th century by French and Greek companies, but mainly for lead, manganese and cadmium. In 1896 a strike from the miners was violently confronted by the mining company's guards resulting in the death of two workers. The miners responded by destroying the company's offices and killing the guards. The government then sent police forces to support the company's interests against the strikers. Further clashes between workers and the police occurred to which the government replied by sending the military against the striking workers resulting in more workers' deaths. The strike ended violently with most of the strikers' demands not being fulfilled and with a military force being permanently established to patrol the miners.

The Mineralogical Museum of Lavrion comprises samples of minerals from the region of Lavrion.

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Λαύριο 1946.JPG|Panorama

In the port of Lavrio, Greece - panoramio.jpg|Modern Lavrio

Ρολόι Λαυρίου 6987.jpg|Clocktower

Lavrion ruins.jpg|Technological park

Statue of Giovanni Batista Serpieri Lavrion far view.jpg|Statue of 19th-century Italian industrialist Giovanni Battista Serpieri, active here in the mines (sculp. Georgios Vroutos)

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Climate

Lavrio, owing to its location in the southern tip of the Athens Riviera, has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh), closely bordering a hot-summer mediterranean (Csa) climate. It has mild winters and hot summers, with particularly warm summer nights. The summer highs are 2&nbsp;°C lower than in Piraeus and 4&nbsp;°C lower than in downtown Athens. The driest months are July and August while the rainiest period is during December and January. Lavrio falls in hardiness zone 10b.

Sports

Laurium hosts the football club Olympiacos Laurium, which played in the Gamma Ethniki in the past, and the basketball club Lavrio B.C., which plays in the Basket League.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="4"|Sport clubs based in Laurium

|-

!width="150"|Club

!Founded

!Sports

!Achievements

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|Olympiacos Laurium||1926||Football ||Previous presence in Gamma Ethniki

|-

|Lavrio B.C.||1990||Basketball ||Current presence in Basket League

|}

Twin towns

  • Aleksinac, Serbia
  • Mangalia, Romania

See also

  • List of municipalities of Attica

References

Sources

  • Édouard Ardaillon, "Les Mines du Laurion dans l'antiquité", No. Ixxvii. of the Bibliothéque des Ecoles francaises d'Athênes et de Rome.
  • A video podcast made by the MoneyMuseum on the importance of Laurion's silver mines for Greek coinage.
  • A Virtual tour of the town of Lavrio