makes it one of the greenest cemeteries in the entire Attica region.
Kifissia
The Municipality of Kifissia, situated in the northern part of
Athens, 20km from downtown Athens, is one of the city’s oldest
suburbs. It has a rich history that dates to antiquity and its
neighbourhoods are adorned with 19th century villas.
Kifissia has been home to many prominent Greek personalities – from
the realms of politics, industry and culture. The long list of names
includes Theodoros Diligiannis, five-times elected Prime Minister of
Greece, businessmen and benefactors Emmanuel and Antonis Benakis and
Andreas Sygros, the banker and politician Ioannis Pesmazoglou, poets, such
as Georgios Drossinis and Aggelos Sikelianos and writers, such as Penelope
Delta and Giannis Maglis.
The Municipal Cemetery
The Municipal Cemetery of Kifissia – Saint Tryphon was
founded in 1890. The property was donated by the Petraki Monastery.
The cemetery, which has doubled in size following the expansion of the
Municipality’s population, currently covers an area of
22.000 square metres.
The Municipal Cemetery of Kifissia features numerous
monuments belonging to leading personalities who left their mark
over the past 150 years.
The cemetery is adorned with funerary
monuments of various types and styles, as the craftsmen and later
the architects who designed them were influenced by different aesthetic
trends. Dominant material for the vast majority of these monuments is the
white Pentelic marble, a material known from antiquity.
Historical personalities at the cemetery
Among the historical personalities buried in the Municipal Cemetery of
Kifissia are:
-
Georgios Drosinis – one of the best known Greek poets. His
house is actually owned by the Municipality of Kifissia and hosts the
Municipal Library. - Tzannis Tzannetakis – former Prime Minister.
-
Ioannis Zirinis – businessman and benefactor. The Municipal
Stadium ‘I. Zirinis’ was established on an area donated by him. -
Ifestion Papadopoulos – benefactor. The proprietor of the
land where the Town Hall is located. -
Spiros Skoutsos – fighter of the 1821 Greek War of
Independence. -
Konstantinos Dimopoulos – professor and rector of the
University of Athens. -
Dimitrios Deligiannis – professor of the University of
Athens along with many other University teachers. -
Polychronis Enepekidis – professor of the University of
Vienna. -
Ioannis Sarigiannis – professor of the Agricultural
University of Athens and benefactor. -
George Zongolopoulos – an important sculptor, painter and
architect. - Kostas Mourselas – writer.
-
Galateia Grigoriadou-Soureli – auther of many books for
children and adolescents. - Giorgos Koros – musician.
-
Vasilis Korachais – journalist and President of the Union of
Journalists of Athens (ESHEA). - Kyriakos Mamidakis – businessman.
-
Minos Kyriakou – businessman and owner of ANT1 private TV
channel.
One of the grenest cemeteries
The Cemetery is distinguished by its particular flora, which
makes it one of the greenest cemeteries in the capital. A wide variety of
centenarian and younger trees, in some cases planted by family tomb
owners for symbolic reasons, adorn its alleys.
There are many different kinds of pine trees and cypresses, such as
Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinea, Cypressus sempervivens, Aesculus
hippocastanum, Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus atlantica,.
Lining the façade of the Cemetery there is a line of Tamarix hampeana, a
tree characteristic of seaside areas, rather unusual in cemeteries.
The tree, which is the trademark of Kifissia’s Cemetery and defines its
central alley, though is Cypresus arizonica, thanks to the
characteristic spherical shape that has been given by the gardeners of the
Municipality for many decades.
Address
Municipal Cemetery of Kifissia
Kifisia 145 62
Greece
Basic data
Ownership: Municipality of Kifissia
Managing organisation:
Dimotiki Enotita Kifissias
Size: 22.000 m2
Number of graves:
approximately 1.000 family monuments and 1.000 graves of temporary use