What I can see

Lavrio is a town of 10,700 inhabitants, located about 60km from Athens. It belongs to the most important harbours of Athens, and was built in 1865 from scratch. It is famous for its town hall, squares, neoclassical buildings around the central square, and the districts of Nihtohori and Agia Paraskevi. Of particular importance are the “Efterpis” building (from the eponymous philharmonic orchestra) and the iron scale (1888) of the French Metallurgical Company of Lavrion at the harbour. The 45,000 sqm facilities of this French company are being transformed into the Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrion, following a study by the National Technical University of Athens, which specifically examined the flotation and machining facilities, chemistry labs, carpentry workshops, warehouses and clock.

What I can't see

The name of the town comes from the word “lavra” or “lavri” which means a tunnel, a narrow passage. The area is full of underground tunnels because there had been mining activity since ancient times (3,000 BC). After many centuries of inactivity, Lavrio became a very important city in the 19th century after becoming the first working-class settlement of the new Greek state that was established for the exploitation of ores. The French Metallurgical Company employed 1,200 workers, which was considered a large number for that period of time. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lavrio was transformed from a labour compound to a city of 10,000 inhabitants. During the First World War, a great industrial crisis broke out, and by the mid-1920s the population had dropped by 50%. Starting in 1922, refugees were settled in the area, and the population increased again. After 1980, however, it declined once again by 20% due to deindustrialization, which also led to a significant increase of unemployment.

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