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 KifissiaGreece
Basic data
Ownership: Municipality of KifissiaManaging organisation: Dimotiki Enotita Kifissias
Size: 22.000 m2
Number of graves: approximately 1.000 family monuments and 1.000 graves of temporary use