Marousi


Marousi or Maroussi, also known as Amarousio, is a city in the northeastern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was Athmonon and it represented one of the 10 Athenian sub-cities. The area held a main ancient temple, where Amarysia Artemis, the goddess of hunting, was adored. Consequently the city's modern name derives from that of the goddess, Amarysia, which denotes the origin of the worship back in Amarynthos, Euboea. Its mayor is Theodoros Ampatzoglou, re-elected in 2023.

Geography

Marousi is situated northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 12.938 km2. The built-up area of Marousi is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Pefki, Kifisia, Vrilissia, and Halandri. Within Marousi lies the biggest forest in urban Athens, "Dasos Syngrou". The Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the largest sports complex in Greece, built for the 2004 Summer Olympics, is located in the southwestern part of the municipality.
The main thoroughfare is the Kifisias Avenue, which connects Marousi with central Athens and the A6 toll motorway. Marousi has 3 stations on Athens Metro Line 1, Nerantziotissa,, and stations and two suburban commuter railway stations: Neratziotissa station and Kifisias railway station.

Economy

Marousi's favourable infrastructure has led to strong economic growth. The main offices of the Greek subsidiaries of several multinational corporations, including Google, Kodak, Bayer, Kimberly-Clark, Siemens, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Microsoft, Nestlé, PwC, and the ANT1 television studios are located in Marousi. The managing office of Consolidated Contractors Company, a large Middle Eastern and International EPC Contractor, is located in Marousi. The Mall Athens, one of the largest shopping centres in southeastern Europe, is situated in the southwestern part of Marousi. The Golden Hall Mall is also located in Marousi, near the Olympic Stadium of Athens.

Education

The new building of Greek Ministry of Education is located in Marousi, in the district Neratziotissa. In the same district is located the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, a Greek university. The German School of Athens is also located in Marousi.

Sports

Maroussi is the place of the Greek Olympic Sport Center. It is located in the southwest of the suburb, in an area that is named Kalogreza. Maroussi has also some sport gymnasium such as Dais Indoor Hall and Maroussi Indoor Hall that are used by local teams. Local teams are Maroussi B.C. with long-time presence in A1 Ethniki Basketball and A.C. Doukas with many titles in Handball and Futsal. The Olympic Stadium was used as home stadium by famous clubs of Greek football, including by AEK Athens as well as both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.

Historical population

The village was historically Arvanitika speaking, however due to its proximity to Athens, it has undergone a language shift.

Twin cities

Marousi is twinned with the following cities: