Marathon (Greek, Modern: Μαραθώνα Marathona or Marathonas, Ancient/Katharavousa: Μαραθών) is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the Athenian army defeated the Persians. A legendary run of a messenger named Phidippides from Marathon to Athens, a distance of 26.2 miles, after the battle forms the basis for the modern_day marathon race. When the messenger arrived in Athens, he shouted "NENIKIKAMEN" (we did defeat) and died. Later for mourning Athens' soldiers, a mound was made. Today there is a park around this mound.
The sophist and official Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon.
It is one of the few municipality that borders only one municipality in Greece.
In the 1950s, the construction of a new dam which that part of the valley became Athens' water and hydro supply took years to complete. It flooded about 10 km² of land and devastated forests and it became Lake Marathon. It includes the passage of GR-83 with curvy roads in the west and a one-lane passace with a traffic light. Some of the classic Greek films were filmed, one for the dam and the other of the construction of the dam.
The beach is located southeast of the town centre.
Before the Olympics, north of Marathon had garbage over the side of the road and residents want it cleaned. It was cleaned right before the Olympics later.
The Battle of Marathon (490 BC) was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia's first major attempt to conquer the remainder of the Greeks and add them to the Persian Empire, thereby securing the weakest portion of his Western border.
To accomplish the second, Darius's army, now led by Artaphernes, son of a satrap of Sardis, and Datis, a Median admiral (Mardonius had been injured in the prior attack), was dispatched in early September 490 BC to land at the Bay of Marathon and threaten an overland attack towards Athens.
The remainder of the army crossed with Datis and landed in the Bay of Marathon.
The 18-mile Marathon County section was opened in 1996 for public hiking, biking and snowmobile use.
Along the Marathon County portion of the trail, there is a series of 12 interpretive signs picturing early history of the county and the former railroad right-of-way on which the trail is constructed.
The Mountain-Bay Trail in Marathon County begins at the trailhead in Weston, adjacent to the Weston Municipal Center.
Feeds |
Contact