View source for Megara

{{Short description|Historic town in Greece}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
| name             = Megara
| name_local       = Μέγαρα
| type             = municipality
| image_map        = 2011 Dimos Megareon.png
| periph           = [[Attica (region)|Attica]]
| periphunit       = [[West Attica]]
| pop_municipality = 38033
| area_municipality = 330.1
| pop_municunit    = 30773
| area_municunit   = 322.2
| pop_community    = 29122
| population_as_of = 2021
| elevation        = 4
| coordinates      = {{coord|37|59|47|N|23|20|40|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code      = 191 00
| area_code        = 22960
| website          = [http://www.megara.gr www.megara.gr]
| image_skyline    = Megara2.jpg
| caption_skyline  = <!-- Caption of the Skyline Image -->
| mayor            = Panagiotis Margetis<ref name=mayor>{{cite web |url=https://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/d/home/en/municipalities/9231/ |title=Municipality of Megara, Municipal elections – October 2023 |website=Ministry of Interior}}</ref>
| since            = 2023
}}
'''Megara''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|ɡ|ər|ə}}; {{langx|el|Μέγαρα}}, {{IPA|el|ˈmeɣaɾa|pron}}) is a historic town and a municipality in [[West Attica]], [[Greece]]. It lies in the northern section of the [[Isthmus of Corinth]] opposite the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]], which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by [[Athens]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mythology – Ancient History|url=https://salamina.gr/en/presentation-of-the-municipality/history/mythology-ancient-history/|access-date=4 January 2022|website=Municipality of Salamina|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Salamis|url=https://athensattica.com/things-to-see/ancient-sites/ancient-salamis/|access-date=4 January 2022|website=Athens Attica|language=en-US}}</ref> Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four mythic sons of King [[Pandion II]], of whom [[Nisos]] was the ruler of Megara. Megara was also a trade port, its people using their ships and wealth as a way to gain leverage on armies of neighboring poleis. Megara specialized in the exportation of wool and other animal products including livestock such as horses. It possessed two harbors, [[Pagae]] to the west on the [[Corinthian Gulf]], and [[Nisaea]] to the east on the [[Saronic Gulf]] of the Aegean Sea.  Greek painter [[Théodore Ralli|Théodore Jacques Ralli]] created countless paintings featuring the village of Megara between 1873 and 1909.<ref name="village">{{cite thesis |last1= Palioura |first1= Maria Mirka|title=Το ζωγραφικό έργο του Θεόδωρου Ράλλη (1852-1909): πηγές έμπνευσης - οριενταλιστικά θέματα
|trans-title=The Work of the Painter Theodoros Rallis (1852-1909): Sources of Inspiration - Orientalist Themes|language=Greek|location= Athens, Greece |publisher=University of Athens |year= 2008 |url=https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/22456|isbn=|pages= |doi=10.12681/eadd/22456|url-access=subscription}}</ref> 

==History==
[[File:Megara4.jpg|thumb|View of the archaeological site]]
===Late Bronze===
====Mycenaean period====
In the Late Bronze Age, Megara features prominently as a small kingdom in the myths and legends of [[Homer]]. Megara emerged between two fortified ports, Nisaea on the Saronic Gulf and Pagae on the Gulf of Corinth, on two acropolises Karia and Alkathos. However, Megara at this point remains more mythical until it started expanding in Iron II.

In Greek mythology, [[Nisos|Nisus]] was a King of Megara and son of king [[Pandion II]] of Athens, and gave his name to the port Nisaea. Pandion II had married Pylia, daughter of King [[Pylas]] of Megara. Pylas was the son of Cteson, son of [[Lelex (king of Megara)|Lelex]]. Megara was the capital in [[Megaris]].
 
'''Archaeology'''. Megara is considered a Mycenaean fortified site. Myths suggests the seat of a petty king with a megaron. However, modern buildings obscure the remains and only some ruins have been found. Isolated blocks of Cyclopean walls were first found on the upper part of the hill by Fimmen and later by Field.<ref>Field 1984:144. GAC 73</ref> A palace here would command the costal plain and valley towards the north-east.<ref>{{cite thesis |url=https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5374/1/5374_2812-vol1.PDF |last=Loader |first=Nancy Claire |title=The definition of cyclopean: An investigation into the origins of the LH III fortifications on mainland Greece |publisher=Durham University |year=1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930170125/https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5374/1/5374_2812-vol1.PDF |archive-date=2017-09-30}}</ref>

===Iron Age===
According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], the Megarians said that their town owed its origin to [[Car (Greek mythology)|Car]], the son of [[Phoroneus]], who built the citadel called 'Caria' and the temples of [[Demeter]] called Megara, from which the place derived its name.<ref>Paus. i. 39. § 5, i. 40. § 6</ref>

In historical times, Megara was an early dependency of [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], in which capacity colonists from Megara founded [[Megara Hyblaea]], a small ''polis'' north of [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] in Sicily. Megara then fought a war of independence with Corinth, and afterwards founded [[Chalcedon]] in 685&nbsp;BC, as well as [[Byzantium]] (c. 667&nbsp;BC).

Megara is known to have early ties with [[Miletos]], which is located within the region of [[Caria]] in Asia Minor. According to some scholars, they had built up a "colonisation alliance". In the 7th/6th century BCE these two cities acted in concordance with each other.<ref name="Herda">Alexander Herda (2015), [https://www.academia.edu/12530869 Megara and Miletos: Colonising with Apollo. A Structural Comparison of Religious and Political Institutions in Two Archaic Greek Polis States]</ref>

Both cities acted under the leadership and sanction of an [[Apollo]] oracle. Megara cooperated with that of Delphi. Miletos had her own oracle of Apollo Didymeus Milesios in [[Didyma]]. Also, there are many parallels in the political organisation of both cities.<ref name="Herda"/>

In the late 7th century BC [[Theagenes of Megara|Theagenes]] established himself as tyrant of Megara by slaughtering the cattle of the rich to win over the poor.<ref>Aristotle, Politics V 4,5</ref> Arguably the most famous citizen of Megara in antiquity was [[Byzas]], the legendary founder of [[Byzantium]] in the 7th century BC. The 6th century BC poet [[Theognis of Megara|Theognis]] also came from Megara.

====Second Persian Invasion====
During the second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479&nbsp;BC) Megara fought alongside the Spartans and Athenians at crucial battles such as [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]] and [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]].

====First Peloponnesian War====
Megara defected from the Spartan-dominated [[Peloponnesian League]] (c.&nbsp;460&nbsp;BC) to the Delian league due to border disputes with its neighbour Corinth; this defection was one of the causes of the [[First Peloponnesian War]] (460&nbsp;–&nbsp;c.&nbsp;445&nbsp;BC). By the terms of the [[Thirty Years' Peace]] of 446–445&nbsp;BC Megara was forced to return to the Peloponnesian League.

====Second Peloponnesian War====
In the (second) [[Peloponnesian War]] (c.&nbsp;431&nbsp;–&nbsp;404&nbsp;BC), Megara was an ally of [[Sparta]]. The [[Megarian decree]] is considered to be one of several contributing "causes" of the Peloponnesian War.<ref>[[Sarah B. Pomeroy]], Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, ''Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).</ref> Athens issued the Megarian decree, which banned Megarian merchants from territory controlled by Athens; its aim was to constrict the Megarian economy. The Athenians claimed that they were responding to the Megarians' desecration of the ''[[Hiera Orgas]]'', a sacred precinct in the border region between the two states.

In the 5th century BC, [[Herodicus]] ,the father of sports medicine, recommended patients walk from Athens to Megara. This is the first time in history where patients were prescribed exercise.

In the early 4th century BC, [[Euclid of Megara]] founded the [[Megarian school of philosophy]] which flourished for about a century, famous for the use of [[logic]] and [[dialectic]].

===Classical Age===
During the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, Megara sent a force of 400 [[peltast]]s (light infantrymen) to [[Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC)|Thermopylae]]. During the [[Chremonidean War]], in 266 BC, the Megarians were besieged by the Macedonian king [[Antigonus Gonatas]] and managed to defeat his elephants employing [[War pig|burning pigs]]. Despite this success, the Megarians had to submit to the Macedonians.

In 243&nbsp;BC, exhorted by [[Aratus of Sicyon]], Megara expelled its [[Macedon]]ian garrison and joined the [[Achaean League]], but when the Achaeans lost control of the Isthmus in 223&nbsp;BC the Megarians left them and joined the [[Boeotian League]]. Not more than thirty years later, however, the Megarians grew tired of the Boeotian decline and returned their allegiance to Achaea. The Achaean strategos [[Philopoemen]] fought off the Boeotian intervention force and secured Megara's return, either in 203 or in 193 BC.

According to Plutarch, Megarians tried to unleash lions against the besieging Roman troops guided by [[Quintus Fufius Calenus]] around 48 BC, but the animals "rushed among the unarmed citizens themselves and preyed upon them as they ran hither and thither, so that even to the enemy the sight was a pitiful one".<ref>Plutarch, Brutus 8,4</ref>

[[File:Megara - Coronelli Vincenzo - 1687.jpg|thumb|Megara by [[Vincenzo Coronelli]], 1687]]
The Megarians were proverbial for their generosity in building and endowing temples. [[Saint Jerome]] reports "There is a common saying about the Megarians [...:] 'They build as if they are to live forever; they live as if they are to die tomorrow.'"<ref>[[Jerome]], ''To Ageruchia'', [http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF2-06/letters/lette123.htm Letter cxxiii.15]</ref>

The Greeks used the proverb "worthy of the Megarians share" ({{langx|grc|Τῆς Μεγαρέων ἄξιοι μερίδος}}), meaning dishonorable/dishonored.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/240#tau.537 Suda, § tau.537]</ref>

== Democracy in Megara ==
[[File:Young Mother from Megara.jpg|thumb|250 px|left|''Young Mother from Megara'' by [[Théodore Ralli|Théodore Jacques Ralli]] c. 1878]]
[[File:2 1862 photo nike of megara.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Nike of Megara]]'', large statue of the goddess [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] found at Megara in 1820.]]

Megara seems to have experienced democracy on two occasions. The first was between 427 BC, when there was a democratic uprising, and 424 BC, when a narrow oligarchy was installed (Thuc. 3.68.3; 4.66-8, 73–4). The second was in the 370s BC, when we hear that the people of Megara expelled some anti-democratic conspirators (Diod. 15.40.4). By the 350s BC, though, [[Isocrates]] is referring to Megara in terms that suggests that it was an oligarchy again (Isoc. 8.117-19).

One of the first actions of the new oligarchy in 424 BC was to compel the people to vote openly, which suggests that the democracy had made use of the [[secret ballot]]. Megarian democracy also made use of [[ostracism]]. Other key institutions of the democracy included a popular Assembly and Council, and a board of five (or six) generals.<ref>E. Robinson, Democracy Beyond Athens, Cambridge 2011, 46–47.</ref>

According to [[Plutarch]], Megara was also a democracy in the 6th century BC. The measures said to be implemented by the radical government included making interest-bearing loans illegal and forcing creditors to [[History of debt relief|return the interest they had collected]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graeber |first1=David |title=Debt. The First 5,000 Years |date=2012 |publisher=Melville House |isbn=9781612191294|pages = 191, 427}}</ref> While some historians accept the existence of democracy in the archaic period, others consider the story to reflect the later anti-democratic political thought.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forsdyke |first1=Sara |title=Revelry and riot in Archaic Megara: democratic disorder or ritual reversal? |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |date=2005 |volume=125 |page=73 |doi=10.1017/S0075426900007114|s2cid=146491518 }}</ref>

== Geography ==
Megara is located in the westernmost part of [[Attica (region)|Attica]], near the [[Megara Gulf]], a bay of the [[Saronic Gulf]]. The coastal plain around Megara is referred to as [[Megaris]], which is also the name of the ancient city state centered on Megara. Megara is 8&nbsp;km west of [[Nea Peramos]], 18&nbsp;km west of [[Elefsina]], 19&nbsp;km east of [[Agioi Theodoroi]], 34&nbsp;km west of [[Athens]] and 37&nbsp;km east of [[Corinth]].

==Transport==
===Road===
The [[A8 motorway (Greece)|A8 motorway]] connects Megara with [[Athens]] and [[Corinth]].

===Rail===
The [[Megara railway station]] is served by [[Proastiakos]] suburban trains to Athens and [[Kiato]].

===Air===
There is a small military airfield south of the town, [[ICAO]] code LGMG.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20131209164440/http://www.worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=GR33328 World Aero Data]}}</ref>

==Municipality==
[[File:2010 Dimos Megareon.svg|thumb|Municipality map]]
[[File:Megara7.jpg|thumb|Monument at Heroes' Square]]
The municipality of Megara was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of two former municipalities, Megara and [[Nea Peramos]], which became municipal units.<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> In 2017 [[Kineta]] became a separate community within the municipal unit of Megara.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eetaa.gr/eetaa/metaboles/fek/2017/fek_9a_2017.pdf|title=ΦΕΚ 9Α – 2017, Αναγνώριση του αυτοτελούς οικισμού «Κινέτα» Δήμου Μεγαρέων ως Τοπικής Κοινότητας|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref>

The municipality has an area of 330.11&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, the municipal unit 322.21&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=[[National Statistical Service of Greece]] |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |date=18 March 2011 |access-date=6 November 2018 |pages=437 |volume=1 |issn=1106-5761}}</ref>

==Districts and suburbs==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*Agia Triada
*Aigeirouses
*[[Kineta]]
*Koumintri
*Lakka Kalogirou
*Moni Agiou Ierotheou
*Moni Agiou Ioannou Prodromou
*Moni Panachrantou
*Pachi
*Stikas
*Vlychada
{{div col end}}

==Population==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Town !! Municipal unit !! Municipality 
|-
| 1971 || 17,584 || – || – 
|-
| 1981 || 20,814 || 21,245 || – 
|-
| 1991 || 20,403 || 25,061 || – 
|-
| 2001 || 23,032 || 28,195 || – 
|-
| 2011 || 23,456 || 28,591 || 36,924 
|-
| 2021 || 25,467 || 30,773 || 38,033
|}

==Sports==
*[[Vyzas F.C.]], football team

== Notable people ==
{{See also|Category:Ancient Megarians}}
[[File:Coinage with Byzas 2nd 3rd century CE.jpg|thumb|180px|Coinage with idealized depiction of Byzas, founder of [[Byzantium]]. Struck in [[Byzantium]], [[Thrace]], around the time of [[Marcus Aurelius]] (161–180 CE).]]

*[[Orsippus]] (8th century BC), runner
*[[Byzas]] (7th century BC), founder of [[Byzantium]]
*[[Theognis of Megara|Theognis]] (6th century BC), [[elegiac]] poet
*[[Eupalinos]] (6th century BC), [[engineer]] who built the [[Tunnel of Eupalinos]] on [[Samos]]
*[[Theagenes of Megara|Theagenes]] (c. 600 BC), Tyrant of Megara<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Megara of Theagenes and Theognis |first=Stewart Irvin |last=Oost |journal=[[Classical Philology (journal)|Classical Philology]] |volume=68 |issue=3 |date=July 1973 |pages=186–196 |publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]] |jstor=267749 |doi=10.1086/365976|s2cid=162187770 }}</ref>
*[[Euclid of Megara|Euclid]] (c. 400 BC), founder of the [[Megarian school of philosophy]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/012/04/0003-0003 |title=The Life of Euclid |first=Renuka |last=Ravindran |author-link=Renuka Ravindran |publisher=[[Indian Academy of Sciences]] |journal=[[Resonance (journal)|Resonance]] |date=April 2007 |volume=12 |issue=4 |access-date=6 November 2018 |page=3 |doi=10.1007/s12045-007-0033-2 |s2cid=123498195 |format=PDF|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
*[[Stilpo]] (c. 325 BC), [[philosopher]] of the [[Megarian school]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVe7nS2TR1AC&pg=PA479 |title=A Universal Biography: 1st series. From the creation to the birth of Christ |first=John |last=Platts |author-link=John Platts (Unitarian) |publisher=Sherwood, Jones, and Company |year=1825 |page=479}}</ref>
*[[Teles the Cynic|Teles]] (3rd century BC), [[Cynicism (philosophy)|cynic]] philosopher.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjW_BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA381 |title=Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Philosophy |first=Anthony |last=Preus |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |date=12 February 2015 |page=381 |isbn=9781442246393}}</ref>
*[[Giorgos Papagiannis]], Professional basketball player, playing for [[Fenerbahçe S.K. (basketball)]] in the Turkish [[Basketbol Süper Ligi]]

== Facilities ==
* Medium-wave transmitter with a 180-metre-tall radio mast, broadcasting on 666&nbsp;kHz and 981&nbsp;kHz

==Popular culture==
[[File:Les Confitures de Roses a Megara.jpg|thumb|250 px|left|''Les Confitures de Roses a Megara'' by [[Théodore Ralli|Théodore Jacques Ralli]] c. 1892 Greek women are making rose petal jam in the Greek village of Megara.]]
Greek painter [[Théodore Ralli|Théodore Jacques Ralli]] created countless paintings featuring the village of Megara between 1873 and 1909.  The artist chose to paint local subjects featuring everyday life in the village.  Some of his works featuring Megara include ''Les Confitures de Roses a Megara'', ''Praying Before the Communion at Megara'', and ''Woman from Megara with Sickle''.  In 1974, a Greek documentary named ''Megara'' was made about the village, directed by Sakis Maniatis and Yorgos Tsemberopoulos, about the struggle of olive growers in Megara fighting the Greek Military Junta's attempt to take a large agricultural region of the village and use it to build an oil refinery.  The name Megara is used in the 1997 Disney film ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]''.  In 2024, parts of the film called ''[[The Carpenter's Son]]'' directed by Lotfy Nathan and starring Nicolas Cage were filmed in Megara.<ref name="village" /><br /><br />

==See also==
*[[List of ancient Greek cities]]
*[[List of settlements in Attica]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Megara}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Megara|volume=18|page=76}}

{{Kallikratis-Attica}}
{{Megara div}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Megara| ]]
[[Category:Cities in ancient Attica]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Attica]]
[[Category:Places in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Populated places in West Attica]]
[[Category:Greek city-states]]