Schimatari

Schimatari or Shimatari (Greek, Modern: Σχηματάρι, Ancient/Katharevousa: -ον "-on" meaning Saracen), older forms: -o and -on is a town and a municipality in the Boeotia Prefecture, Greece. Population 8,095 (2001). It became one the prefecture's largest community (towns and cities). The Asopus River is 3 to 4 km to the south. Schimatari along with Tanagra are the northwesternmost city in the Greater Athens area. Attica is approximately 10 km to the east. Schimatari is linked with the new GR-1 (Athens - Lamia - Thessaloniki) with its nearby unnumbered interchange, also the GR-1 superhighway. It serves with the GR-77 linking Chalkida and the island of Euboea. Schimatari is located approximately 60 km northwest of Athens, 20 km south of Chalkida and approximately 30 km east of Thiva.

Geography

Schimatari is situated in the Asopos-Kifissos plain and is between the hills to the north and the Parnitha mountains to the south and a part of the are made up of it. Schimatari has an industrial area that expanded in the 1970s and the 1980s and stretches to east of Tanagra and its Tanagra Airport which is also a military.

ubdivisions

*Oinoi
*Plaka Dilesi
*Schimatari

Nearest places

*Oinoi, east
*Tanagra, west

Information

Until the 1980s, agriculture were its prime industry of the area, the arrival of housing developments of Athens boomed its population and changed its industry of industrial, manufacturing and other businesses, agriculture and services is the second industry of the municipality not counting out of town residents. The industrial statistics include residents in which much of them are from the Central and Northern Athens area. Its main production are olives, citrus, fruits, vegetables and other crops, several common crops are rarely common. The village can be seen as far as to the north and east. Schimatari has 20 to 25 km of local roads and approximately 20 to 25 km of hydro lines and 20 km of paved roads, of which, approximately 5 km are urban. Its residential houses and buildings are within the main road and it is about 200 to 300 m long wide at the centre. Much of the houses were stone built until the 1960s. Electricity arrived in the same year. Vehicles arrived in the 1970s, the pavement of the main road and television arrived in the 1980s and computer and internet are rarely known in the beginning of the 21st century and up to date technology are not seen.

History

After World War II and the Greek Civil War, its buildings were rebuilt. In the 1960s, the GR-1 was under construction and opened in the 1960s, in the 1970s, another project and it was the construction of the widening of the GR-77 with the island of Euboea and the country's first suspended bridge over the sea. Its population grew and its economy later boomed to a point where industrial buildings and factories were expanded in the 1970s and the 1980s, it currently slowed in the 2000s. It brought employees from the northern suburbs of Athens. Housing developments boomed and opened another school. The worst scenario that Schimatari had was the forest fire on June 27, 2007 that consumed the southern portion of the municipality. It ravaged several pine forests especially south of Viotia where it saw flames during the night consuming the Parnitha's forest in which is also a national park. The fires were spreading so quickly that it quickly spread in hours since that portion had no road to spray out the fire, firefighters planned for a forest road into the area to prevent the fire from spreading into other nearby places. One of the fires ravaged an auto shop and other buildings where firefighters were spraying that fast-spreading fire. It also ravaged a road when the fires reached the plain. Flames were seen as far as the plain and eastern Viotia.

Population

Other

Schimatari has a church, a lyceum (middle school) a gymnasium (secondary school), churches, banks, shops and a square ("plateia").

ee also

*List of settlements in the Boeotia prefecture

External links

* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=5732 Schimatari on the GTP Travel Pages]
*Map and Aerial Photos:
**Street Map Information: [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=38.377&longitude=23.5838&zoom=6 Mapquest] , [http://local.live.com/map.aspx?&lats1=38.377&longs=23.5838&alts1=35 LiveLocal] , [http://maps.google.com/maps?||=38.377,23.5838 Google] or [http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?lat=38.377&lon=23.5838&mag=2 Yahoo! Maps]
**Satellite
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.377,23.5838&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k Google] or [http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=38.377|23.5838&style=h&lvl=15&v=1 Microsoft Virtual Earth]
*Coordinates: coord|38|30|24|N|21|35|2|E|type:city(34)_region:GR