Skourta

Skourta (Greek: Σκούρτα) is a village in the Boeotia Prefecture, Greece. Its 2001 population was 2,194 for the village. Skourta is also a part of the Greater Athens area. Skourta is located north and northwest of the Attiki Odos (number 6), west of the GR-1/E75 (Athens - Lamia - Larissa - Thessaloniki), northwest of Athens, north of Elefsina, southeast of Thiva and south of Chalkida. Attica is to the south and east and mount Parnitha lies to the east.

Nearest places

*Fyli, southeast
*Pyli, west
*Dafni

Population

Geography

The area surrounding Skourta contains mountains and is mainly forested with a few grasslands to the south. A few farmlands are around the area. The mountains that are mainly filled with grasslands and rocks surround the area while forests are found mainly in the low-lands.

History

After World War II and the Greek Civil War, the whole town was rebuilt by the mid to late 1950s. The village population boomed and aluminum was mined later on producing a part of its economy. The population dropped dramatically between 1981 and 1991, the decline slowed between 1991 and 2001. Skourta was hit by a drastic wildfire (see Summer 2007 Wildfires in Greece) on Thursday June 28, 2007 that came from Parnitha westward, it went 15 km west in hours and hit the village by the afternoon, the fires was by its grasslands and by the time it reached, fire trucks, helicopters and planes were stopping the blaze from heading westward. Some damages to property including houses and buildings were reported. The aftermath was that much of the forest turned into an groggy ashy landscape that may take years to restore its natural beauty. Its fires continued drastically until June 30 and slowly disintegrated into sporadic parts and on July 1, the fires had stopped on its entirely. It took hours to contain the blaze. Several mountain roads and trails may remain closed.

Other

Skourta has schools, a few lyceums (middle schools), and its gymnasium (secondary school), churches, and a square ("plateia"). Its nearest hospital is in Eleusis and Viotia.

ee also

*List of settlements in the Boeotia prefecture

External links

* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=5719 Skourta on GTP Travel Pages]
*Map and aerial photos:
**Street map information from: [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=38.2103&longitude=23.5515&zoom=6 Mapquest] , [http://local.live.com/map.aspx?&lats1=38.2103&lons1=23.5515&alts1=35 LiveLocal] or [http://maps.google.com/maps?||=38.2103,23.5515 Google] or [http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?lat=38.2103&lon=23.5515&mag=2 Yahoo! Maps]
**Satellite
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.2103,23.5515&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k Google] or [http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=38.2103|23.5515&style=h&lvl=15&v=1 Microsoft Virtual Earth] - image now available
*Coordinates: coord|38|12|37|N|23|33|6|E|type:city(929)_region:GR|display=inline,title