Piraeus Port, the largest passenger port in Europe, with more than 20 million passengers throughput every year, is sited in a unique geographical position for reaching multiple tourist attractions in the East Mediterranean.

The Port of Piraeus, atthe south east end of the continental European Union, is located at the same area with the ancient Athenian port, which at its peak in 5th century BC, was the most important trade center of the then known world. In fact, when cruise passengers disembark, they can see the ancient protective walls of that period.

The cruise terminals of the port are in a comfortable walking distance from the city of Piraeus and the metro station. The market center of Athens and the famous Parthenon are easily accessible, since they are within 30 minutes by metro.

History

The port in 1892.

1913 renovation plan for Piraeus Port.

Until the 3rd millennium BC, Piraeus was a rocky island connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land that was flooded with sea water most of the year. It was then that the area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, thus permanently connecting Piraeus to Attica and forming its ports, the main port of Cantharus and the two smaller of Zea and Munichia. In 493 BC, Themistocles initiated the fortifications of Piraeus and later advised the Athenians to take advantage of its natural harbours’ strategic potential. In 483 BC, the Athenian fleet left the older harbour of Phaleronand it was transferred to Piraeus, distinguishing itself at the battle of Salamis between the Greek city-states and thePersians in 480 BC. In the following years Themistocles initiated the construction of the port and created the ship sheds (neosoikoi), while the Themistoclean Walls were completed in 471 BC, turning Piraeus into a great military and commercial harbour, which served as the permanent navy base for the mighty Athenian fleet. However, in the late 4th century BC began a long period of decline for Piraeus; the harbours were only occasionally used for the Byzantine fleet and the city was mostly deserted throughout the Ottoman occupation of Greece.

CRUISE PORT FACILITIES

• Total quay length of 2800 m
• Draft up to 11 m.-Tide free
• 11 vessels berths
• 4-5 berths for new generation cruise ships
• 2 air conditioned Passengers Terminals of 12000m2 with 12 Xray machines
• Free shuttle bus service within the cruise port
• More than 250slots fortourist busses
• Operations 24hrs throughout the year with tide free access
• Port infrastructure suitable to serve every ship size and draft
• ISPS compliant
• Multiple daily Ferry connections with almost all Aegean islands
• Quality Management Certification ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004
• Favorable weather conditions throughout the year
• Helipad available for VIP

PIRAEUS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PORT

• Cruise port services are certifiedwith ISO14001by Lloyds’sRegister and BureauVeritas
• Environmental Management Systemcertified according to the Port Environmental Review System (PERS)
• Certified as “ECOPORT” port in the framework of ESPO guidelines
• Implementation of environmental quality monitoring programs
• Reception facilities for all categories of ship waste
• Fasterturnaround and environmental benefits through permanent reception network