Kallithea is the 8th largest municipality in Greece (100,641 inhabitants, 2011 census) and the 4th biggest in the Athens urban area (following municipalities of Athens, Piraeus and Peristeri). Additionally, it is the 2nd most densely populated municipality in Greece, with 21,192 inhabitants / km². The municipality has an area of 4.749 km².

Culture

South Kallithea (Tzitzifies), is associated with the development of Greek folk music, particularly rebetiko and later laïkó. Popular composers and singers once performed here ; Markos Vamvakaris, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Yannis Papaioannou, Marika Ninou, Sotiria Bellou, Manolis Chiotis, Mary Linda, Giorgos Zampetas, Stelios Kazantzidis, Marinella, Poly Panou, and Viki Moscholiou.

Education

Kallithea houses two universities (Harokopio University and Panteion University). An even more notable school in Kallithea is Sivitanidios School, one of the oldest technical school in Greece.

Sports

Until 2004, south Kallithea (Tzitzifies) housed the only horse track in Greece (Ippodromos – Hippodrome), which later moved to Markopoulon, near Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. Kallithea houses numerous cultural associations and several sport clubs, the most well known of which are Kallithea FC (soccer), Esperos (basketball, volleyball, handball, and also soccer in an earlier period) and Ikaros Kallitheas, a multisport club founded in 1991, originally as Ikaros Nea Smyrni. Kallithea had another important club, Esperides Kallithea with many titles in women basketball. This club merged to Ikaros Kallithea in 2012.

Transportation

The main roads of Kallithea are Andrea Syngrou Avenue towards eastern Athens and Poseidonos Avenue towards Piraeus and the southern suburbs. Kallithea is served by Metro line 1 stations Kallithea and Tavros, by the tram stations Kallithea and Tzitzifies, and numerous bus and trolley-bus linesconnect Kallithea to almost every destination in metropolitan Athens.

Sites of interest

• Harokopio University
• Panteion University
• Municipal Gallery, housed in the Laskaridou building, one of the first dwellings in the city.
• Aghia Eleousa church of the late Byzantine period.
• Kallithea monument, a 4th-century BC family tomb, one of the most impressive exhibits of the Piraeus Archaeological Museum.
• “Argonauts-Comnenus” (Argonaftes-Komnini) fraternity of the Pontus Greeks, aiming at the study and preservation of the history and traditions of their fatherlands.
• “Constantinoplian Society” (Syllogos Konstantinoupoliton) of the Constantinople Greeks that settled in Kallithea forced to abandon Istanbul after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) as well as in subsequent deteriorations of Greco-Turkish relations.
• Monument in memory of the Pontus Greeks in the center of the city (Davaki Square and Gardens).
• Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex on Kallithea beach from the Sports Pavilion (Faliro) to the Olympic Beach Volleyball Center and the delta of the River Ilisos.
• Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium, home to Kallithea FC since 1972.