---
title: Piraeus: The Ancient Port of Athens
author: Mark Cartwright
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 2025-04-18
---
# Piraeus: The Ancient Port of Athens
_Authored by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/)_
Piraeus (or Peiraieus) was the ancient port of [Athens](https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/) throughout the [Archaic](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Archaic/), Classical and [Hellenistic](https://www.worldhistory.org/Hellenic_World/) periods and in fact consisted of three separate harbours - Kantharos, Zea, and Munichia. The first was the largest and used for commercial activity, whilst part of Kantharos and the other two smaller harbours were reserved for military use to house the massive Athenian fleet which allowed the [city](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/) to be one of the most powerful players in [Greece](https://www.worldhistory.org/greece/) and the wider [Mediterranean](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/mediterranean/) throughout antiquity.
Located just 7 km (5 miles) south west of Athens, Piraeus is in fact a limestone peninsula offering natural harbours which the Athenians exploited to create what, at its height in the 5th century BCE, would be the most important port and biggest naval base in the [Greek](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/greek/) world. The port became a thriving settlement in its own right and was a vast complex of ship sheds, shipping offices, warehouses, banks, shipyards, and many other secondary businesses such as shops and brothels.
### Piraeus Ship Sheds
Ship sheds (*neosoikoi*) were a necessity for any sizeable fleet of ancient ships, especially [trireme](https://www.worldhistory.org/trireme/) warships. These wooden vessels could not remain in the water indefinitely so to prevent them becoming water-logged, damaged by weather extremes, encrusted with barnacles and eaten by shipworm they had to be pulled ashore and if possible protected from the elements. Ship sheds were usually long narrow buildings (40 metres long by 6 m wide) with a roof and open at the sea end. To provide good ventilation their walls, rather than being solid, were often made only of pillars. There were hundreds of ship sheds at Piraeus at its peak and they were built on the limestone bedrock with a 1:10 incline to allow the ships to be pulled up (probably manually) stern first. Light maintenance work was also done in the sheds such as coating the hull with anti-fouling paint, traces of which remain at the site.
### The Long Walls
Piraeus was fortified from c. 493 BCE which according to [Thucydides](https://www.worldhistory.org/Thucydides/) was a project instigated by [Themistocles](https://www.worldhistory.org/Themistocles/) and not finished until 480 BCE. The Long Wall fortifications which connected Piraeus to Athens were begun in c. 465 BCE and completed in 446 BCE. The Northern Long Wall measured around 6 km in length and ran from the south west of Athens to the north east of Piraeus. The second wall ran to Phaleron and, therefore, blocked the land access to the port. In 446 BCE a Middle Wall was added which ran parallel to the North Wall creating a narrow protected corridor between the city and port and which provided invaluable farm land and living space in times of [war](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/War/) when the wider region of Attica was under attack, as it was, for example, during the [Peloponnesian War](https://www.worldhistory.org/Peloponnesian_War/) (431-404 BCE).
### Piraeus Fortifications
The builders of the harbours of Piraeus always had defence in mind as Zea was deliberately set back so that the harbour entrance was exposed to attack from the flanking shores. There was also probably a fortification wall to block off any attack by land. In 429 BCE, during the Peloponnesian War, a raid by long-time rival [Sparta](https://www.worldhistory.org/sparta/) led the Athenians to better fortify Piraeus. The entrances to the harbours were made smaller by the construction of fortified moles running into the sea on either side of the port. Further, towers and platforms for archers were also added to the moles and moveable chains were used to close off the entrances completely when needed. This did not, though, deter Sparta attacking Piraeus again in 404 BCE when the Peloponnesians destroyed parts of the Long Walls.
[  The Acropolis and Ancient Athens Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16191/the-acropolis-and-ancient-athens/ "The Acropolis and Ancient Athens")Following Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE, Piraeus never quite regained her former glory. However, in 375 BCE the port could still accommodate 100 triremes and in the mid-4th century BCE the port once more expanded so that Zea could house 196 ships, Munichia 84 and Kantharos 94. During the Macedonian occupation from 322 to 229 BCE Piraeus and Athens became less important as a Mediterranean [trade](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/trade/) centre and the end finally came in 86 CE when the [Roman](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Roman/) general [Sulla](https://www.worldhistory.org/sulla/) sacked Athens and destroyed the port.
### [Archaeology](https://www.worldhistory.org/Archaeology/)
All three harbours are still used today and archaeological remains include the foundations of several ship sheds, fortifications and a Hellenistic [theatre](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/theatre/). As the sea level has risen two metres since antiquity many of the ancient installations of Piraeus are now underwater but they continue to be excavated and in the early 21st century CE archaeologists have made significant discoveries, for example, that some ship sheds may even have been large enough to have housed two triremes end on end. Notable finds at the site over the years have included several [bronze](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/bronze/) statues, perhaps the most famous being the [Apollo](https://www.worldhistory.org/apollo/) now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
#### Editorial Review
This human-authored definition has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/).
## Bibliography
- [Burn, A.R. *The Penguin History of Greece.* Penguin Books, 1966.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0140137513/)
- [Campbell, B. (ed). *The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World.* Oxford University Press, USA, 2013.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0195304659/)
- [Fields, N. *Ancient Greek Warship.* Osprey Publishing, 2007.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/1846030749/)
- [Hornblower, S. *The Oxford Classical Dictionary.* Oxford University Press, USA, 2012.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0199545561/)
- [Oleson, J.P et al. *The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World.* Oxford University Press, USA, 2009.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0199734852/)
- [Strassler, R.S., Richard Crawley, Victor Davis Hanson Thucydides. *The Landmark Thucydides\[Paperback\] \[1998\] 1 Ed. Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler, Richard..* Free Press, 2013.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/B00CQ81V5M/)
## About the Author
Mark is WHE’s Publishing Director and has an MA in Political Philosophy (University of York). He is a full-time researcher, writer, historian and editor. Special interests include art, architecture and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share.
## Timeline
- **493 BCE**: The first fortifications are constructed at [Athens](https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/)' port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/).
- **c. 483 BCE**: [Themistocles](https://www.worldhistory.org/Themistocles/) persuades the Athenians to significantly expand their fleet, which saves them at [Salamis](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Salamis/) and becomes their source of power.
- **480 BCE**: The fortifications of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/) instigated by [Themistocles](https://www.worldhistory.org/Themistocles/) are completed.
- **c. 465 BCE**: Construction of the Long Walls fortifications joining [Athens](https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/) to the port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/) are begun.
- **446 BCE**: The Middle [Wall](https://www.worldhistory.org/wall/) fortifications are added to the Long Walls which connect [Athens](https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/) and the port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/).
- **429 BCE**: Following attacks by [Sparta](https://www.worldhistory.org/sparta/), fortifications at the port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/) are extended to reduce the width of the harbour entrances.
- **404 BCE**: Spartan general [Lysander](https://www.worldhistory.org/Lysander/) attacks the Athenian port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/) destroying parts of the Long [Wall](https://www.worldhistory.org/wall/) fortifications.
- **387 BCE**: [Sparta](https://www.worldhistory.org/sparta/) attacks the Athenian port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/).
- **86 BCE**: The [Roman](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Roman/) general [Sulla](https://www.worldhistory.org/sulla/) sacks [Athens](https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/) and the port of [Piraeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Piraeus/).
## Cite This Work
### APA
Cartwright, M. (2013, June 02). Piraeus: The Ancient Port of Athens. *World History Encyclopedia*.
### Chicago
Cartwright, Mark. "Piraeus: The Ancient Port of Athens." *World History Encyclopedia*, June 02, 2013. .
### MLA
Cartwright, Mark. "Piraeus: The Ancient Port of Athens." *World History Encyclopedia*, 02 Jun 2013, .
## License & Copyright
Submitted by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/ "User Page: Mark Cartwright"), published on 02 June 2013. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.