Skourta
Encyclopedia
Skourta is a village in Boeotia
Boeotia
Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Its 2001 population was 929. Skourta is a part of the Greater Athens area. Skourta is located north and northwest of the Attiki Odos
Attiki Odos
Attiki Odos is a privately owned toll motorway in Greece. The Proastiakos high-speed suburban rail is set almost entirely in the median of the motorway, along its main section. The motorway's numbers are 6 for the main section, 64 for the Hymettus Beltway and 65 for the Aigaleo Beltway...

 (number 6), west of the GR-1
Greek National Road 1
The Greek Motorway 1 is a motorway, partly under construction, and the 2nd longest in Greece. It is the principal north-south road connection in Greece, connecting the country's capital Athens with the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia, as well as the country's second largest city,...

/E75
European route E75
European route E 75 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe.The E 75 starts from Vardø, Norway in the Barents Sea and runs south through Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Republic of Macedonia to Sitia, Greece on...

 (Athens - Lamia - Larissa
Larissa
Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...

 - Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

), northwest of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, north of Elefsina, southeast of Thiva and south of Chalkida. Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

 is to the south and east and mount Parnitha
Parnitha
Mount Parnitha is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m and a summit known as Karavola...

 lies to the east.

Population

Year Village population
1981 766
1991 816
2001 929

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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

, 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
Parnitha
Mount Parnitha is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m and a summit known as Karavola...

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.
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