Tanagra

The tanager genus Tangara is often misunderstood to be "Tanagra".

For the mythical island Tanagra in Star Trek, see Darmok.

Tanagra Τανάγρα
Location
Tanagra
Coordinates	38°19′N 23°32′E / 38.317°N 23.533°E / 38.317; 23.533Coordinates: 38°19′N 23°32′E / 38.317°N 23.533°E / 38.317; 23.533
Government
Country:	Greece
Periphery:	Central Greece
Prefecture:	Boeotia
Population statistics (as of 2001[1])
City
- Population:	4,134
- Area:	122.53 km² (47 sq mi)
- Density:	34 /km² (87 /sq mi)
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (center):	214 m (702 ft)
Postal:	322 00, 320 09
Telephone:	22620
Auto:	ΒΙ

Tanagra (Greek: Τανάγρα) is a community north of Athens in Boeotia, not far from Thebes, that was noted in antiquity for its mass-produced mold-cast and fired terracotta figurines: see Tanagra figurine. Pausanias mentions in its location the ancient city of Graea, eponymous of the Graikoi, a Boeotian tribe whose name gave rise to the Latin Graecus "Greek". Homer, while reciting the Boeotian forces in the Iliad 's Catalogue of Ships, provides the first known reference to the Boeotian city of Graea.^[2]

Tanagra's alternative name was Poimandria, after its founder Poimandros who took part in the Trojan campaign. It was the site of two Battles of Tanagra, in 457 BC and 426 BC. The Boeotian League under Tanagra led forth "the Boeotians" against the Athenian invadors at Oenophyta, 62 days after the battle of Tanagra (See Battle of Oenophyta) The Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BCE, primarily in Tanagra.

It can be accessed by GR-1 in the north and by a provincial road linking Thiva (Thebes) in the west. It is located SE of Thiva and Arma, SW of Schimatari and NW of Agios Thomas. The town is situated between the base and the highway. Tanagra is served by two interchanges, a partial southbound exit, a northbound entrance to the northwest and an almost-full to the east, serving access to highways 44 and 77 to the island of Euboea. Its service road lies to the south and is linked with the southeast bypass and to the military base. Farmlands surround the rest of Tanagra, and the Asopus River along with the Parnitha mountains to the south.

Today, Tanagra Air Force base is home to the 114 Combat Wing of the Hellenic Air Force, and is one of Greece's largest military bases. Its runway is about 2 km in length.

In the early 2000s, a military plane which was on a training flight crashed on the runway during bad weather. There were no survivors.

On Sunday September 18, 2005, the Archangelos air show, the largest ever organized in Greece, took place in Tanagra. It drew a crowd of more than 200,000.

Historical population

See also

• Communities of Viotia

References