Useful information about the Port of Rafina
Rafina is a town located on the eastern coast of Attica. Rafina lies east of the Pendeli Mountains and northeast of the Mesogeia plain with an area of farmland near the coastline to the north. The Cephissus River lies to the west. Rafina is about 30 km east of the centre of Athens, northeast of the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport and to the north of Loutsa.
The Municipality of Rafina contains, besides the town itself, a large portion of the surrounding area, which is mostly forest and farmland.
Rafina is a port town serving ferries to the southern part of Evia as well as most of the Cyclades. Its port is the second largest of Attica, after Piraeus, but it will probably be superseded by the one in Lavrio, which is currently being expanded.
Rafina was established in the 1920s by refugees fleeing from Anatolia after the end of the Greek-Turkish War, 1919-1922. Its name is an anagram of the name of an ancient Greek city located roughly in the same place as the modern town.
The beautiful small church of Agios Nikolaos overlooks the blue sea just north of the town. The chapel was built after World War II by men who were to be executed, but spared at the last minute. The town commandant had been assassinated and the Germans rounded up the townspeople in retaliation. Another group of men were executed and those at the site of Agios Nikolaos were spared.
