Études balkaniques, LVII, 2021, 1, p. 65-86.

This article present the foundation of the modern Piraeus city between 1833 and 1838 in the light of unpublished archives from the fund of the Greek Ministry of the Interior in King Otto I’s time kept at the General State Archives in Athens. This document shows how immigration to Piraeus was largely channeled by the administration through the establishment of settlements (synoikismoi). It also highlights an original founding of a port city in the Eastern Mediterranean literally out of nowhere. It shows the creation of a community of inhabitants with the essential role of the natives from Chios first, then from Hydra, who form the two main groups, both separated but reunited in the new town, since each group has its own neighborhood, parish and church.