Stefani, Greece

Stefani (Στεφάνη) is a settlement in the Boeotia Prefecture, Greece. Its 2001 population was 286. Stefani is part of the municipality of Dervenochoria. Stefani is also a part of the Greater Athens area. Stefani is located north and northwest of the Attiki Odos (number 6), west of the GR-1/E75 (Athens - Lamia - Larissa - Thessaloniki), northwest of Athens, north of Elefsina, southeast of Thiva and south of Chalkida. Attica is to the south and east and mount Parnitha lies to the east. Its main industry are agriculture. The origin of the name dates back to the Ancient times.

Nearest places

 * Pyli, northwest

Geography
The area around Stefani are mountainous and are 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 covers around the area, forests are found mainly in low lying areas.

History
After World War II and the Greek Civil War, the whole town was rebuilt by the mid to late 1950s. The population nearly doubled between 1981 and 1991, but it lost half of its residents between 1991 and 2001. Many of them are abandoned.

Stefani was nearly hit by a drastic wildfire (see 2007 Wildfires in Greece) on Thursday June 28, 2007 that came from Parnitha 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. There were no damages to property. 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 2, the fires had stopped on its entirely. It took hours to contain the blaze. Several mountain roads and trails may remain closed.