s very far from the capital city of Constantinople. The city lost even its ancient and original name that was forgotten, named Porto Leone by the Venetians in 1317, meaning 'Lion's Port' from the Piraeus Lion standing at the harbour's entrance, and Porto Draco by the Franks.
Ottoman period
In 1456, Piraeus became known as the Aslan Liman (Lion's Port), a name given by Ottoman Turks during the Ottoman occupation of Greece. The Piraeus Lion was looted in 1687 by Francesco Morosini during his expedition against Athens and was carried to the Venetian Arsenal, where it still stands today. A copy of the lion statue is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. Throughout the Ottoman occupation, especially before the beginning of the Greek War of Independence, Piraeus was mostly deserted, except for the monastery of Saint Spyridon (1590) and a customs house, and it was only used for small intervals for commercial issues. Although there were numerous land owners, Athenians did not live in the area.
There were at least two failed attempts to create a new town, the first in 1792 by bringing population from Hydra and the second during the Greek War of Independence in 1825 by the installation of people from Psara, but it was not until 1829 that permanent habitation of the area was restarted. Piraeus at first developed into a small town with huts and a few farm-buildings, far from its glorious past as a prosperous city, and its population consisted mainly of fishermen.
Modern era
With the creation of the modern Greek state and the proclamation of Athens as the capital in 1832, the port again acquired a reason for existence and growth, and developed into a great commercial and industrial centre. Populations, mainly from the Aegean Islands, continued arriving to reside in Piraeus. A town plan for Piraeus was also drawn up and approved by King Otto, but not completely fulfilled, as it was revolutionary for its time. Following the
