Piraeus is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. Under Ottoman rule, 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 occasionally as a commercial port. 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 a population from Hydra and the second during the Greek War of Independence in 1825 by the installation of people from
Piraeus Bank (today Piraeus Bank Beograd with 42 branches), and the Egyptian Commercial Bank (today Piraeus Bank Egypt with 43). In 2007 PB purchased the Cyprus arm of Arab Bank and renamed it Piraeus Bank (Cyprus). On 13 September 2007 Piraeus Bank completed its acquisition of 99.6% of the share capital of "International Commercial Bank" in Ukraine, today named Piraeus ICB. In June 2012 PB signed an agreement with Investors Bancorp Inc, to transfer PB's shareholding in Marathon Banking Corporation in New York City, to Investors Bancorp. PB used the money it received for Marathon to finance the take over of the