Piraeus from across the country. A number of events contributed to the development of the city ; among these were its ultimate declaration as the leading port of Greece, the completion of the Athens-Piraeus Railway in 1869, the industrial development of the area in the 1860s, and the creation of the Corinth Canal in 1893, all of which left Piraeus more strategically important than ever. New buildings were constructed to cover the necessities of this growth, such as educational institutions, churches, the Stock Exchange Building, the Town Hall, the Central Market, the Post Office Building and charity institutions; the port was
Port of Thessaloniki Port of Thessaloniki The Port of Thessaloniki () is one of the largest Greek seaports and one of the largest ports in the Aegean Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 16 million tonnes (7 million tonnes dry bulk and 9 million tonnes liquid bulk). As a free port, it also functions as a major gateway for the Balkan hinterland and southeastern Europe. The Port of Thessaloniki also contains the second largest container port in Greece, after the Port of Piraeus. In 2007 the Port of Thessaloniki handled 14,373,245 tonnes of cargo and 222,824 TEU's, making it one