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 Piraeus automobile terminal handled 430,000 automobiles, 100,000 for the local market and 330,000 transhipments. The Port of Piraeus is the largest passenger port in Europe and one of the largest passenger ports in the world. It has a total quay length of 2.8 km and draft of up to 11 m. Vehicle traffic reaches 2.5m while in 2017, passenger traffic reached 15.5m. A plethora of destinations in Greece can be reached by ferry from the harbour, including islands in the Saronic Gulf, the Cyclades, Crete, islands on the Northern Aegean Sea as well as Rhodes, amongst others. A full list can