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123-729: The land around this inlet of the Sea of Marmara, has been settled, abandoned and resettled throughout history as army after army passed along the coast to the Bosphorus. It is thought to be the site of the Greek colony on the Marmara shore called Athyras ( Άθυρα ς). In 443 AD, the armies of Attila the Hun took this settlement and its associated fort, and this was presumably his last conquest of that campaign before turning around. The earliest mention of

246-482: A constitution and representative assembly . Despite the absolutism of Otto's reign, it proved instrumental in developing institutions which are still the bedrock of Greek administration and education. Reforms were taken in education, maritime and postal communications, effective civil administration and the legal code . Historical revisionism took the form of de- Byzantinification and de- Ottomanisation , in favour of promoting Ancient Greek heritage. The capital

369-615: A naval battle took place off the city between the Russians and Ottomans. Patras was one of the first cities in which the Greek Revolution began in 1821; the Ottoman garrison, confined to the citadel, held out until 1828. After the war, most of the city and its buildings were completely destroyed. Patras developed quickly into the second-largest urban centre in late-19th-century Greece. The city benefited from its role as

492-518: A "small industries" park that will be constructed next to the Glaykos river and provide an easy connection with the new port. The city is one of the main Greek internet and GRNET hubs and is connected with high speed lines to Athens as part of the backbone. A metropolitan optical network will be deployed in the city, with a total length of 48 km (30 mi). Two major state hospitals operate in

615-501: A 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.6/10, ranking it 70th globally out of 172 countries. In 2024, Greece became the first country in the European Union to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas what should protect its marine biodiversity . Rare marine species such as the pinniped seals and the loggerhead sea turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to

738-646: A bed of river soils and dried-up swamps. The older upper section (Ano Poli) covers the area of the pre-modern settlement, around the Fortress, on what is the last elevation of Mount Panachaikon (1,926 m (6,319 ft)) before the Gulf of Patras. The largest river in the area is the Glafkos , flowing to the south of Patras. Glafkos springs in Mount Panachaikon and its water is, since 1925, collected in

861-466: A conference hall, along with multi-purpose and exhibitional spaces. The regional unit of Achaea has about 4,800 hotels rooms and in 2006, 286,000 tourists, mainly from Greece, stayed in the area for a total of 634,000 days. Patras still has a large manufacturing base for a variety of industries. The Titan Cement Company operates a large cement factory, with a private port, in Psathopyrgos ,

984-501: A coup in 1967 by the Greek junta , led by Georgios Papadopoulos . Civil rights were suspended, political repression intensified, and human rights abuses, including torture, were rampant. Economic growth remained rapid before plateauing in 1972. The brutal suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 set in motion the fall of the regime, resulting in a counter-coup that established brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis as

1107-529: A failed attempt to annex Crete from the Ottomans. He was replaced by Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. A new Constitution in 1864 changed Greece's form of government from constitutional monarchy to the more democratic crowned republic . In 1875 parliamentary majority as a requirement for government

1230-570: A large hinterland behind the Marmara shore, some of it still rural. Lake Büyükçekmece was connected to the sea until it was separated by a dam to supply fresh water to Istanbul . The Mimar Sinan Bridge is located in this area. Büyükçekmece Basketbol is a professional basketball team playing in the highest national division, where's Büyükçekmece Tepecikspor is a sports club best known for its football team. Greece – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in

1353-627: A major cultural and economic centre, was home to the Minoan civilization known for its colourful art , religious figurines , and monumental palaces . The Minoans wrote their undeciphered language using scripts known as Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphs . On the mainland, the Mycenaean civilization developed around 1750 BC and lasted until c.  1100 BC. The Mycenaeans possessed advanced military and built large fortifications . They worshiped many gods and used Linear B to write

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1476-458: A nice bioclimatic school. At the beginning of the 20th century, outside the school complex "Georgios Glarakis", line 2 of the tram ended, starting from Agios Dionysios, going up Dimitriou Gounari Street, passing behind the church of Pantanassa, entering Roman Odeon and finished outside the Glarakis school complex. Historical buildings and mansions of the city, apart Tzini's house, include also

1599-516: A protracted war of independence , which started in 1821, Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830. Over the first hundred years, the Kingdom of Greece sought territorial expansion , which was mainly realized in the early 20th century during the Balkan Wars and up until the catastrophic defeat of its Asia Minor Campaign in 1922. The short-lived republic that was established in 1924

1722-719: A ruling minority. As a result, during the centuries that followed a vernacular form of Greek , known as koine , and Greek culture was spread , while the Greeks adopted Eastern deities and cults . Greek science, technology, and mathematics reached their peak during the Hellenistic period. Aspiring to maintain their autonomy and independence from the Antigonid kings of the Macedonians , many poleis of Greece united in koina or sympoliteiai i.e. federations, while after

1845-773: A significant barrier to east–west travel. Its extensions cross through the Peloponnese, ending in the island of Crete. The Vikos Gorge , part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in the Pindus range, is listed by the Guinness book of World Records as the deepest gorge in the world. Another notable formation are the Meteora rock pillars, atop which have been built medieval Greek Orthodox monasteries. Northeastern Greece features another high-altitude mountain range,

1968-417: A small mountainous reservoir-dam near the village of Souli and subsequently pumped in order to provide energy for the country's first hydroelectric plant . Other smaller streams are Charadros , Meilichos , Kallinaos , Panagitsa and the mountain torrent Diakoniaris . Patras, like much of Western Greece , has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ). It features

2091-438: A suburb of Patras. Patras hosts several timber manufacturing companies, and a wood distribution center of Shelman . The largest local company is Abex . The paper sector is also active including a paper factory belonging to Georgia-Pacific ( Delica ) and two important Greek companies, Elite and El-pack , headquartered in the city. Patras has several packing and industrial equipment companies. The most important of them are

2214-471: Is Ἑλλάς ( Hellas , classical: [hel.lás] , modern: [eˈlas] ). This is the source of the English alternative name Hellas , which is mostly found in archaic or poetic contexts today. The Greek adjectival form ελληνικός ( ellinikos , [eliniˈkos] ) is sometimes also translated as Hellenic and is often rendered in this way in the formal names of Greek institutions, as in

2337-496: Is 1,160 km (721 mi). The country lies approximately between latitudes 34° and 42° N , and longitudes 19° and 30° E , with the extreme points being: the village Ormenio in the North and the islands Gavdos (South), Strongyli near Kastellorizo /Megisti (East), and Othonoi (West). The island Gavdos is considered the southernmost island of Europe. Approximately 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making

2460-560: Is built at the foot of Mount Panachaikon , overlooking the Gulf of Patras . As of the 2021 census, the municipality of Patras has a population of 215,922, while the urban population is 173,600. The core settlement has a history spanning four millennia. In the Roman period, it had become a cosmopolitan center of the eastern Mediterranean whilst, according to the Christian tradition, it was also

2583-588: Is expected to expand its activities in 2019. The Corallia Innovation Hub, Innohub hosts many companies focusing on Microelectronics. Among them one of the largest is the multinational software company Citrix Systems which operates a R&D centre with more than 100 computer scientists and engineers. Another company that maintains an R&D center in Patras is Dialog Semiconductor , a UK-based manufacturer of semiconductor-based system solutions. Another large Greek IT company, Unisystems announced recently (October 2018)

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2706-754: The Apollon Theatre in Georgiou I Square, the City Hall, the headquarters of the Local Trade Association and the Court of Justice. A replica of Patras Lighthouse , the city's emblematic old lighthouse – which was at the dock of Ayios Nikolaos – rises at the end of Trion Navarchon street, near the temple of Saint Andreas. In general, much of Patras' coastline is framed by roads and avenues running alongside; these include Dymaion Coast to

2829-1068: The Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the East Mediterranean province of the Mediterranean Region and the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region . According to the World Wide Fund for Nature and the European Environment Agency , the territory of Greece can be subdivided into six ecoregions : the Illyrian deciduous forests , Pindus Mountains mixed forests , Balkan mixed forests , Rhodope montane mixed forests , Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests , and Crete Mediterranean forests . It had

2952-888: The Council of Europe , NATO (since 1952), the OECD , the WTO , and the OSCE . Greece has a unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry , and prominent shipping sector . The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Greece was the ninth most-visited country in the world in 2023. The native name of the country in Modern Greek is Ελλάδα ( Elláda , pronounced [eˈlaða] ). The corresponding form in Ancient Greek and conservative formal Modern Greek ( Katharevousa )

3075-582: The Cyclades , as well as some areas in the north featuring a cold equivalent climate ( Köppen : BSk ), such as the cities of Thessaloniki and Larissa . The mountainous areas and the higher elevations of northwestern Greece (parts of Epirus , Central Greece , Thessaly , Western Macedonia ) as well as in the mountainous central parts of Peloponnese – including parts of the regional units of Achaea , Arcadia , and Laconia  – feature an Alpine climate ( Köppen : D , E ) with heavy snowfalls during

3198-698: The Despotate of Morea and its despot Constantine Palaiologos , who thus succeeded in recovering for the Byzantine Empire the whole of the Morea , apart from Venetian possessions. The administration of Patras was given to George Sphrantzes , while Constantine was immediately contested by the Ottoman Empire and later, in 1449, became emperor of the Byzantine empire. Patras remained a part of

3321-585: The Despotate of Morea until 1458, when it was conquered by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire , Mehmet II . Under the Ottomans, it was known as "Baliabadra", from the Greek : Παλαιά Πάτρα ('Old Patras'), as opposed to Νέα Πάτρα ('new Patra'), the town of Ypati in Central Greece . Though Mehmet granted the city special privileges and tax reductions, it never became a major centre of commerce. Venice and Genoa attacked and captured it several times in

3444-642: The European Union  (light green) Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in Southeast Europe . Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula , Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland , the Ionian Sea to the west, and

3567-462: The Greek genocide (1914–22), when Ottoman and Turkish officials contributed to the death of several hundred thousand Asia Minor Greeks, along with similar numbers of Assyrians and a larger number of Armenians . The resultant Greek exodus from Asia Minor was made permanent, and expanded, in an official population exchange between Greece and Turkey , as part of the Treaty of Lausanne which ended

3690-508: The London Conference of 1832 , Britain, France and Russia installed Bavarian Prince Otto von Wittelsbach as monarch . Otto's reign was despotic , and in its first 11 years of independence Greece was ruled by a Bavarian oligarchy led by Josef Ludwig von Armansperg and, later, by Otto himself, as King and Premier. Greece remained under the influence of its three protecting great powers. In 1843 an uprising forced Otto to grant

3813-620: The Macedonian Struggle , which ended with the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Amidst dissatisfaction with the seeming inertia and unattainability of national aspirations , military officers organised a coup in 1909 and called on Cretan politician Eleftherios Venizelos , who conveyed a vision of national regeneration. After winning two elections and becoming prime minister in 1910, Venizelos initiated fiscal, social, and constitutional reforms , reorganised

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3936-624: The Near East to Europe. Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is often considered the birthplace of Western civilisation. The earliest of them was the Cycladic culture which flourished on the islands of the Aegean Sea , starting around 3200 BC, and produced an abundance of folded-arm and other marble figurines . From c.  3100 BC to 1100 BC, Crete ,

4059-508: The Rhodope range, spreading across the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests, including the famous Dadia Forest in the Evros regional unit , in the far northeast of the country. Extensive plains are primarily located in the regions of Thessaly , Central Macedonia , and Thrace . They constitute key economic regions as they are among

4182-654: The Russian -instigated Orlov Revolt in 1770. These uprisings were put down by the Ottomans with great bloodshed. Many Greeks were conscripted as Ottoman subjects to serve in the Ottoman army and especially the navy, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, responsible for the Orthodox, remained in general loyal to the Empire. In the 18th century, Greek merchants came to dominate trade within

4305-607: The Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin , featuring thousands of islands . The country comprises nine traditional geographic regions , and has a population of over 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki and Patras . Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization , being

4428-608: The Second Hellenic Republic declared. In 1935, a royalist general-turned-politician Georgios Kondylis took power after a coup and abolished the republic, holding a rigged referendum , after which King George II was restored to the throne. An agreement between Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and George II followed in 1936, which installed Metaxas as head of a dictatorship known as the 4th of August Regime , inaugurating authoritarian rule that would last until 1974. Greece remained on good terms with Britain and

4551-498: The Slavic invasion in the 7th century resulted in a collapse in imperial authority in the Greek peninsula . The imperial government retained control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly the populated walled cities such as Athens, Corinth and Thessalonica. However, the view that Greece underwent decline, fragmentation and depopulation is considered outdated, as cities show institutional continuity and prosperity between

4674-517: The Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Having achieved record economic growth from 1950 through the 1970s , Greece is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy . A founding member of the United Nations , Greece was the tenth member to join what is today the European Union in 1981 and is part of the eurozone . It is a member of other international institutions, including

4797-947: The United Kingdom , each sent a navy. The allied fleet destroyed the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino , and the Greeks captured Central Greece by 1828. The nascent Greek state was recognised under the London Protocol in 1830. In 1827, Ioannis Kapodistrias , was chosen by the Third National Assembly at Troezen as the first governor of the First Hellenic Republic . Kapodistrias established state, economic and military institutions. Tensions appeared between him and local interests and, following his assassination in 1831 and

4920-489: The bishopric of Athyra in a list of dioceses is of the late 15th century, but a seal has been found of a 10th-century Bishop Orestes of the see. No longer a residential bishopric, Athyra is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . The Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan built a bridge to cross the mouth of the inlet ( Lake Büyükçekmece ) and there are ruins of inns and caravansarai , which show this

5043-460: The election . In 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Katerina Sakellaropoulou , as the first female President of Greece . In February 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to recognise same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. Located in Southern and Southeast Europe, Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into

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5166-403: The urban geography of Patras is its division into upper and lower sections. This is the result of an interplay between natural geography and human settlement patterns; the lower section of the city (Kato Poli), which includes the 19th-century urban core and the port, is adjacent to the sea and stretches between the estuaries of the rivers of Glafkos and Haradros. It is built on what was originally

5289-444: The 15th and 16th centuries, but never re-established their rule effectively, except for a period of Venetian rule in 1687–1715 after the Morean War . It has been noted that during and in the aftermath of the suppressed 1770 Orlov revolt "when the Greeks got the upper hand they settled old scores; when the Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless: recapturing Patras, they left scarcely anyone alive." In 1772,

5412-401: The 1922 population exchange between Greece and Turkey . In the Second World War, the city was a major target of Italian air raids . In the Axis occupation period, a German military command was established and German and Italian troops stationed in the city. After the liberation in 1944, the city recovered, but in later years was increasingly overshadowed by the urban pole of Athens. Since 2014,

5535-402: The 19th century, many "crypto-Christians" returned to their old religious allegiance. The nature of Ottoman administration of Greece varied, though it was invariably arbitrary and often harsh. Some cities had governors appointed by the Sultan , while others, like Athens, were self-governed municipalities. Mountainous regions in the interior and many islands remained effectively autonomous from

5658-426: The 2nd and 3rd centuries, and Christianity's early leaders and writers were mostly Greek-speaking, though not from Greece itself. The New Testament was written in Greek, and some sections attest to the importance of churches in Greece in early Christianity . Nevertheless, much of Greece clung to paganism, and ancient Greek religious practices were still in vogue in the late 4th century AD, when they were outlawed by

5781-417: The 4th and 6th centuries. In the early 6th century, Greece had approximately 80 cities according to the Synekdemos chronicle, and the 4th to the 7th century is considered one of high prosperity. Until the 8th century almost all of modern Greece was under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Rome . Byzantine Emperor Leo III moved the border of the Patriarchate of Constantinople westward and northward in

5904-432: The 4th century BC, the Greek poleis were subjugated to the rising power of the kingdom of Macedon under king Philip II into an alliance known as the Hellenic League . After Philip's assassination in 336 BC, his son and king of Macedon , Alexander , set himself leader of a Panhellenic campaign against the Persian Empire and abolished it. Undefeated in battle, he marched, until his untimely death in 323 BC, to

6027-451: The 50 years of peace afterwards are known as the Golden Age of Athens , a seminal period that laid many foundations of Western civilization. Lack of political unity resulted in frequent conflict between Greek states. The most devastating intra-Greek war was the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which marked the demise of the Athenian Empire and the emergence of Spartan and later Theban hegemony . Weakened by constant wars among them during

6150-415: The 5th century, is known as the Byzantine Empire , but called "Kingdom of the Romans" in its own time. With its capital in Constantinople , its language and culture were Greek and its religion was predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian . The Empire's Balkan territories, including Greece, suffered from the dislocation of barbarian invasions ; raids by Goths and Huns in the 4th and 5th centuries and

6273-667: The 7th or 8th centuries BC. Poetry shaped beliefs to the Olympian gods , but ancient Greek religion had no priestly class or systematic dogmas and encompassed other currents, such as popular cults, like that of Dionysus , mysteries and magic . At this time there emerged kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, which spread to the shores of the Black Sea , Magna Graecia in southern Italy , and Asia Minor . These reached great prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of classical Greece , expressed in architecture , drama , science , mathematics and philosophy . In 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted

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6396-426: The 8th century. The Byzantine recovery of lost provinces during the Arab–Byzantine wars began in the 8th century and most of the Greek peninsula came under imperial control again. This process was facilitated by a large influx of Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula, while many Slavs were captured and re-settled in Asia Minor. During the 11th and 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in

6519-489: The Bulgarians 40,000, and the Italians 9,000. Following liberation, Greece annexed the Dodecanese Islands from Italy and regained Western Thrace from Bulgaria. The country descended into a civil war between communist forces and the anti-communist Greek government, which lasted until 1949, with the latter's victory. The conflict, one of the earliest struggles of the Cold War , resulted in further economic devastation, population displacement and political polarisation for

6642-425: The Great Powers, however, Greece lost little territory, while Crete was established as an autonomous state under Prince George of Greece . With state coffers empty, fiscal policy came under International Financial Control . The government, aiming to quell Komitadjis and detach the Slavophone peasants of the region from Bulgarian influence, sponsored a guerrilla campaign in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia , known as

6765-428: The Greek peninsula benefiting from economic growth. The Greek Orthodox Church was instrumental in the spread of Greek ideas to the wider Orthodox world . Following the Fourth Crusade and fall of Constantinople to the " Latins " in 1204, mainland Greece was split between the Greek Despotate of Epirus and French rule (the Frankokratia ). The re-establishment of the imperial capital in Constantinople in 1261

6888-429: The Hellenic League in 481 BC, led by Sparta , which was the first recorded union of Greek states since the mythical union of the Trojan War . The second Persian invasion of Greece was decisively defeated in 480–479 BC, at Salamis and Plataea , marking the eventual withdrawal of the Persians from all their European territories. The Greek victories in the Greco-Persian Wars are a pivotal moment in history, as

7011-443: The Ionian Islands, located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. The climate of Greece is primarily Mediterranean ( Köppen : Csa ), featuring mild to cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. This climate occurs at most of the coastal locations, including Athens , the Cyclades , the Dodecanese , Crete , the Peloponnese , the Ionian Islands , and parts of mainland Greece . The Pindus mountain range strongly affects

7134-412: The Ionian islands and Constantinople lived in prosperity, and Greeks of Constantinople ( Phanariots ) achieved power within the Ottoman administration, much of Greece suffered the economic consequences of Ottoman conquest. Heavy taxes were enforced, and in later years the Ottoman Empire enacted a policy of creation of hereditary estates, effectively turning the rural Greek populations into serfs , while

7257-448: The Ottoman Empire, established communities throughout the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Europe, and used their wealth to fund educational activities that brought younger generations into contact with Western ideas. In the 18th century, an increase in learning during the Modern Greek Enlightenment led to the emergence among Westernized Greek-speaking elites of the notion of a Greek nation . A secret organization formed in this milieu

7380-590: The Ottoman conquest had cut Greece off from European historical developments. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople were considered by the Ottoman governments as the ruling authorities of the entire Orthodox Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, whether ethnically Greek or not. Although the Ottoman state did not force non-Muslims to convert to Islam , Christians faced discrimination. Discrimination, particularly when combined with harsh treatment by local Ottoman authorities, led to conversions to Islam, if only superficially. In

7503-462: The Ottomans in 1453 and by 1460, Ottoman conquest of mainland Greece was complete. While most of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, Cyprus and Crete remained Venetian and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1669 respectively and Venice maintained control of the Ionian Islands until 1797, after which they fell under first French, then British control. While some Greeks in

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7626-407: The Ottomans in 1877 , Greek sentiment rallied to Russia, but Greece was too poor and concerned about British intervention, to enter the war. Greeks in Crete continued to stage revolts, and in 1897, the Greek government, bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans. In the ensuing Greco-Turkish War of 1897 , the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated. Through the intervention of

7749-465: The Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republican constitution was promulgated in 1975 following a referendum which chose not to restore the monarchy. Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou , George Papandreou's son, founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative New Democracy party, with the two political formations dominating government over the next four decades. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980. Greece became

7872-430: The Prapopoulos building, Golfinopoulos mansion ( Alhambra ), Perivolaropoulos mansion, Palamas house, while among the demolished after WWII were Tsiklitiras mansion, Kanellopoulos house, Chaidopoulos building, Frangopoulos house, Green mansion and Mineyko mansion. Nowadays, the municipal units of Rio , Paralia , Messatida and Vrachnaiika have functionally become a part of the wider urban complex of Patras. Apart from

7995-427: The Roman emperor Theodosius I in 391–392. The last recorded Olympic games were held in 393, and many temples were destroyed or damaged in the century that followed. The closure of the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens by Emperor Justinian in 529 is considered the end of antiquity, although there is evidence that the academy continued. The Roman Empire in the east, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in

8118-428: The Turks and Egyptians ravaged the islands, committing massacres . This galvanized opinion in western Europe in favour of the Greeks. The Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt , who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha with an army, in return for territorial gain. By the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control. Three great powers , France , Russian Empire , and

8241-482: The adoption of the euro, Greece could no longer devalue its currency to regain competitiveness. In the 2012 elections, there was major political change, with new parties emerging from the collapse of the two main parties, PASOK and New Democracy. In 2015, Alexis Tsipras was elected as prime minister, the first outside the two main parties. The Greek government-debt crisis , and subsequent austerity policies, resulted in social strife. The crisis ended around 2018, with

8364-488: The banks of the Indus . Alexander's empire fragmented, inaugurating the Hellenistic period . After fierce conflict amongst themselves, the generals that succeeded Alexander and their successors founded large personal kingdoms in the areas he had conquered, such as that of the Ptolemies in Egypt and of the Seleucids in Syria , Mesopotamia and Iran . The newly founded poleis of these kingdoms, such as Alexandria and Antioch , were settled by Greeks as members of

8487-459: The biological diversity of the area and the preservation of its climate is the swamp of Agyia , a small and coastal aquatic ecosystem of only 30 ha (74 acres), north of the city centre. The main features of this wetland are its apparent survival difficulty, being at the heart of a densely populated urban centre that features a relatively arid climate and its admittedly high level of biodiversity, with over 90 species of birds being observed until

8610-446: The birthplace of democracy , Western philosophy , Western literature , historiography , political science , major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre , and the Olympic Games . From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states known as poleis (singular polis ) that spanned the Mediterranean and Black seas. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in

8733-401: The castle, around the Roman Odeon , the church of Pantokrator, in the Upper Town (Ano Poli), is the most appealing of the city, because of its status as the only area where construction height is limited to two-storey buildings. Ιn Ano Poli is interesting the old school complex "Georgios Glarakis" work of the architect Georgios Petrιtsopoulos in 1931 which is built with stone and recently became

8856-526: The central Ottoman state for centuries. The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as a "dark age" in Greek history, with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoman rule appearing remote. However, prior to the Greek Revolution of 1821, there had been wars which saw Greeks fight against the Ottomans, such as the Greek participation in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Morean War of 1684–1699, and

8979-459: The city center, the main districts of Patras are: Patras municipal unit : Rio municipal unit : Paralia : Messatida : Vrachneika : Patras is 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens by road, 94 km (58 mi) northeast of Pyrgos , 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Rio , 134 km (83 miles) west of Corinth , 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Kalavryta and 144 km (89 mi) northwest of Tripoli . A central feature of

9102-529: The city largely depends on its service sector. The area still retains some of its traditional winemaking and foodstuff industries as well as a small agricultural sector. Major businesses in Patras include: Most Greek banks have their regional headquarters for Western Greece in Patras. In 2010, the new Infocenter of Patras was established, inside the neoclassical building of the former market "Agora Argyri", in Ayiou Andreou street. The building includes

9225-593: The city's mayor is Kostas Peletidis . The city is divided into the upper and the lower section, connected with roads and broad stairs. The upper section ( Ano Poli ) is the older and the more picturesque; however, the lower section ( Kato Poli ) is laid out according to the 1858 city plan , featuring a variety of squares. The most notable of these are the Psila Alonia and the Georgiou I Square . A number of notable neoclassical buildings are to be found, including

9348-536: The city: the Agios Andreas Hospital is the oldest of the two; and General University Hospital of Patras . There also exists two smaller state hospitals, Karamandanio - a children's hospital, and the Center of Chest Diseases of Southwestern Greece. A large range of private hospitals and clinics operate in parallel. Numerous art venues and an ultra-modern archaeological museum were constructed for

9471-474: The climate of the country, as areas to the west of the range are considerably wetter on average (due to greater exposure to south-westerly systems bringing in moisture) than the areas lying to the east of the range (due to a rain shadow effect), resulting to some coastal areas in the south falling to the hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) category, such as parts of the Athens Riviera and some of

9594-705: The country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Mount Olympus , the mythical abode of the Greek Gods , culminates at Mytikas peak 2,918 metres (9,573 ft), the highest in the country. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. The Pindus, a continuation of the Dinaric Alps , reaches a maximum elevation of 2,637 m (8,652 ft) at Mt. Smolikas (the second-highest in Greece) and historically has been

9717-549: The dowry was abolished, while education and foreign policy doctrines changed. However, Papandreou's tenure has been associated with corruption, high inflation, stagnation and budget deficits that later caused problems. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. In 2010, Greece suffered from the Great Recession and related European sovereign debt crisis . Due to

9840-649: The earliest attested form of Greek known as Mycenaean Greek . The collapse of the Mycenean civilization ushered in the Greek Dark Ages , from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the year of the first Olympic Games . The Iliad and the Odyssey , the foundational texts of Western literature , are believed to have been composed by Homer in

9963-675: The early 1990s, according to a study by the Patras Bureau of the Hellenic Ornithological Society . Patras is the regional capital of Western Greece and the capital of the Achaea regional unit. Since 2011, the city is also the capital of the administrative division, which includes (along with Western Greece) the regions of Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands . The current municipality of Patras

10086-635: The early years of the Turkish Republic, it was still very rural, with village cottages, farmland behind, and by the sea the odd weekend home for people of Istanbul. The area was a very popular day or weekend trip from the city, there is a sandy shoreline, a long seafront and until the 1970s families would come out to Büyükçekmece for fishing, crabbing or for a day on the beach. There are 24 neighbourhoods in Büyükçekmece District: The area administered by Büyükçekmece includes

10209-513: The end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth. Simultaneously, Tsipras, and the leader of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev , signed the Prespa Agreement , solving the naming dispute that had strained the relations and eased the latter's way to become a member of the EU and NATO. In 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became Greece's new prime minister, after his centre-right New Democracy won

10332-517: The endangered brown bear , the Eurasian lynx , the roe deer , and the wild goat. Patras Patras ( Greek : Πάτρα , romanized :  Pátra pronounced [ˈpatra] ; Katharevousa and Ancient Greek : Πάτραι ; Latin : Patrae ) is Greece 's third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece , in the northern Peloponnese , 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens . The city

10455-524: The establishment of economic relations with the East, a stratum of wealthy euergetai dominated their internal life. From about 200 BC the Roman Republic became increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a series of wars with Macedon . Macedon's defeat at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC signalled the end of Antigonid power. In 146 BC, Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and

10578-434: The facilities still cover hundreds of acres in the south side of the city. Some of the largest industries in the city belong to the soft drinks and drinks sector. There are factories from Coca-Cola HBC and Athenian Brewery established in area, along with the facilities of the largest local company in soft-drinks production, Loux ( ΛΟΥΞ ). The city is also home to many leading Greek wineries and distilleries, among them

10701-399: The few arable places in the country. Greece features a vast number of islands —between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition, 227 of which are inhabited. Crete is the largest and most populous island; Euboea , separated from the mainland by the 60 m-wide Euripus Strait , is the second largest, followed by Lesbos and Rhodes . The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into

10824-821: The following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands , a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades , a small tight group off the coast of northeast Euboea; and

10947-529: The fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the known ancient world from the eastern Mediterranean to northwestern India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire , which

11070-493: The local Antzoulatos and the multinational Frigoglass , a subsidiary of Coca-Cola , headquartered in the suburbs of Patras. Ideal Bikes is the leading bike producer in Greece, with large export activities. The once omnipresent textile industry of the city is now almost defunct after the shut-down of the huge factory of Peiraiki-Patraiki (Πειραϊκή-Πατραϊκή), followed by numerous smaller textile industries. The remains of

11193-471: The main export port for the agricultural produce of the Peloponnese. In the early 20th century, Patras developed fast and became the first Greek city to introduce public streetlights and electrified tramways. The war effort necessitated by the First World War hampered the city's development and also created uncontrollable urban sprawl after the influx of displaced persons from Asia Minor after

11316-462: The military, made Greece a member of the Balkan League , and led it through the Balkan Wars . By 1913, Greece's territory and population had doubled, annexing Crete, Epirus , and Macedonia . The struggle between King Constantine I and charismatic Venizelos over foreign policy on the eve of First World War dominated politics and divided the country into two opposing groups . During parts of

11439-574: The municipality of Patras over the years 2012. From 2011 on, can data also reflect the city's urban area population, as all the municipalities that made up the Patras Urban Area were joined to create the new larger Patras municipality, formed at the 2011 local government reform . Heavy infrastructure works performed in the 2000s include the Peiros-Parapeiros dam (to provide water supply for Patras and surrounding towns) and

11562-674: The needs of European Culture Capital designation. The cultural and educational facilities include the Municipal Library, the university libraries, many theatres, the municipal art gallery, the University of Patras 's facilities, the Hellenic Open University and the Technical Institute of Patras. A number of research facilities are also established in the university campus area. The economy of

11685-415: The new junta strongman. On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed Cypriot coup, triggering a crisis in Greece that led to the regime's collapse and restoration of democracy through Metapolitefsi . The former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from self-exile and the first multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of

11808-572: The next thirty years. Although post-war was characterised by social strife and marginalisation of the left, Greece experienced rapid economic growth and recovery, propelled in part by the U.S. Marshall Plan . In 1952, Greece joined NATO , reinforcing its membership in the Western Bloc of the Cold War. King Constantine II 's dismissal of George Papandreou 's centrist government in 1965 prompted political turbulence, which culminated in

11931-655: The official name of the Greek state, the Hellenic Republic ( Ελληνική Δημοκρατία , [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a] ). The English names Greece and Greek are derived, via the Latin Graecia and Graecus , from the name of the Graeci ( Γραικοί , Graikoí ; singular Γραικός , Graikós ), one of first ancient Greek tribes to settle Magna Graecia in southern Italy . The Apidima Cave in Mani , in southern Greece, has been suggested to contain

12054-529: The oldest remains of early modern humans outside of Africa, dated to 200,000 years ago. However others suggest the remains represent archaic humans . All three stages of the Stone Age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave . Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe, as Greece lies on the route by which farming spread from

12177-451: The performing arts and modern urban literature. It was European Capital of Culture in 2006. In 1205, the city was captured by William of Champlitte and Villehardouin , and became a part of the principality of Achaea . It became the seat of the Barony of Patras , and its Latin archbishop primate of the principality. In 1408, Patras became Venetian , until it was recaptured in 1430 by

12300-529: The place of Saint Andrew 's martyrdom . Dubbed as Greece's ' Gate to the West' , Patras is a commercial hub, while its busy port is a nodal point for trade and communication with Italy and the rest of Western Europe . The city has three public universities, hosting a large student population and rendering Patras an important scientific centre with a field of excellence in technological education. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge connects Patras' easternmost suburb of Rio to

12423-525: The rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate. The process was completed in 27 BC, when emperor Augustus annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the senatorial province of Achaea . Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became heavily influenced by Greek culture. Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenised East were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in

12546-519: The river Kallinaos. Patra is a relatively newly built city, as its medieval buildings were completely destroyed in the Greek War of Independence . The oldest surviving buildings (apart from ancient monuments and the castle) are the church of Pantocrator in Ano Poli and a residential building (Tzini's house) at the corner of Agiou Nikolaou and Maisonos street, built in 1832. The area on the south of

12669-568: The sea at the southern end of the Balkans , ending at the Peloponnese peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth ) and strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its highly indented coastline and numerous islands give Greece the 11th longest national coastline in the world, with 13,676 km (8,498 mi); its land boundary

12792-743: The second-largest flour-mills in Greece, Kepenou-Mills . Acciona has completed the largest wind park in Greece, on the Panachaiko mountain, overlooking the city of Patras. The Public Electric Company, operates a small hydroelectric plant on river Glafkos . Intracom (Greece's largest multinational provider of telecommunications products) facilities in Patras house the offices of Telecommunications Software Development, Terminal Equipment Design, Development Programmes, and Support Services divisions. Expansion plans have recently been completed. INTRASOFT, another core company of INTRACOM holdings group, has recently (2018) began operations in Patras and it

12915-468: The south and Iroon Polytechneiou Street to the north. Patras and its region is home to various Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Monuments, including the Roman Odeon of Patras, the Fortress of Rio and the Fortress (castle) of Patras. More specifically, the main sights of the city are: Other Roman monuments include the ruins of the Roman stadium, remains of the Roman wall and a preserved bridge over

13038-486: The tenth member of the European Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised the standard of living . In 1981, the election of Andreas Papandreou resulted in reforms over the 1980s. He recognised civil marriage,

13161-539: The town of Antirrio, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. Every year, in February, the city hosts one of Europe's largest carnivals. Notable features of the Patras Carnival include its mammoth satirical floats and balls and parades, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors in a Mediterranean climate . Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in

13284-403: The typical mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers, with spring and autumn being pleasant transitional seasons. Autumn in Patras, however, is wetter than spring. Humidity is high during the winter months and lower during the summer. Snowfall is extremely rare in coastal areas but is more common and abundant in the surrounding mountains. Patras falls in 10b hardiness zone . Of great importance for

13407-515: The venerable Achaia Clauss and Parparoussi located in Rio. In the food sector, Friesland Foods , through the local subsidiary NoyNoy , operates a new yogurt factory in the city's industrial area. Patras is also home to important fish-farming companies ( Andromeda , Nireus ). ECOFEED operates in the industrial zone of Patras, the largest fish-feeds factory in the Mediterranean. The city hosts

13530-703: The war, Greece had two governments: A royalist pro-German one in Athens and a Venizelist pro- Entente one in Thessaloniki . They united in 1917, when Greece entered the war on the side of the Entente. After the war, Greece attempted expansion into Asia Minor , a region with a large native Greek population, but was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) , contributing to a flight of Asia Minor Greeks . These events overlapped, happening during

13653-476: The war. The following era was marked by instability, as over 1.5 million propertyless Greek refugees from Turkey (some of whom could not speak Greek) had to be integrated into Greek society. The refugees made a dramatic population boost, as they were more than a quarter of Greece's prior population. Following the catastrophic events in Asia Minor, the monarchy was abolished via a referendum in 1924 and

13776-713: The winter of 1941–42, tens of thousands more died because of reprisals by Nazis and collaborators , the economy was ruined, and most Greek Jews (tens of thousands) were deported and murdered in Nazi concentration camps. The Greek Resistance , one of the most effective resistance movements, fought against the Nazis. The German occupiers committed atrocities, mass executions, and wholesale slaughter of civilians and destruction of towns and villages in reprisals. Hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost 1 million Greeks left homeless. The Germans executed around 21,000 Greeks,

13899-577: The winter. Most of the inland parts of northern Greece, in Central Macedonia , the lower elevations of Western Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace feature a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ) with cold, damp winters and hot, moderately dry summers with occasional thunderstorms. Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief periods of snowy weather are possible even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athens . Phytogeographically , Greece belongs to

14022-489: The world's first democratic system of government in Athens . By 500 BC, the Persian Empire controlled the Greek city states in Asia Minor and Macedonia. Attempts by Greek city-states of Asia Minor to overthrow Persian rule failed , and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greece in 492 BC, but was forced to withdraw after defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In response, the Greek city-states formed

14145-554: Was a stopping place on the road to Europe . At the beginning of the Ottoman period, it was empty forest and farmland, and has gradually been settled by Turkish people migrating in from the Balkans and the Caucasus . According to the Ottoman population statistics of 1914 , the kaza of Büyükçekmece had a total population of 13,121, consisting of 9,511 Greeks , 3,255 Muslims, 195 Bulgarians , 143 Roma people and 17 Armenians . In

14268-647: Was accompanied by the empire's recovery of much of the Greek peninsula, while the islands remained under Genoese and Venetian control. During the Paleologi dynasty (1261–1453) a new era of Greek patriotism emerged accompanied by a turning back to ancient Greece. In the 14th century much of the Greek peninsula was lost by the Byzantine Empire to the Serbs and then the Ottomans . Constantinople fell to

14391-470: Was beset by the ramifications of civil strife and the challenge of resettling refugees from Turkey . In 1936 a royalist dictatorship inaugurated a long period of authoritarian rule, marked by military occupation , civil war and military dictatorship . Democracy was restored in 1974–75, leading to the current parliamentary republic . It was a belligerent on the side of the Greek Cypriots in

14514-406: Was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of 5 municipalities that made up the Patras Urban Area. These former municipalities, which became municipal units, are: (in parentheses their population, 2011) The municipality has an area of 334.858 km (129 sq mi), the municipal unit 125.420 km (48 sq mi). The following list presents demographic data on

14637-654: Was introduced, curbing the power of the monarchy to appoint minority governments . Corruption, coupled with increased spending to fund infrastructure like the Corinth Canal , overtaxed the weak economy and forced the declaration of public insolvency in 1893. Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Hellenic lands under Ottoman rule; the Cretan Revolt (1866–1869) had raised nationalist fervour. When war broke out between Russia and

14760-492: Was moved from Nafplio , where it had been since 1829, to Athens , then a smaller town. The Church of Greece was established as Greece's national church and 25 March, the day of Annunciation , was chosen as the anniversary of the Greek War of Independence to reinforce the link between Greek identity and Orthodoxy . Otto was deposed in 1862 because of the Bavarian-dominated government, heavy taxation, and

14883-658: Was not allied with the Axis . In October 1940, Fascist Italy demanded the surrender of Greece, but it refused , and, in the Greco-Italian War , Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania. French general Charles de Gaulle praised the fierceness of the Greek resistance, but the country fell to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece . The Nazis proceeded to administer Athens and Thessaloniki, while other regions were given to Fascist Italy and Bulgaria. Over 100,000 civilians died of starvation during

15006-474: Was predominately Greek in culture and language . The Greek Orthodox Church , which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox world . After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Latin possessions were established in parts of the Greek peninsula, but most of the area fell under Ottoman rule by the mid-15th century. Following

15129-814: Was the Filiki Eteria , in 1814. They engaged traditional strata of the Greek Orthodox world in their liberal nationalist cause. The first revolt began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities , but was put down by the Ottomans. This spurred the Greeks of the Peloponnese and on 17 March the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By October 1821 the Greeks had captured Tripolitsa . There were revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece , which were suppressed. In 1822 and 1824

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