127-505: The Hellenic Railways Organisation or OSE ( Greek : Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδος , romanized : Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados or Greek : Ο.Σ.Ε. ) is the Greek national railway company which owns, maintains and operates all railway infrastructure in Greece with the exception of Athens' rapid transit lines . Train services on these lines are run by Hellenic Train S.A .,
254-473: A Mediterranean climate . Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in 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
381-466: 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
508-522: A Jung steam locomotive, while other rolling stock shall remain as display items (a Tubize steam locomotive, a Breda railbus etc.). This 16-kilometre-long (9.9 mi) branch line, part of the SPAP network, served the port of Kyllini , from which ferries sail to Zakynthos Island. Services on this branch started in August 1891 and lasted until 1988, with full services and with limited services until 1996, when
635-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,
762-646: 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
889-466: 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 ,
1016-472: A distance of 28 km, was constructed between 1903 and 1906 by the Italian engineer Evaristo De Chirico. The railway was first opened in 1906. It is an independent line, not a continuation of the one metre gauge Volos to Kalambaka line. Although abandoned in the 1970s, it has been restored from Ano Lechonia to Milies. A twice weekly "tourist train" operates during the summer on Saturdays and Sundays. This
1143-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in
1270-508: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on
1397-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near
SECTION 10
#17327903811241524-667: A former OSE subsidiary, Rail Cargo Logistics Goldair, Pearl and Grup Feroviar Român . It was founded on 1 January 1971, with the Legislative Decree 674/1970, taking over the responsibilities as the successor to the Hellenic State Railways SEK. which had been founded in 1920. OSE is owned 100% by the Greek State. In 1996 ERGOSE was created within OSE to facilitate infrastructure projects. In 2001,
1651-610: 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 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
1778-695: 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 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
1905-513: A major centre of commerce. Venice and Genoa attacked and captured it several times in 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
2032-513: A major role in the economic development of the Pelion region. The stations that serve this line are rarely operational, but they still exist. This was formerly a 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge line throughout its length from Volos to Kalampaka. However, the track from Paleofarsalos to Kalampaka/Meteora is now 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge . The remainder of
2159-426: A new line was inaugurated running from Acharnai (SKA) junction to Athens International Airport "El Venizelos". Between Iraklio and Koropi, the new line runs along a closed motorway (Attiki Odos) along the general direction of the old Lavrio line, but displaced east. The line is double-track and electrified with 25 kV overhead catenary. When the planned extension from Koropi to Lavrio is built, it will probably follow
2286-515: A part of the wider urban complex of Patras. Apart from 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
2413-468: A short branch line connects Megalopoli to the main line. In Zevgolatio, the line joins the line from Pyrgos–Kyparissia and continues on to Kalamata. This line used to continue from the main station of Kalamata to the old station of "Kalamata Limin" (Kalamata Harbour), now used as an open-air railway museum, and it came to an end at the Port of Kalamata. The track of this last section from Kalamata main station to
2540-417: 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
2667-438: 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
SECTION 20
#17327903811242794-454: 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 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
2921-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout
3048-773: Is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of the Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system
3175-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During
3302-519: Is carried by DMU trains between Kiato and Aigio, where passengers can change to Hellenic Train bus services to Patras. Passengers in Kiato can also choose Hellenic Train bus services to reach Patras . There is work in progress to extend the line to Rio (Bozaitika area), while plans exist to extend the line to Patras. Electrification of the lineup to Rio is in the plan as well. This is a single-track electrified line connecting Thessaloniki with Idomeni, near
3429-601: Is closed and, as of 2009, is being renovated. The heavy rolling stock repair works (Piraeus Central Factory, Κεντρικό Εργοστάσιο Πειραιώς – ΚΕΠ) are located at Lefka ( 37°57′17″N 23°39′03″E / 37.95472°N 23.65083°E / 37.95472; 23.65083 ( Piraeus Central Factory ) ), next to Ergostasio halt, and are accessible from this line. The other Piraeus mainline station ( Peloponnese Station , 37°56′57″N 23°38′36″E / 37.94917°N 23.64333°E / 37.94917; 23.64333 ( Piraeus Peloponnese Station ) )
3556-548: Is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. In 2019 Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane aquared ΕΕΣΣΤΥ As of December 2020, the Greek railway network consists of 2,293 kilometres (1,425 mi) of active line length, some sections of which, such as the Peloponnese metric network, are used only in tourist seasons. The approximate length of the active network in permanent operation reaches 1,800 kilometres (1,100 mi) As in most European Union countries,
3683-520: Is double-tracked between Agioi Anargyroi and Elefsis (near Athens), while for the rest of its remaining section it is single-tracked and non-electrified. After Ano Liosia, the line runs north and west of the Aegaleo mountain range into Eleusis and onwards to the Megara plain. After nine km it reaches Kakia Skala, running between the old and new highways. It then continues between the mountain and
3810-588: 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)
3937-463: Is framed by roads and avenues running alongside; these include Dymaion Coast to 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
Hellenic Railways Organisation - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-453: Is maintained by enthusiasts as a heritage railway. The Peloponnese network belonged since its construction to the former Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways or SPAP ( Greek : Σιδηρόδρομοι Πειραιώς Αθηνών Πελοποννήσου, Sidiródromi Pireós Athinón Peloponnísou; ΣΠΑΠ ) until 1962 when they were merged to Hellenic State Railways or SEK ( Greek : Σιδηρόδρομοι Ελληνικού Κράτους, Sidiródromi Ellinikoú Krátous; ΣΕΚ ). All passenger service on
4191-440: Is near Agios Andreas, although there are no longer freight services on the metric line. Services on this section were suspended on 17 August 2009 due to work in progress for the line regauging to standard gauge. Hellenic Train announced that services will be reinstated on the western part of the line (Diakopto-Patras) on 27 September 2009. A bus service currently serves major stations between Kiato and Patras with no set end date for
4318-482: Is occasionally headed by one of the two restored 2-6-0 steam locomotives. The train climbs to a height of 450 metres during its 22 km journey from Ano Lechonia, a journey which takes one and a half hours. The old station at Milies has been converted into a restaurant with guest rooms. When all three gauge railways were operating from Volos, this gave the station the unique distinction of being terminus to three different gauges of railway. The Pelion railway played
4445-540: Is one of the most important railway lines in Central Greece . Its southern terminus is Oinoi , where there are connections to Athens and Thessaloniki . The 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge , single-track branch line from Larissa to the port of Volos (61 km) was completed in 1960 along the route of a former 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge line. It branches off
4572-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to
4699-588: Is single-track and non-electrified. There is considerable traffic on this stretch as it serves the busy Proastiakos commuter rail service and regional rail service to Thessaloniki and Halkida (Chalkis); as well as other destinations served by Athens. In 1916 the railway from Athens to Platy was completed, linking Athens with the European railway network. The line passes through Thebes and Larissa , and offers connections to several other cities ( Chalcis , Lamia , Volos , Trikala ) through branch lines. At Platy
4826-981: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Patras Patras ( Greek : Πάτρα , romanized : Pátra pronounced [ˈpatra] ; Katharevousa and Ancient Greek : Πάτραι ; Latin : Patrae )
4953-526: Is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around
5080-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,
5207-650: Is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with
Hellenic Railways Organisation - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-452: Is today the manager of the rail infrastructure of Greece. The major lines of the Greek railway network consist of the mostly electrified standard gauge double-track line from Athens to northern Greece- Thessaloniki , a single-track electrified line from Thessaloniki to Idomeni (at the border with North Macedonia ) and the mixed-gauge line from Athens to Peloponnese . Almost all other lines link directly with these two lines. The main line of
5461-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It
5588-825: The Georgiou I Square . A number of notable neoclassical buildings are to be found, including 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
5715-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as
5842-681: The Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways (SPAP). Currently the infrastructure and rolling stock are owned and maintained by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE). The line climbs from sea level to 720 m in 22.3 km with a maximum gradient of 17.5%. There are three sections with Abt system rack for a total of 3.8 km. Maximum speed is 40 km/h for adhesion sections and 12 km/h for rack sections. The 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) gauge 27 km line from Volos to Milies,
5969-577: The metre gauge network in the Peloponnese (except the Diakofto Kalavrita Railway ) was suspended in 2011. Some special passenger trains are able to run by demand of tour operators. The old metre gauge Piraeus–Patras railway line of Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways , which ran from Piraeus, Athens to Corinth, now remains in operation only between Agioi Anargyroi and Corinth for departmental and freight services. The track from Piraeus to Agioi Anargyroi has been removed. It
6096-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in
6223-403: 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
6350-399: The "Odontotos" ("The train with teeth"). The main line continues alongside the gulf, passing to the north of Aigio and on to Patras . The Patras train station is situated next to the port near Othonos-Amalias Avenue. An old steam locomotive, c. 1900, lies to the east. The engine sheds and rolling stock depot are located to the northeast next to Norman Street. A freight marshalling yard
6477-470: The 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into
SECTION 50
#17327903811246604-742: The Athens–Thessaloniki mainline at Larissa crossing the Northern part of the Thessalian Plain to Velestino, formerly a junction with the now disused Volos–Palaiofarsalos section. From Velestino it descends rapidly to the port of Volos, initially running parallel to the abandoned metre gauge line and then diverging through Melissiatika. Volos was the terminus for both lines, and also for the Pelion railway to Milies. Engine sheds and marshalling yards at Volos are home to many abandoned relics of
6731-433: The Athens–Thessaloniki mainline at Palaiopharsalos. The line serves the cities of Karditsa and Trikala , the towns of Sofades and Kalambaka ; and the tourist attraction of Meteora . In the past, this line was part of a 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge line from Velestino to Kalabaka, crossing the main line at Palaiofarsalos. The eastern section to Velestino, still metre gauge ,
6858-545: The Bulgarian network at Kulata. The line section from Stavroupoli to Toxotes runs along Nestos River Valley and is part of a preserved area that is not accessible by road. From Alexandroupolis, the line continues northwards, where it runs alongside the Evros River , that marks the border between Greece and Turkey. A junction is located at Pythio , where a line continues east and crosses into Turkey towards Istanbul . On
6985-714: The Byzantine empire. Patras remained a part of 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
7112-582: The Christmas period until 10 January. The Diakofto–Kalavryta rail line is a historic 750 mm ( 2 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge rack railway in Greece. Located on the northern Peloponnese , it runs 22 km from Diakofto through the Vouraikos Gorge and the Mega Spilaion monastery and up to Kalavryta , stopping en route at Zachlorou . The line was built by
7239-677: The Greek Railway System from Athens to Thessaloniki covers a distance of 520 kilometres (320 mi). According to the 2007 Network Statement, the total length of the standard gauge lines was approximately 1,665 kilometres (1,035 mi), while the length of the metre gauge lines (excluding Krioneri–Missolonghi–Agrinio line) is about 725 km (450 mi). In addition, about 150 km (93 mi) of new standard gauge lines towards Athens Airport and to replace metre gauge lines became fully operational in July 2007. The backbone of
7366-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit
7493-425: The Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than
7620-495: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in
7747-496: The Greek railway network is called P.A.Th.E./P. , which stands for Patras – Athens – Thessaloniki – Idomeni / Promachonas . Piraeus is served by two terminals. One at Piraeus Harbour (Πειραιεύς Λιμήν, 37°56′55″N 23°38′08″E / 37.94861°N 23.63556°E / 37.94861; 23.63556 ( Piraeus Harbour ) ), which up until 2006 was used by some standard gauge trains for Chalkis, Thessaloniki, and Alexandroupolis. The short line to Agios Ioannis Renti
SECTION 60
#17327903811247874-452: The Greek railway system. There is a regular service on this line. Volos station is one of the very rare stations that serves three different gauges of railway line, notably standard gauge , metre gauge , and 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) gauge. The West Thessaly single-track line to Kalabaka, recently converted to 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge , branches off
8001-587: The Greek side, the line continues north over the Karaağaç cut off to Ormenio , the northernmost village of Greece. There the line crosses to the Bulgarian border town of Svilengrad . The distance from Alexandroupolis to Ormenio is 178 km. An unelectrificated single-track regional railway line that connects Stylida with Lamia and Leianokladi . The Oinoi–Chalcis railway is an 21.69-kilometre-long (13.48 mi) railway line that connects Oinoi ( West Attica ) with Chalcis , capital of Euboea in Greece . It
8128-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow
8255-685: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community
8382-419: The Gulf of Corinth, the northern coast of the Peloponnese. At Diakofto, a seaside resort between Corinth and Patras, there is a junction with the Diakofto Kalavrita Railway , a 750 mm ( 2 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge rack and pinion line which climbs to a height of 720 m during a 22 km journey to Kalavryta through the Vouraikos Gorge . This line is known to Greeks as
8509-702: The Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless: recapturing Patras, they left scarcely anyone alive." In 1772, 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
8636-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),
8763-423: The administration of the railway infrastructure is separate from the railway operating companies using the network to provide passenger and freight transportation services. Up until November 2010, company EDISY S.A. was the actual manager of the Greek national railway infrastructure until it became a subsidiary of OSE. Specifically, on 29 November 2010, EDISY S.A. was merged back into the parent company OSE S.A., which
8890-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of
9017-450: The architect Georgios Petrιtsopoulos in 1931 which is built with stone and recently became 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
9144-459: 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
9271-521: The border with North Macedonia . It is mostly used for international freight. This line was opened in 1894 and connects Thessaloniki with the city Bitola , in the southern part of North Macedonia . It passes through Platy , Veroia , Edessa , Amyntaio , and Florina . At Amyntaio the Kozani–Amyntaio railway branches off. The section between Thessaloniki and Platy is part of the important connection towards Athens and southern Greece. The part across
9398-511: The border with North Macedonia is not used anymore, and passenger traffic has been suspended west of Edessa. This railway line, 620 km long, joins Thessaloniki via the Port of Alexandroupoli to Svilengrad in Bulgaria, passing through or near most major cities of East Macedonia and Thrace (Serres, Drama, Xanthi, Komotini). At Strymon, the line connects with a northbound line along Strymon River Valley to Promachonas , which then joins with
9525-529: 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
9652-478: The city, apart Tzini's house, include also 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
9779-536: 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
9906-518: The corner of Agiou Nikolaou and Maisonos street, built in 1832. The area on the south of 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
10033-675: 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
10160-404: The early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of
10287-618: The epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of the Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute
10414-434: 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
10541-452: The following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki , the vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in
10668-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn
10795-536: The influx of displaced persons from Asia Minor after 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
10922-414: The infrastructure element of OSE was created, known as GAIAOSE . It would henceforth be responsible for the maintenance of stations, bridges and other elements of the network, as well as the leasing and sale of railway assists. In 2003, OSE launched "Proastiakos SA", as a subsidiary to serve the operation of the suburban network in the urban complex of Athens during the 2004 Olympic Games . In 2005, TrainOSE
11049-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write
11176-533: The line joins with the line from Thessaloniki to Amyntaio , Kozani , and Florina . The line continues across flatland until the suburbs of Thessaloniki are reached at Sindos . Larissa and Thessaloniki have substantial marshalling yards for both goods and passenger trains. There are daily InterCity (IC) trains from Athens to Thessaloniki and one night train. The InterCity (IC) rail service usually takes 4 hours and 23 minutes from Athens to Thessaloniki and 4 hours and 10 minutes from Thessaloniki to Athens. In 2004,
11303-469: The line was closed down. This line also included the 10.8 km branch Vartholomio–Loutra Kyllinis railway line , which opened in June 1892 and closed down in 1969. This metre gauge line that was opened in the 1890s linked the small port of Kryoneri with Missolonghi and Agrinio . A short branch from Aitoliko to Katochi was in operation from 1912 to 1940. From Kryoneri to Patras , a ferryboat service
11430-440: 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
11557-454: The main line for Kyparissia and Kalamata. The track runs into the hills, passing through Varvasena and then into the terminus at Olympia. Another 13 km branch line, originally operated by a separate company Σιδηρόδρομος Πύργου–Κατακώλου (Pyrgos–Katakolo Railway), opened in 1883 to link Pyrgos with the port of Katakolo. This line had its own terminal in Pyrgos. Later, in 1951, this railway
11684-615: The main line turns east and runs inland, joining Corinth–Argos–Tripoli–Kalamata line at Zevgolatio while a short branch continues south from Kalo Nero down the coast to Kyparissia . The line branches off from the Athens–Corinth–Patras line, one km west of Corinth Old Station , with a spur entering the Corinth New Station. The line passes through Argos, where there is a branch line of ten km from Argos to Nafplion . It continues on to Tripoli and Lefktro, where
11811-586: The marshalling yard lies the major rolling stock depot and maintenance facility of OSE (MAI). North of AIR, the line crosses Kifissos River and then passes through the freight and parcels handling station of Rouf. At a siding of Rouf station, there is a "railway theatre" in disused rolling stock and a disused SEK class Μα "2-10-2" steam locomotive made by Breda ( 37°58′27″N 23°42′14″E / 37.97417°N 23.70389°E / 37.97417; 23.70389 ( Ma-1002 steam locomotive ) ). The line between Rouf and Athens Central (Larissis Station)
11938-640: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek
12065-440: The metre gauge line from Paleofarsalos to Velestino is no longer in use, though in part it is maintained as a heritage railway by the non-profit Company for Museum Railways (Εταιρεία Μουσειακών Σιδηροδρόμων) or EMOS (ΕΜΟΣ) . EMOS now operates a Linke-Hoffman DMU on loan from OSE, an old Nippon Saryo diesel locomotive, formerly of Aliveri Lignite Mines and various rail cars. They also own and plan to return to operational condition
12192-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and
12319-574: 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
12446-674: 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
12573-494: The north of forested land, passing into Nea Manolada, then west of the highway to Lechaina. There used to be a junction with the Kavasila–Kyllini/Loutra Kyllinis branch line here, but this branch has since been abandoned. The line continues southwest to Kardamas and then into Douneika, moving away from the hills before reaching Pyrgos. It passes Pyrgos to the north, shortly branching left to the south west, leaving
12700-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks
12827-536: The objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of the Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It
12954-596: The old Lavrio line more closely. The new Corinth line branches off at SKA and runs west into Elefsis and the Megara Plains. The line passes through impressive tunnels and bridges in the "Kakia Skala" area, north of Agioi Theodoroi; while crossing the Corinth Canal over a new bridge and then into the New Corinth Station. The line extends up to the village of Rodadaphni. Currently, the service
13081-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as
13208-480: The port still exists but is no longer in use. Work is in progress on this line, especially between Tripolis and Kalamata, and details are liable to change. Passenger services on the section between Corinth, Argos, Tripolis, and Nafplion resumed on 1 August 2009. This single-track line is a branch of the Corinth–Argos–Tripoli–Kalamata line and is 4.7 km long. The branch starts at Asprochoma then
13335-493: The principality. In 1408, Patras became Venetian , until it was recaptured in 1430 by 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
13462-481: The privatisation of TrainOSE began in July 2013. The Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane submitted the only binding offer for a 100% stake in TrainOSE, it was announced on 6 July 2016. On 14 July 2016, the privatisation agency accepted Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane 's offer, worth 45 million euros, to buy 100% of TrainOSE . TrainOSE's shares were completely transferred on 14 September 2017, and
13589-515: The ruins of the Roman stadium, remains of the Roman wall and a preserved bridge over 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
13716-710: The sea, passing next to the Corinth Refinery , crossing the Corinth Canal into the Peloponnese and on into the Old Station in Corinth on the Southern banks of the Gulf of Corinth . A short branch line at Isthmos leads to the town of Loutraki . The 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge line to Patras runs through attractive scenery along the south side of
13843-743: 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
13970-513: The second-largest urban centre in late-19th-century Greece. The city benefited from its role as 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
14097-456: The service and the works on the line as of July 2010. The line Patras – Kato Achaia – Lechaina – Amaliada – Pyrgos – Olympia is about 150 km long and runs through the prefectures of Achaia and Ilia . The train runs to the east of Akti Dymaion and alongside the Gulf of Patras between the old and the new highways as far as Kato Achaia, where it passes along the bed of the ravine, 4 km from GR-9 / E55 to Lappa. The route then runs to
14224-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of
14351-574: The track follows the GR-82 road closely on the southern side. The line was opened in 1892 and linked Kalamata with Messene where a station building and a freight yard were built. It was closed in 1976, but the tracks were not removed. The line was rebuilt and reopened in September 2007. From 2013 to 2016, there was an occasional operation, from 20 until 28 September, during the Messene festival and to
14478-426: The track was lifted. They include Sarakli-Savros , Angista-Amphipolis , Alexandroupolis bypass , Skydra - Almopia and Herakleion Kule - Xeropotamos . The headquarters of OSE are at 1–3 Karolou St., 104 37, Athens, Greece. Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized : Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized : Hellēnikḗ )
14605-403: 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
14732-480: The urban pole of Athens. Since 2014, 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
14859-515: 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
14986-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or
15113-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of
15240-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe
15367-617: Was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface. In 2008, all Proastiakos were transferred from OSE to TrainOSE . In 2013 ΕΕΣΣΤΥ, Stock Maintenance Company became a separate part of OSE responsible for both the maintenance of rolling stock and the leasing of it. In April 2013 the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund became the sole shareholder of the corporation in April 2013. An international tendering process for
15494-406: 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
15621-485: Was provided. The expense of the ferry, the increase in private car traffic, and the hostility of local authorities led to the closure of the line for passenger traffic in 1970 and for departmental traffic in 1975. In the 1990s, a plan to restore and reopen the line was started. The track was modernised and work finished in 2003, but passenger services have not been restored, due to lack of personnel and rolling stock. A number of lines were closed before 1971 and subsequently
15748-492: Was taken over by SPAP and trains were diverted into the SPAP station. The line was modernised in 2007 and is used for limited passenger service. The line runs along the bed of the Alpheus river, east of GR-9/E55, then through Zacharo and into the plain westward with a few forested hills northwest of Kaiafa . It runs for most of its length west of the highway, passing into Zacharo and through Neochori and Tholon. At Kalo Nero ,
15875-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect
16002-536: Was used by the Peloponesse metric line trains until 2005, when it was converted to standard gauge, reopening in 2007 and today serving the Proastiakos rail service. The two lines from Piraeus meet just outside Agios Ioannis Renti (AIR) marshalling yard ( 37°57′41″N 23°39′55″E / 37.96139°N 23.66528°E / 37.96139; 23.66528 ( Agios Ioannis Renti ) ). Next to
16129-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage
#123876