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Arta
Arta is the second largest town in the
region of Epirus, with
a population of twenty thousand. It is situated 76km south
of Ioannina, and 50km North-East of Preveza.
Arta (Greek:
Άρτα)is one of the fifty-one
prefectures of Greece. It is within the
Epirus periphery. It is also the capital with the same
name, and was the capital of the
Despotate of Epirus in the
Middle Ages. The location is north of the
Ambracian Gulf. Mountains surround the northeast with
only one road linking into the
Peneus and
Thessaly, and low-land agricultural plains to its west.
It is bounded by
Preveza in the west, the prefecture of
Ioannina to the north, the prefecture of
Trikala in the east,
Karditsa to the east and the prefecture of
Aitoloacarnania to the south. The eastern boundary is
bounded with the Achelous river and teh western boundary up
to near GR-5/GR-21 jct is the Louros River.
Much of the
population live in the west, within the Aous valley, the
south and east of Arta, further southeast, the Athamanian
mountains and the southeast with a few parts of the north
are the leastly populated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arta
Arta, the second
largest town in Ipiros, is 360 km from Athens. The town is
known for its famous stone bridge, the largest and oldest in
Greece and for the numerous Byzantine monuments in and
around the town. The Arta Bridge is on the outskirts of the
town and spans the River Arahthos. Inside the town stands
the large church of Panagia Parigoritissa (built in the 13th
century), unique in style throughout Greece because it
contains several elements of Western architecture in its
interior and has a peculiar system of supports for its dome.
Nowadays the church is used as a museum exhibiting finds
belonging to various periods. The town's ancient theatre and
its fortress have also survived. Other churches belonging to
Byzantine times, sited in the town of Arta, are those of
Agion Theodoron which contains very attractive capitals and
Agios Vasilios with excellent ceramic exterior decoration.
At small distances in the surroundings of Arta, there is the
Monastery of Kato Panagia, the Monastery of Vlachairnon and
the churches of Agios Demetrios Katsoulis and Panagia Rodia,
all belonging to the period when Ipiros was under Despotic
rule (13th century).
http://www.greecebyclick.com/regions/western/arta/index.cfm
Three
hundred and seventy kilometers from Athens, via the Rio-Antirrio,
Arta, the capital of the named prefecture, intoxicates you
with the fragrance of orange blossom and the view of its
sculpted trunks of endless olive groves...
The
Capital of the State of Pyros, which occupied it in 295 BC,
it later passed over to occupation by the Romans, to become
the capital of the Despot of Ipiros in c 13th, by Komnino
the Great until 1449, when it was taken over by the Turks.
The Arta of today unfolds memorials within its many
Byzantine churches, its graphic valleys and its wonderful
age-old forests, which are traversed by three rivers, the
Arachthos, the Louros and the Acheloos. The sea lakes of
Rodia and Longaro, stream down one side from the Ambrakikos
Gulf, while the olive groves in the villages of Drosopigi or
Voulgareli stretch to the southern slopes of the Tsoumerkon
Mountains.
The
legendary bridge holds primacy on your tour. "They took all
day to build it and by night it toppled" and the Foreman, in
order to support it, built his wife into its columns. The
towns castle, set within the wonderful forest and the
splendid church of Parigoritisas, is a work of art not to be
overlooked. You can enjoy coffee in the pine forest and if
it is hot, you may sit under the shade of the famous
Sycamore tree, where Ali Pashas hanged the Greeks. If,
again, you prefer to see up close the everyday life of the
inhabitants, from their exhibits and crafts, you should
visit the splendid folklore museum of Arta.
You can
go for a walk in the Forest of Ailia and coffee in the
tourist kiosk, while in the evening you return to the town
for the special mainland flavours. The delights of Arta
begin with moussaka with leeks, rice-pies, clam balls and
the wonderful "souvlista", which is available throughout the
prefecture, as well as walnuts, feta, ouzo and the local
tsipouro, which you mustnt fail to buy for your return
journey home.
http://www.choosegreece.com/menu.asp?id=17&item=2
http://www.culture.gr/maps/ipiros/arta/arta.html
http://www.bicepirus.gr/ris/prefectures/arta.html
http://hellas.teipir.gr/prefectures/english/Artas/Artas.htm
Vacancies in
Arta
arta01
See also
Preveza
Filipiada
Louros |