Amfilochia ( el, Αμφιλοχία) is a town and a municipality in the northwestern part of

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, on the site of

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

Amfilochia. Under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, it was known as Karvasaras (Καρβασαράς; from ''

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

''). Amfilochia is situated by the

Ambracian Gulf The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf ( el, Αμβρακικός κόλπος, translit=Amvrakikos kolpos), is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Gre ...

and features an amphitheatre. Amfilochia dates back to the ancient times and also features the ancient cities of

Amphilochian Argos Amphilochian Argos ( grc, Ἄργος τὸ Ἀμφιλοχικόν, la, Argos Amphilochicum) was the chief town of ancient Amphilochia, situated at the eastern extremity of the Ambraciot Gulf, on the river Inachus. Its territory was called Argei ...

and Limnaia (or Limnaea).

History

According to

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, it is named after king Amphilochos, son of

Amphiaraus In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with A ...

. After the fall of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

, Amphilochos settled in the area, which consequently was called Amphilochoi until the time of Pausanias. Under the Ottoman Empire,

Ali Pasha of Ioannina Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1740 – 24 January 1822), was an Albanian ruler who served as pasha of a large part of western Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territories, which was referred to as the Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioann ...

, forcibly relocated residents of another village to the current location of the town and established a motel (''serai'' in Turkish) to serve passing caravans. This was how the name Karvasaras came up. In July 1944 a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

took place in the town between

ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

of the Greek Resistance against the occupation forces and their local collaborators, that resulted in victory for the Resistance.

Municipality

The municipality Amfilochia was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *Amfilochia * Inachos * Menidi The municipality has an area of 1090.991 km², the municipal unit 397.879 km².

Subdivisions

The municipal unit of Amfilochia is divided into the following communities: *Amfilochia (Amfilochia, Boukka, Limnaia and Platos) *Ampelaki (Ampelaki, Amfilochiko Argos, Ariada, Kampos and Keramidi) *Anoixiatiko (Anoixiatiko, Agia Triada, Katafourko, Mavrorachi, Moni Retha, Xirolivado, Petralona, Profitis Ilia, Ptelea, Skreiko, Triantafylloula, Tsoukka, Psila Alonia) *Kechrinia (Kechrinia, Agioi Theodoroi, Kanalos, Kompothekla, Makrychoria, Falangias) * Loutro (Loutro, Krikellos, Xirakia) *Megas Kampos *Sardinia (Sardinia, Kalyvia) *

Sparto Sparto ( el, Σπάρτο) is a village and a community in Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece. It is situated at the southeastern shore of the Ambracian Gulf, northwest of the town Amfilochia Amfilochia ( el, Αμφιλοχία) is a town and a municipa ...

(Sparto, Pigadaki, Tria Alonia) *Stanos *

Varetada Varetada ( el, Βαρετάδα) is a small village in the municipality of Amfilochia, Aetolia-Acarnania, western Greece. Its population is 342 (2011 census). Situated in the southern part of the Makrynoros mountains, its altitude is 480 meters ab ...

Population

Transportation

Amfilochia, Etolio-Acarnania prefecture, Greece - City at night

Amfilochia has a port which is sometimes used for the import of grain. It is linked with the GR-5 ( E55 and

E951 Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with the trade names ...

, Antirrio - Messolonghi - Ioannina) and is also traversed by the GR-42 that serves

Vonitsa Vonitsa ( el, Βόνιτσα) is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. Population 4,916 (2011). The beach town is situated on the south coast of the Ambracian Gulf, and is domina ...

Preveza Preveza ( el, Πρέβεζα, ) is a city in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epiru ...

and the island of

Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...

. Amfilochia is linked with the

Ionia Odos The Greek Motorway 5 ( el, Αυτοκινητόδρομος 5; code: A5) is a motorway in Greece. The motorway, commonly referred to as Ionia Odos ( el, Ιόνια Οδός) or Ionia Motorway, starts at Ioannina and it follows the western coastl ...

, a toll road that bypasses the town itself. Amfilochia is not linked with a railway.

Notable people

* Kyriakos Sfetsas (born 1945), composer *

Nikolaos Stratos Nikolaos Stratos ( el, Νικόλαος Στράτος; 16 May 1872 – 28 November 1922 (15 November Old Style dating)) was a Prime Minister of Greece for a few days in May 1922. He was later tried and executed for his role in the Catastrophe ...

(1872–1922), politician and Prime Minister of Greece * Andreas Stratos (1905–1981), politician and historian * Vlasios Tsirogiannis, military officer

References

External links

Municipality of Amfilochia

Amfilochia (municipality) information

Amfilochia (town) information
Municipalities of Western Greece Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece Acarnania {{WGreece-geo-stub