Arta ( el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Άρτας) is one of the

regional units of Greece The 74 regional units of 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 Afr ...

. It is part of the

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

region. Its capital is the town of

Arta Arta, ARTA, or Artà may refer to: Places Djibouti * Arta, Djibouti, a regional capital city in southeastern Djibouti * Arta Mountains, a mountain range in Djibouti * Arta Region, Djibouti Greece * Arta, Greece, a regional capital city in northwes ...

Geography

The regional unit of Arta is located north of the Ambracian Gulf. The main mountain ranges are the Athamanika in the northeast, the

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metr ...

in the east, and Valtou in the southeast. Only one mountain road links Arta with the Pineios valley and

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

. There are low-lying agricultural plains in the west. Arta borders on the regional units of Preveza in the west,

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the ...

to the north, Trikala in the east, Karditsa to the east and Aetolia-Acarnania to the south. The main rivers are the Acheloos in the east, the Arachthos in the centre, and the Louros in the west. Most of the population lives in the west, in the Arachthos valley, south and east of Arta. The Athamanika and Valtou mountains are the least populated.

Administration

The regional unit Arta is subdivided into 4 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): *

(1) * Central Tzoumerka (''Kentrika Tzoumerka'', 3) * Georgios Karaiskakis (2) * Nikolaos Skoufas (4)

Prefecture

Arta was established as a prefecture in 1882 ( el, Νομός Άρτας). As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Arta was created out of the former prefecture Arta. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below. Nomos Artas 2012

History

Arta was one of the capitals of the Despotate of Epirus in the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The territory of the regional unit was ceded to Greece in 1881 by 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) ...

, along with

, in accordance with the 1878

Congress of Berlin The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at ...

. A famous landmark of Arta is the Old Bridge over the Arachthos river.

Transport

As one of the first completed sections of the future

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 coastlin ...

linking

with Patras and Kalamata, the motorway bypass of the GR-5 around

was opened in 1997. The main highways are: * Greek National Road 5/ E55, S, Cen., W * Greek National Road 21, W * Greek National Road 30, Cen., E

Sporting teams

* Anagennisi Artas

People

* Pyrrhus (318 BC-272 BC) general and king of Epirus * Epicrates of Ambracia, 4th BC comic poet * Silanus of Ambracia * Epigonus of Ambracia 6th-5th BC musician * Georgios Karaiskakis Years of service 1796 - 1827 Rank - General, Battles/wars Greek War of Independence * Maximus the Greek (c. 1475-1556) publicist, writer, scholar, humanist and translator * Napoleon Zervas (1891–1957) * Theodoros Tzinis * Nikolaos Skoufas * Yannis Makriyannis * Kostas Kristallis poet * Yiannis Moralis (1916) painter * Antonios Nikopolidis (1971) footballer * Yannis Anastasiou (1973) footballer * Nikos Rizos (1924 - April 20, 1999), actor

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20040602225531/http://www.culture.gr/maps/ipiros/arta/arta.html {{Authority control Prefectures of Greece Regional units in Epirus (region)