Astakos (, meaning "

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

") is a town and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania (, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Central Greece (geographic region), Central Greece and the administrative regions of Greece, ...

West Greece Western Greece Region (, ) is one of the thirteen Modern regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of Central Greece (geographic region), continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese pen ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Xiromero Xiromero () is a municipality in the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, West Greece region, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Astakos. Its borders do not coincide with the historical region of Xiromero, which extends to parts of the t ...

, of which it is a municipal unit.Kallikratis law
Greece Ministry of Interior The municipal unit has an area of 345.099 km². It is located on a bay on the eastern shore of the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, near the southern end of the Acarnanian Mountains. It takes its name from the

ancient Acarnania Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...

n town Astacus ( - ''Astakos''), and was named ''Dragamesti'' in the Middle Ages. It is speculated to be the site of ancient Dulichium. It is 16 km southeast of

Kalamos (island) Kalamos (Greek: Κάλαμος, known in antiquity as Κάρνος – ''Karnos'') is a mountainous island and a former community in the Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lefkada, of whi ...

, 30 km southwest of

Agrinio Agrinio (Greek language, Greek: Αγρίνιο, ; Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 89,691 inhabitants (2021) as well as the seco ...

, 35 km northwest of Missolonghi and 55 km southeast of

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

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Astakos is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): * Agrampela *Astakos (Astakos, Valti) * Bampini *Karaiskakis *Machairas *Chrysovitsa * Palaiomanina *Prodromos *Skourtou * Strongylovouni (Strongylovouni, Manina Vlizianon) *Vasilopoulo *Vliziana

Economy

The city has a port able to hold ferries. The countryside mainly produces wheat, corn and few grapes. Fishing is an important source of income.

Historical population

Noteworthy persons

* Leo Leandros (b. 1926), singer and composer

In popular culture

*Astakos is also the birthplace of the fictional characters Xeones and Diomache in Steven Pressfield's novel '' Gates of Fire''. Cousins Xeones and Diomache both survive the sack of Astakos by Argos (cir. 500 BC); Xeones later becomes a perioikoi of Sparta and serves at the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Polis, Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it wa ...

as a

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

to the

Spartiate A Spartiate (, ''Spartiátēs'') or ''Homoios'' (pl. ''Homoioi'', , "alike") was an elite full-citizen men of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. Spartiate-class men (including boys) were a small minority: estimates are that they made up b ...

Dienekes.

External links

Municipality of Astakos

References

{{Xiromero div Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania Xiromero Acarnania