Karditsa ( ) is a city in western

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

in mainland

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 ...

. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of the region of Thessaly.

Climate

Karditsa has a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa''). Karditsa experiences hot, dry summers and cool winters with substantial precipitation.

History

During the period of Ottoman rule in

, the main settlement in the location of modern Karditsa was called Sotira. In 1810, the English traveler

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

mentioned a sprawling village named Kardhítza, consisting of between 500-600 houses, of which the majority of the inhabitants were Turkish.Leake, William Martin. ''Travels in Northern Greece''. (1835). Karditsa was incorporated as a new city in 1882, the year after its liberation from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(1881). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the resistance in Thessaly was fought primarily by the

ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army (, ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós''; ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, followi ...

. On March 12, 1943 Karditsa was liberated temporarily by ELAS after the Italian capitulation. In September 2020, the city was badly hit from catastrophic floods that resulted in 4 deaths.

Municipality

The municipality Karditsa was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *

Itamos Itamos () is a former municipality in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece, named after the ancient city of "Itamos". Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Karditsa Karditsa ( ) is a city in western Thes ...

Kallifoni Kallifoni () is a village and a former municipality in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Karditsa Karditsa ( ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. ...

* Kampos *Karditsa *

Mitropoli Mitropoli (, before 1915: Παληόκαστρον - ''Paliokastron'') is a village and a former municipality in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Karditsa, of whic ...

The municipality has an area of 647.3878 km², the municipal unit 110.086 km². Formerly, Karditsa had a neighbourhood known as Vlachomachalas, which was populated by Vlachs (

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

).Rousiakis, Sotirios (2021)
THE MODERN GREEK DIALECT OF THE KARAGOUNS IN WEST THESSALY
p. 19.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit of Karditsa is divided into six parts (communities): * Agiopigi * Artesiano *Karditsa *

Karditsomagoula Karditsomagoula (Greek: Καρδιτσομαγούλα) is a large village in the Karditsa regional unit in Greece, with nearly 2,000 inhabitants. It is part of the municipality of Karditsa and is situated north of the central area of Karditsa, se ...

* Palioklissi *Rousso

Historical population

Education

Veterinary Medicine Department of the

University of Thessaly The University of Thessaly (UTh; Greek: ) is a public university in Thessaly, Greece, founded in 1984. The university includes the main campus in the city of Volos and regional campuses located in Karditsa, Larissa, Trikala, and the city of Lamia ...

which is one of only two Veterinary departments in Greece and three other university departments of the

based in the city.

Transport

Karditsa is served by trains on the Palaiofarsalos-Kalambaka line, with connections to both Athens and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Sports

Football clubs include

Anagennisi Karditsa Anagennisi Karditsa Football Club () is a Greek professional football club based in Karditsa, Greece, which competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. History One of the oldest clubs in Greek football ...

, A.S.Karditsa ( el),

AO Karditsa A.O. Karditsa F.C. is a Greek football club, based in Karditsa, Karditsa, Thessaly, Greece. History A.O. Karditsa F.C. was founded in 1966. As a continuation of P.O.E.K. The period 1970–1971 played for the first time in B Ethniki, where he rem ...

, Asteras Karditsas ( el) and

Elpides Karditsas Elpides Karditsas is a Greek women's football club from the city of Karditsa. It was founded in 1994 and currently competes in the Greek A Division known as ''Alpha Ethniki''.el) is a volleyball club.

Notable people

Ioannis Bourousis Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He ...

, basketball player *

Antigoni Drisbioti Antigoni Drisbioti ('; born 21 March 1984) is a Greek race walker, who is widely considered as the best Greek walker of all time. Drisbioti won gold medals in the 20 kilometres walk and 35 km race walk at the 2022 European Athletics Champ ...

, Olympian race walker *

Charilaos Florakis Charilaos Florakis (also Harilaos Florakis; ; 20 July 1914 – 22 May 2005) was a leader of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Early life Florakis was born on 20 July 1914 in the village of Paliozoglopi, located near Agrafa in the Itamos m ...

, politician *

Georgios Karaiskakis Georgios Karaiskakis (), born Georgios Karaiskos (; 1782–1827), was a Greek military commander and a leader of the Greek War of Independence. Early life Karaiskakis was a Sarakatsani. His father was the armatolos of the Valtos district, D ...

, hero of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

* Alexandros Papamichail, Olympic race walker *

Helena Paparizou Helena Paparizou (; ; born 31 January 1982) is a Swedish-Greek singer, and television personality. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, she launched her singing career in Sweden in 1999 as a member of the laïko (Greek folk music) and Eur ...

, singer and winner of 2005 Eurovision Song Contest *

Nikolaos Plastiras Nikolaos Plastiras (; 4 November 1883 – 26 July 1953) was a Greek general and politician, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" d ...

, army officer and Prime Minister *

Georgios Siantos Georgios Siantos (nicknames: ''Geros'' "Old man", ''Theios'' "Uncle"; ; 1890 – 20 May 1947) was a Greek politician and prominent figure of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) who served as acting general secretary of the party, and as a leader o ...

, politician, Greek Resistance figure *

Dimitris Sioufas Dimitris Sioufas (; 15 August 1944
. – 11 January 2019) was a

Dimitrios Tsiamis Dimitrios Tsiamis (; born 12 January 1982 in Karditsa) is a Greece, Greek triple jumper. ...

, jumper, bronze medalist at European Championships * Panagiota Tsinopoulou, Olympic race walker *

Seraphim of Athens Seraphim (Greek, Σεραφείμ) born Vissarion Tikas (Greek, Βησσαρίων Τίκας) (26 October 1913 – 10 April 1998) was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1974 to 1998. Biography He was born in the village of Artesiano ne ...

, archbishop *

Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas (, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved in August 2021 – mak ...

, tennis player *

Dimitris Mitropanos Dimitris Mitropanos (; 2 April 1948 – 17 April 2012) was a Greek singer. He was renowned for his mastery of Laïkó, a Greek music style. Biography Mitropanos lived in his native city of Trikala in northwest Thessaly until the age of 16, beg ...

* Konstantinos Thanos * Kostas Tsiaras *

Sakis Tsiolis Sakis Tsiolis (; born 30 June 1959) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Playing career As a professional footballer, he played for Anagennisi Karditsa, AEL, Ionikos and Paniliakos. Tsiolis, a great player at his pr ...

Vaios Karagiannis Vaios Karagiannis (; born 25 June 1968) is a former Greeks, Greek professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender and current manager. Club career Karagiannis started from Enippea Iteas Ka ...

Gallery

References

External links

*
Karditsa Wireless Metropolitan Network
Karditsas Wifi Community Network (in Greek) {{Authority control Greek prefectural capitals Municipalities of Thessaly Populated places in Karditsa (regional unit)