Zacharo ( el, Ζαχάρω) is a town and municipality in western

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge whi ...

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 wit ...

. Administratively, it belongs to the regional unit of

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

West Greece Western Greece Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας, translit=Periféria Dhitikís Elládhas, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the north ...

. Zacharo is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Kyparissia, a part of the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) 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 ...

. The mountain Lapithas is to the north, and the Minthi is to the east. Northwest of the town, between mount Lapithas and the sea, is the Kaiafas Lake. Zacharo is 18 km south of Olympia, 28 km southeast of Pyrgos, 65 km northwest of

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

and 65 km west of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

. The town is crossed by the Greek National Road 9/ E55, that links Patras with Kalamata.

Municipality

The municipality Zacharo was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *

Figaleia Figaleia ( el, Φιγαλεία) is a mountain village and a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the administrative reform of 2011 it is a municipal unit of the municipality of Zacharo. The municipal unit has an area of 89.175&n ...

*Zacharo The municipality has an area of 276.222 km², the municipal unit 187.047 km².

Subdivisions

The municipal unit of Zacharo is divided into the following communities: *Zacharo * Agios Ilias * Anilio * Arini * Artemida * Chrysochori * Giannitsochori * Kakovatos * Kalidona * Lepreo *

Makistos Macistus or Makistos (), or Macistum or Makiston (Μάκιστον), was a city of ancient Elis, in Greece. It is one of the six cities (along with Lepreum, Phrixae, Pyrgus, Epium, and Nudium) founded by the Minyans in the territory of the Paror ...

* Milea * Minthi * Neochori * Prasidaki * Rodina * Smerna * Schinoi * Taxiarches *

Xirochori Xirochori ( el, Ξηροχώρι, before 1926: Γιόρδινον - ''Giordinon'', ) is a community and a village in the municipal unit of Agios Athanasios in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. The community is 25 km north-northwest o ...

Zacharo town

Zacharo has a school, a kindergarten, a lyceum, a gymnasium, churches, a post office, a police station, a

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

, a health center, banks and a railway station. Athletic facilities include a football stadium, a basketball court and a community gym which is open to the public free of charge. The town is also the home of a football team, ''Olympiakos Zacharos'', established in 1928. In the town center, there is a square with

Platanus ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

trees. The

Patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...

of Zacharo is

Saint Spyridon Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Trimythous also sometimes written Saint Spiridon (Greek: ; c. 270 – 348) is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. Life Spyridon was born in Askeia, in Cyprus. He worked as a sheph ...

, and the central church of the city bears his name. The Saint's feast day is on December 12 and it is a holiday for the town.

Population

History

The history of Zacharo begins in the middle of the 19th century. At the time 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. The Greeks were later assisted ...

, the area of Zacharo was sparsely populated. However, in the decades that followed, populations from the villages of the surrounding mountains started to migrate to the area. The town allegedly took its name from an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

, that belonged to a woman named Zacharoula. In 1881 Zacharo was officially proclaimed a community. In late August 2007, forest fires caused over 40 deaths, as well as extensive property damage. Zacharo was one of the worst-hit areas in Greece.

Economy

The economy of Zacharo relies on tourism as well as on agriculture. The pleasant

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, long Zacharo beach, the Kaiafas Lake, the Thermal Springs of Kaiafas and the adjacent Lapithas mountain draw many tourists, especially in summer. The agricultural sector is also a major source of income for the local economy. It is based on the cultivation of olive trees, for the production of

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

. The variety of olive tree which prevails in the area is the Koroneiki, which is one of the most distinguished in Greece. The olive oil produced is of extra-virgin quality and is mostly exported to the international market. The Zacharo tomato is famed for its sweetness. When ripe, it is loaded with sugars (mainly

fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorb ...

and inulin) to the extent that the sugar crystals are visible to the naked eye. Cultivation of the Zacharo tomato is all but extinct, as the cultivar does not grow well in

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

s, has a short season, and its extreme fleshiness makes the fruit heavy and liable to squeezing and decay when packed.

People

Doxapatres Boutsaras Doxapatres Boutsaras ( el, Δοξαπατρής Βουτσαράς) was a Byzantine Greek independent lord in the central Peloponnese in the early 13th century. He had his headquarters in the Araklovon Castle, which is located near the Minthi villag ...

, 13th century Byzantine ruler

Gallery

Image:View lapithas.JPG, View of Zacharo from Lapithas mountain. File:Monument, Zacharo.jpg, A monument. Image:Zacharothinalos2.jpg, Zacharo's beach. Image:Oldneighboorhoodzach2.jpg, View of the old town. Image:Zacharoschool1.jpg, Zacharo's school. File:KaiafasLake1.jpg, Kaiafas lake. Image:Zacharo 02.jpg, View of the Orthodox church of the city. Image:Stparask.jpg, St.Paraskevi's chapel.

References

External links

Municipality of Zacharo

Zacharo.comGTP - ZacharoGTP - Municipality of Zacharo
{{Authority control Populated places in Elis Municipalities of Western Greece