Arta Άρτα | |
|---|---|
        From top left: Aerial view of the city;Bridge of Arta over theArachthos river; Church of Saint Demetrius; Folklore Museum of Arta; statue ofNapoleon Zervas;Castle of Arta; clock tower of the Arta Castle; statue of "Tsolias of 1917" byLefteris Valakas | |
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  Arta | |
| Coordinates:39°09′54″N20°59′15″E / 39.16500°N 20.98750°E /39.16500; 20.98750 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Epirus |
| Regional unit | Arta |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Christoforos Siafakas[1] (since 2023) |
| Area | |
• Municipality | 457.2 km2 (176.5 sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 47.973 km2 (18.522 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• Municipality | 41,600 |
| • Density | 91.0/km2 (236/sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 26,999 |
| • Municipal unit density | 562.80/km2 (1,457.6/sq mi) |
| • Community | 24,079 |
| Demonym(s) | Artean (Greek: Artinos) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 471 00 |
| Area code | 26810 |
| Vehicle registration | ΑΤ |
| Website | www.arta.gr |
Arta (Greek:Άρτα) is a city in northwesternGreece and capital of theregional unit of Arta, which is part ofEpirus region. The city was known in ancient times asAmbracia (Ancient Greek:Ἀμβρακία). Arta is known for themedieval bridge over theArachthos River, as well as for its ancient sites from the era ofPyrrhus of Epirus and its well-preserved 13th-centurycastle. Arta'sByzantine history is reflected in its manyByzantine churches; perhaps the best known is thePanagia Paregoretissa (Mother of God the Consoling), built about 1290 byDespotNikephoros I Komnenos Doukas.
The origin of the city's name is quite uncertain. It is either derived from a corruption of the riverArachthos, or from theLatin word "artus" (narrow), or from theSlavic word "balta" (swamp).[3]
The first settlement in the area of the modern city dates to the 9th century B.C. Ambracia was founded as aCorinthiancolony in the 7th century B.C. In 294 BC, after 43 years of semi-autonomy underMacedonian suzerainty, Ambracia was given toPyrrhus, king of theMolossians and ofEpirus, who made it his capital, using Ambracia as a base to attack theRomans. Pyrrhus managed to achieve great but costly victories against the Romans, hence the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" which refers in particular to an exchange at theBattle of Asculum. Nevertheless, Pyrrhus found the time and means to adorn his capital with a palace, temples and theatres. In 146 BC, Ambracia became part of theRoman Republic.
Despite the existence of several churches from the 9th and 10th centuries, Arta is first attested only in 1082, when theNormans underBohemond laid siege to the city.[4] The origin and etymology of the name is uncertain and debated.[5] In theKomnenian period, the city flourished as a commercial centre, with links toVenice, and rose to become abishopric by 1157.[4][6] The Jewish travellerBenjamin of Tudela visited the area in 1165.[4]
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By the end of the 12th century, Arta probably formed a distinct fiscal district (episkepsis) within the widertheme ofNicopolis.[6] After thefall ofConstantinople to theFourth Crusade, it is recorded as thepertinentia de Arta in thePartitio Romaniae treaty of 1204, and assigned to Venice.[4]
The Venetians did not take control, however, for in 1205Michael I Komnenos Doukas came to the city, succeeded its previous Byzantine governor, and quickly established a new principality, which is known by historians as theDespotate of Epirus.[4] Arta remained the capital of the new principality for most of its history,[4] and flourished as a result. The city experienced considerable building activity, with the renovation of older churches and the construction of new ones, most notably theChurch of the Parigoritissa and theChurch of the Kato Panagia.[6] Sometime after 1227 it received fortifications,[6] and was the site of regional Church councils in 1213, 1219, and 1225.[4] The 15th-centuryChronicle of the Tocco describes it as "the center of a fertile agricultural region with many water buffaloes, cows, and horses". The city had trade links to Venice—a Venetian consul is attested in 1284 and 1314/19[4]—and Ragusa, exporting dried meat, lard, ham, furs, andindigo. Archaeological finds also attest to a local ceramic industry.[6]
After theBattle of Pelagonia in 1259, the city was occupied by the troops of the rivalGreek successor state, theEmpire of Nicaea, (which restored the Byzantine Empire in 1261) but was soon recovered for Epirus byJohn I Doukas.[4] Another attack by the Byzantine emperorAndronikos II Palaiologos in 1292, by land and sea, was unsuccessful.[4] In 1303, the city was besieged for a month by theAngevins underCharles II of Naples.[4] In 1313, much of the city was destroyed in a great fire.[4] In the next year, Byzantine troops under thepinkernes John attacked Epirus, including Arta.[4]
In 1318, the last male-line descendant of Michael I,Thomas I Komnenos Doukas, was assassinated by his nephew, theCount of CephaloniaNicholas Orsini, and Epirus passed to the ItalianOrsini family. Nicholas was in turn murdered in 1323 by his brotherJohn II Orsini. In 1331, Arta, as well asLeucas and other areas, were occupied byWalter VI of Brienne, and John Orsini was forced to accept Angevin suzerainty.[4] John's death in 1335 left Epirus in the weak hands of the youngNikephoros II Orsini and his motherAnna Palaiologina, and the Byzantine emperorAndronikos III Palaiologos availed himself of the opportunity to occupy and annex Epirus.[7]
Byzantine rule was unpopular,[8] and in 1339 a revolt broke out, with Arta joining it, under a certain Nicholas Basilitzes. Andronikos III and his commander-in-chief,John Kantakouzenos, campaigned in person in Epirus and captured the rebel fortresses one by one, either by siege or through negotiations. By the end of 1340, Byzantine rule was restored, andJohn Angelos took his seat as imperial governor in Arta.[9][10]
Aided by theByzantine civil war of 1341–1347 and an outbreak of theBlack Death that devastated the region, Arta with the rest of Epirus fell under the rule of theSerbian kingStefan Dušan in autumn 1347. Dushan's half-brotherSimeon Uroš, who married John II Orsini's daughterThomais Orsini, was appointed governor of Epirus.[11] The city remained part of the newSerbian Empire until Dushan's death in 1355. Nikephoros II Orsini recovered Epirus in 1356/7, but his death in theBattle of Achelous against theAlbanian tribes that had invaded the region, meant that Arta returned to the (rather nominal) rule of Simeon Uroš, who preferred to reside inThessaly rather than Epirus.[12][13][14] This left Epirus open to increasing Albanian migration, who soon captured most of Epirus, except forIoannina.[15] In 1367 or shortly after, Arta too was captured, and became the centre of the "Despotate of Arta", until 1374 underPjetër Losha and thenGjin Bua Shpata.[5] The Albanian rulers managed to withstand attacks by the Angevins (sometime between 1374 and 1384), as well as by theGrand Master of the Knights HospitallerJuan Fernández de Heredia in 1378, but in 1384 the city was plundered by theOttoman Turks.[5]
From 1401/02,Carlo I Tocco, the ambitious Count of Cephalonia, began launching attacks on Arta, taking advantage of the Albanians' infighting. Despite the Albanians' calling on Ottoman aid, in 1416 Tocco captured Arta after a long siege. Having taken control of Ioannina in 1411, Tocco thus reunited the core of the old Epirote realm, and received recognition from both the Ottomans and the Byzantine emperor.[16] After Carlo I's death in 1429, he was succeeded by his nephewCarlo II Tocco. In 1449, the city fell to the Ottomans.[5]
Under Ottoman rule, the town was called in TurkishNarda. It was occupied byVenetians in 1717 and theFrench in 1797, but the Ottomans retook it in 1799. Several battles took place near the city during theGreek War of Independence.
In 1776, the town was composed of approximately 8,000 to 10,000Greeks, 200Turks and 200Jews.[17] At the time, Arta specialized in producing wheat, wine, tobacco and shipbuilding timber.[17]
The city was finally annexed to theGreek Kingdom in 1881 with theConvention of Constantinople.
In March 1944, most of theJewish community (384 members at the time) was arrested by the Nazis and deported to theextermination camps.[18]
Arta has a hot-summerMediterranean climate (Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Like much ofWestern Greece, it receives plenty of precipitation, making it one of the wettest cities inGreece.
| Climate data for Arta (1976–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.3 (55.9) | 14.0 (57.2) | 16.7 (62.1) | 20.1 (68.2) | 25.0 (77.0) | 29.1 (84.4) | 31.8 (89.2) | 32.0 (89.6) | 29.0 (84.2) | 24.1 (75.4) | 19.0 (66.2) | 14.9 (58.8) | 22.4 (72.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.7 (47.7) | 9.4 (48.9) | 11.9 (53.4) | 15.2 (59.4) | 19.9 (67.8) | 24.0 (75.2) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.5 (79.7) | 23.1 (73.6) | 18.3 (64.9) | 13.5 (56.3) | 9.9 (49.8) | 17.2 (63.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) | 5.2 (41.4) | 7.0 (44.6) | 9.9 (49.8) | 13.9 (57.0) | 17.3 (63.1) | 19.5 (67.1) | 19.9 (67.8) | 17.1 (62.8) | 13.4 (56.1) | 9.4 (48.9) | 6.0 (42.8) | 11.9 (53.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 129.6 (5.10) | 125.4 (4.94) | 91.6 (3.61) | 81.3 (3.20) | 44.8 (1.76) | 19.8 (0.78) | 13.4 (0.53) | 14.7 (0.58) | 61.5 (2.42) | 128.3 (5.05) | 199.8 (7.87) | 189.7 (7.47) | 1,099.9 (43.31) |
| Average precipitation days | 12.1 | 11.1 | 10.6 | 9.6 | 7.4 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 4.9 | 8.1 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 97.9 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 71.7 | 70.6 | 68.9 | 68.8 | 66.0 | 61.4 | 59.2 | 59.4 | 63.6 | 67.7 | 74.1 | 73.2 | 67.1 |
| Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service[19] | |||||||||||||
The modern city is on the site of ancientAmbracia. Remains of the classic era include the ancient walls, the ruins of an ancient temple ofApollo, a small theatre, and remnants of the southwest cemetery.
The town's fortifications, including theCastle of Arta, were built byMichael I Komnenos Doukas in the early 13th century, but their present form is largely post-Byzantine. Secular architecture from the Byzantine period, including the palace of the Despots of Epirus, has vanished completely, but the city preserves numerous churches.[6]
The most important Byzantine church is thecathedralChurch of the Paregoretissa, built ca. 1290 byNikephoros I Komnenos Doukas and his wifeAnna Palaiologina Kantakouzene. Other important churches of the late Byzantine period are theChurch of the Kato Panagia, built by Nikephoros I's fatherMichael II Komnenos Doukas, and the Monastery of Saint Theodora, housing the tomb of the city's patron,Theodora of Arta.[6] Several other churches dating to the 9th and 10th centuries also survive in and around the city:Saint Basil of the Bridge,Saint Demetrios of Katsoures inPlisioi [el;fr;pl], thePanagia Blacherna Monastery, thePanagia Vryoni inNeochoraki, theRed Church inVourgareli, the Panagia of Koronisia inKoronisia [ceb;de;el;fi;fr;it;sv] and the Church of the Pantanassa inFilippiada.
Arta has several university departments belonging to theuniversity of Ioannina.
Arta is located NNW ofAntirrio,Messolongi andAgrinio, NE ofPreveza, SSE ofIoannina and nearly SW ofTrikala.
Regular bus lines connect Arta with all the bigger Greek cities. A bus to Athens departs several times a day, and the trip takes about 5 hours.
The city is linked with theGR-5 (Antirrio–Ioannina) and theGR-30 which links withPeta andTrikala. TheArachthos River flows to the west with its reservoir lying directly to the north.
The present municipality Arta was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in brackets):[20]
The municipality has an area of 457.248 km2, the municipal unit 47.493 km2.[21]
| Year | Municipal unit | Municipality |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 20,004 | - |
| 1991 | 23,710 | - |
| 2001 | 23,863 | - |
| 2011 | 27,330 | 43,166 |
| 2021 | 26,999 | 41,600 |
Handball
Basketball
Football
Volleyball
O Foucherot σημειώνει ότι ο πληθυσμός της Αρτας ανέρχεται σε 8–10.000 Έλληνες, 200 Τούρκους και άλλους τόσους Εβραίους. Τα προϊόντα της περιοχής: στάρια, κρασιά, εκλεκτά καπνά και ξυλεία ναυπηγική.
| Regional unit ofArta |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Regional unit ofIoannina | ||
| Regional unit ofPreveza | ||
| Regional unit ofThesprotia | ||
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| National | |
| Other | |
