Kalavryta Καλάβρυτα | |
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 Kalavryta, as seen from the south | |
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  Kalavryta | |
| Coordinates:38°2′N22°7′E / 38.033°N 22.117°E /38.033; 22.117 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Geographic region | Peloponnese |
| Administrative region | Western Greece |
| Regional unit | Achaea |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Athanasios Papadopoulos[1] (since 2019) |
| Area | |
• Municipality | 1,058.2 km2 (408.6 sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 531.8 km2 (205.3 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 764 m (2,507 ft) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• Municipality | 9,223 |
| • Density | 8.716/km2 (22.57/sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 4,929 |
| • Municipal unit density | 9.269/km2 (24.01/sq mi) |
| • Community | 1,702 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 250 01 |
| Area code | 26940 |
| Vehicle registration | ΑΧ |
| Website | http://www.kalavrita.gr/ |
Kalavryta (Greek:Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit ofAchaea,Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the riverVouraikos, 24 kilometres (15 miles) south ofAigio, 40 km (25 miles) southeast ofPatras and 62 km (39 miles) northwest ofTripoli. Notable mountains in the municipality areMount Erymanthos in the west andAroania or Chelmos in the southeast. Kalavryta is the southern terminus of theDiakopto-Kalavryta rack railway, built by Italian engineers between 1885 and 1895.
Kalavryta is built near the ancient city ofCynaetha.
During the lateMiddle Ages, the town was the centre of theBarony of Kalavryta within theFrankishPrincipality of Achaea, until it was reconquered by theByzantines in the 1270s. After that it remained under Byzantine control until the fall of theDespotate of the Morea to theOttoman Turks in 1460.[citation needed] With the exception of a30-year interlude of Venetian control, the town remained under Turkish rule until the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence in 1821, in whose early stages Kalavryta figures prominently: it was here that on 21 March 1821 the flag of the revolt was raised at the monastery of Agia Lavra by bishopGermanos III of Old Patras.[citation needed]
At the end of 1943, near Kalavryta, 81 German soldiers, led by Hauptmann Johannes Schober, were captured by Greek partisans.[citation needed] Four Germans were killed on the spot. Three were taken to hospital at Kalavryta but were later shot by the furious partisans. The rest were initially treated as prisoners of war until most were shot dead and some plunged over the cliff near Mazi from the force of the shots. Two German prisoners survived the execution and raised the alarm on the following day 8 December 1943.[citation needed]
On 13 December 1943, in retribution for the killing of the captured German soldiers, German troops perpetrated theKalavryta massacre: they ordered all male residents of Kalavryta aged 14 years or older to gather in a field just outside the village. Some 1,300 women and children were locked in a school which was then set on fire while the men were looking on from a hill outside the village. Then 696 boys and men were machine-gunned; only 13 survived.[3] After that, they burnt down the town before they left and the next day they burnt down themonastery ofAgia Lavra, the birthplace of theGreek War of Independence. In total, 752 civilians were killed during "Operation Kalavryta", a deliberate strategy by the Nazis in order to break the resistance by targeting civilians.[citation needed] After the war, the federal government of Germany offered gestures of atonement in the form of free school books for the high school, scholarships for orphans of the massacre and the building of a retirement home. However, German commanders, including Major Ebersberger who carried out the destruction of Kalavryta and Hauptmann Dohnert who led the firing party, were never brought to justice for their crimes.[citation needed]
The Kalavryta region also became the site of fighting during theGreek Civil War. On 11 April 1948, Kalavrytawas seized by theDemocratic Army of Greece (DSE) after the former overpowered the town's garrison. DSE released 17 leftists held in the local gendarmerie building, while also emptying the national guard andUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration warehouses; taking 400 milliondrachmas and large quantities of food and military equipment in the process.[4]
| Year | Community | Municipal unit | Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 2,015 | - | - |
| 1991 | 2,111 | 8,306 | - |
| 2001 | 1,942 | 8,580 | - |
| 2011 | 1,829 | 6,011 | 11,045 |
| 2021 | 1,702 | 4,929 | 9,223 |
InKastria, in the municipal unit ofKleitoria, there is the famous cave systemSpilaio ton Limnon ("Cave of the Lakes") which is filled with beautiful lakes and strange rock formations. Kalavryta has a ski centre which is located east of town, on the slopes ofChelmos. The monastery ofAgia Lavra is located on a hill 4 km (2 mi) southwest of Kalavryta. Another famous monastery nearby isMega Spilaio which is located 8 km (5 mi) northeast.
The municipality Kalavryta was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:[5]
The municipality has an area of 1,058.147 km2, the municipal unit 531.797 km2.[6]
The municipal unit of Kalavryta is divided into the following communities:[5]
The province of Kalavryta (Greek:Επαρχία Καλαβρύτων) was one of theprovinces of Achaea. It had the same territory as the present municipality.[7] It was abolished in 2006.
Places adjacent to Kalavryta | |
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| Regional unit ofAchaea |  | |
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| Regional unit ofAetolia-Acarnania | ||
| Regional unit ofElis | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
