Nafpaktos Ναύπακτος | |
|---|---|
       Clockwise from top right: Old Port of Naupactus, Nafpaktos' Port Fortifications, Old Houses withFethiye Mosque in the back,Botsaris Tower Museum, Giorgos Anemogiannis Statue in the Port Fortifications,Miguel de Cervantes Statue, Venetian Fortress of Lepanto | |
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  Nafpaktos | |
| Coordinates:38°23′38″N21°49′50″E / 38.39389°N 21.83056°E /38.39389; 21.83056 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | West Greece |
| Regional unit | Aetolia-Akarnania |
| Municipality | Nafpaktia |
| Area | |
| • Municipal unit | 159.9 km2 (61.7 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 15 m (49 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipal unit | 17,154 |
| • Municipal unit density | 107.3/km2 (277.9/sq mi) |
| • Community | 12,950 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 303 00 |
| Area code | 26340 |
| Vehicle registration | ME |
| Website | www |
Nafpaktos (Greek:Ναύπακτος) orNaupactus, is a town and a formermunicipality inNafpaktia,Aetolia-Acarnania,West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of theGulf of Corinth, 3 km (2 mi) west of the mouth of the riverMornos.
It is named forNaupaktos (Ναύπακτος, Latinized asNaupactus), an importantAthenian naval station in thePeloponnesian War. As a strategically crucial possession controlling access to the Gulf of Corinth, Naupaktos changed hands many times during theCrusades and theOttoman–Venetian Wars. It was underVenetian control in the 15th century, and came to be known by theVenetian form of its name,Lepanto. It fell to the Ottoman Empirein 1499 and was used as a naval station by theOttoman Navy in the 16th century, being the site of the decisive victory by theHoly League in theBattle of Lepanto in 1571. Except for a brief period of Venetian control in 1687–1699, Lepanto remained under Ottoman control untilGreek independence in 1829.
The modern municipality was incorporated in 1946, and later merged into the largerNafpaktia municipality in the2010 reform.Nafpaktos is now both the name of a municipal unit within Nafpaktia and of the town proper within the Nafpaktos unit.[2] The municipal district has an area of 159,947 square kilometres (61,756square miles), with a population close to 20,000 as of 2011[update].[3]
The town is 9 km (6 mi) northeast ofAntirrio, 18 km (11 mi) northeast ofPatras, 35 km (22 mi) east ofMissolonghi and 45 km (28 mi) southeast ofAgrinio. TheGreek National Road 48/E65 (Antirrio – Nafpaktos –Delphi –Livadeia) passes north of the town. It is the second largest town of Aetolia-Acarnania, afterAgrinio.
The ancient nameNaupaktos (Ναύπακτος) means "boatyard" (fromναύςnaus "ship" andπήγ-pêg- "to fix, fasten"). It was laterLatinized asNaupactus. By the late medieval period, the local name had evolved intoNepahtos (Νέπαχτος),Epaktos orEpahtos (Έπακτος, Έπαχτος). By the"Franks" (Latins) it was calledNeopant,Nepant orLepant. French sources of the 14th century giveNepant orNeopant; Venetian sources haveNepanto orLepanto.[4]
The name was adapted inOttoman Turkish from Greek Νέπαχτος asAynabahti orİnebahtı.[5]
The original ancient name was revived inmodern Greece in the 19th century.
In Greek legend, Naupactus is the place where theHeraclidae built a fleet to invade thePeloponnese.[6]
InClassical Antiquity, it was an important town of theLocri Ozolae and the best harbour on the northern coast of theCorinthian Gulf.[7] The town was situated just within the entrance of this gulf, a little east of the promontoryAntirrhium. It is said to have derived its name from theHeracleidae having here built the fleet with which they crossed over toPeloponnesus.[8][9][10]
Though Naupactus was indebted for its historical importance to its harbour at the entrance of the Corinthian gulf, it was probably originally chosen as a site for a city on account of its strong hill, fertile plains, and copious supply of running water. After theGreco-Persian Wars it fell into the power of theAthenians, who settled there theMessenians, who had been compelled to leave their country at the end of theThird Messenian War in 464 BCE, and during thePeloponnesian War it was the headquarters of the Athenians in all their operations in Western Greece,[11][12] and the scene of theBattle of Naupactus in 429 BCE. After theBattle of Aegospotami the Messenians were expelled from Naupactus, and the Locrians regained possession of the town.[9] Afterwards it passed into the hands of theAchaeans, from whom, however, it was wrested byEpaminondas.[13]Philip II of Macedon gave it to theAetolians,[14][15] and hence it is frequently called a town of Aetolia.[16][17][18] The Aetolians vigorously defended Naupactus against theRomans for two months in 191 BCE.[19][20]Ptolemy calls it a town of the Locri Ozolae,[21] to whom it must therefore have been assigned by the Romans after Pliny's time.
Pausanias saw at Naupactus a temple ofPoseidon near the sea, a temple ofArtemis, a cave sacred toAphrodite, and the ruins of a temple ofAsclepius.[22] The Roman playwrightPlautus mentions Naupactus in his comedyMiles Gloriosus as the destination of an Athenian master (Pleusicles) who is on a diplomatic mission to the city.
Naupactus is mentioned in the 6th-century list ofHierocles,[23] but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 551/2, during the reign ofJustinian I.[24][25]
The town and its hinterland were hit by an epidemic coming from Italy in 747/8 and almost deserted.[25] From the late 9th century, probably the 880s, it was capital of theByzantinethema ofNicopolis. At the same time, its bishopric was elevated to ametropolis. During the 9th–10th centuries, the town was an important harbour for theByzantine navy and a strategic point for communication with theByzantine possessions in southern Italy.[25][26]
A rebellion of the local populace, which led to the death of the localstrategos George, is recorded during the early reign ofConstantine VIII (r. 1025–28).[27] In 1040, the town did not take part in theuprising of Peter Delyan, and although attacked by the rebel army, alone among the towns of the theme of Nicopolis, it resisted successfully.[27]St. Nicholas of Trani is recorded as having departed forOtranto in 1094 from the port.[28] The history of the town over the next two centuries is obscure; during the visit ofBenjamin of Tudela in 1165, there was a Jewish community of about 100 in the town.[27]
Following the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire after theFourth Crusade, it became part of theDespotate of Epirus.[27][29] Under its metropolitan,John Apokaukos, the see of Naupactus gained in importance and headed the localsynod for the southern half of the Epirote domains.[30] In 1294, the town was ceded toPhilip I, Prince of Taranto as part of the dowry ofThamar Angelina Komnene. The ruler ofThessaly,Constantine Doukas, attacked Epirus in the next year and captured Naupactus, but in 1296 handed most of his conquests back to theAngevins, and Naupactus became a major Angevin base on the Greek mainland.[31]
In 1304 or 1305, the Epirotes recovered Naupactus during a war with the Angevins, but handed it back when peace was concluded in 1306.[32] The town briefly became part of the Serbian Empire during the 1350s.
In 1361 the town was captured by theCatalans of theDuchy of Athens.[27] In 1376 or 1377 it fell toJohn Bua Spata, an Albaniandespot of Arta. It was briefly occupiedKnights Hospitaller in 1378, and, now wedged between the expanding lands of theCount of CephaloniaCarlo I Tocco and theOttoman possessions, sold to theRepublic of Venice byPaul Spata in 1407.[33]
After 1449, the town was an isolated Venetian exclave in Ottoman territory, as the Ottomans completed their conquest of the rest of Epirus and Aetolia-Acarnania.[34] The town was important to Venice, as it secured their trade through theCorinthian Gulf, and the Republic took care to erect strong fortifications to secure its possession.[27] In the end, the fortress fell to the Ottomans in 1499, during theSecond Ottoman–Venetian War.[27]
Under the Ottomans, Naupactus was known asAynabahtı, İnebahtı and was the seat ofan Ottoman province. In 1521 (Hijri 927) the town had 509 Christian, 84Jewish, and 28Roma households.[35] The mouth of theGulf of Lepanto was the scene of the great sea battle in which the naval power of theOttoman Empire was nearly completely destroyed by the united Spanish, Papal, and Venetian forces (Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571). In 1687 it wasrecaptured by the Venetians, but was again restored to the Ottomans in 1699, by theTreaty of Karlowitz.[6] Among those who fought in theBattle of Lepanto wasMiguel de Cervantes, the most famous Spanish writer; there is a statue located at the port, in his honour.
Nafpaktos became part ofindependent Greece in March 1829.It was incorporated as a commune in 1912 and as an independent municipality in 1946. In the1997 reform, Nafpaktos municipality was enlarged by the incorporation of 13 communes.[36] In the2010 reform, Nafpaktos municipality was merged with five other municipalities to formNafpaktia municipality, and the town of Nafpaktos proper is now a communal district within theNafpaktos municipal district of Nafpaktia municipality.
Naupactus suffered damage from the2007 Greek forest fires.
Themetropolitan see of Naupactus depended on thepope of Rome until 733, whenLeo III the Isaurian annexed it to thePatriarchate of Constantinople.[37]
The zealous youthSt. Nicholas of Trani after a failed attempt at the mortifications of cenobitic life at theHosios Loukas monastery in Boetia set sail in the spring of 1094 on a pilgrimage to Rome for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. His pious habit of evangelizing the sailors with constant proclamations (in Greekkerygma from κηρύσσω, meaning "to cry or proclaim as a herald") of the phraseKyrie Eleison according to legend, led them to throw him overboard. He made it ashore in Italy, but was not hospitably received and died some months later aged just 19. Miraculous cures led to him being publicly acclaimed as worthy of veneration by the Bishop of Trani at the Council of Bari in 1098.[38]
UnderFrankish rule, there were about 20 archbishops in the 14–15th centuries. The city remains atitular see of theRoman Catholic church.[37]
The see was attached to theChurch of Greece after theGreek War of Independence. It was suppressed in 1900, replaced by the see of Acarnania and Naupactia, whose seat is atMissolonghi.[37]
Today the population is about 19,768 people according to the 2011 census. Residential homes align with theGulf of Corinth over a length of about 3 km (2 mi) and a width of about 1 km (0.6 mi). The port divides the beachfront in two parts. The Western part is called Psani, while the Eastern part Gribovo. Naupactus sits on a shoulder of a mountain range on the north while farmlands dominate the western part. It used to be on the GR-48/E65 linkingAntirrio andAmfissa; now it is bypassed to the north at the elevation of 150 to 200 m (492 to 656 ft)above sea level. The bypass has contributed significantly in lowering the number of heavy trucks passing through the narrow streets of the town.
The municipal unit Nafpaktos is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
| Year | Town population | Municipal unit population |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 9,012 | – |
| 1991 | 10,854 | 15,045 |
| 2001 | 12,924 | 18,231 |
| 2011 | 13,415 | 17,701 |
| 2021 | 12,950 | 17,154 |
Nafpaktos istwinned with:
Cinque Terre, Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Pontevedra, SpainNote: the American town ofLepanto, Arkansas takes its name from the Battle of Lepanto rather than directly from the Greek town.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Naupactus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 278–279.
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