Patra

For the Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine history of Patras see: History of Patras. In 1205, the city was captured by William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, and became a part of the principality of Achaea. It became the seat of the Barony of Patras, and its Latin archbishop primate of the principality. In 1408, Patras became Venetian, until it was recaptured in 1430 by the Despotate of Morea and its despot Constantine Palaiologos, who thus succeeded in recovering for the Byzantine Empire the whole of the Morea, apart from Venetian possessions. The administration of Patras was given to George Sphrantzes, while Constantine was immediately contested by the Ottoman Empire and later, in 1449, became emperor of the Byzantine empire. Patras remained a part of the Despotate of Morea until 1458, when it was conquered by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmet II. …

Patras is 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens by road, 94 km (58 mi) northeast of Pyrgos, 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Rio, 134 km (83 miles) west of Corinth, 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Kalavryta and 144 km (89 mi) northwest of Tripoli. A central feature of the urban geography of Patras is its division into upper and lower sections. This is the result of an interplay between natural geography and human settlement patterns; the lower section of the city (Kato Poli), which includes the 19th-century urban core and the port, is adjacent to the sea and stretches between the estuaries of the rivers of Glafkos and Haradros. It is built on what was originally a bed of river soils and dried-up swamps. The older upper section (Ano Poli) covers the area of the pre-modern settlement, around the Fortress, on what is the last elevation of Mount Panachaikon (1,926 m (6,319 ft)) before the Gulf of Patras. …

The cultural activity of Patras includes the Patras International Festival (with various artistic activities, mainly in the fields of theatre and music), the Patras Carnival and the Poetry Symposium. The city hosts many museums, including the Patras Archaeological Museum the History and Ethnology Museum, the Folk Art Museum, the Press Museum and the Technology Museum, the latter in the campus of Patras University. Other cultural institutes are: the Visual Arts Workshop, the icon painting school, the Carnival Float Workshop, the Municipal Library, the Municipal Gallery, along with many private art galleries. The architectural heritage of the city is dominated by neo-classicism, but also includes structures from other periods. Patras is also a pilot city of the Council of Europe and EU Intercultural cities programme. …

The economy of the city largely depends on its service sector. The area still retains some of its traditional winemaking and foodstuff industries as well as a small agricultural sector. Major businesses in Patras include: Most Greek banks have their regional headquarters for Western Greece in Patras. In 2010, the new Infocenter of Patras was established, inside the neoclassical building of the former market "Agora Argyri", in Ayiou Andreou street. The building includes a conference hall, along with multi-purpose and exhibitional spaces. The regional unit of Achaea has about 4,800 hotels rooms and in 2006, 286,000 tourists, mainly from Greece, stayed in the area for a total of 634,000 days. Patras still has a large manufacturing base for a variety of industries. The Titan Cement Company operates a large cement factory, with a private port, in Psathopyrgos, a suburb of Patras. …

The city has always been a sea-trade hub because of its strategic position. The port manages more than half of the foreign sea-passenger transportation in Greece, and has excellent car-ferry links with the Ionian islands and the major Adriatic ports of Italy. Additionally, a new port was built in the southern section of the city to accommodate the increased traffic and relieve the city centre from port operations. In 2011, this port went into operation. Ferries to Italy now dock there. The port is connected by a number of daily routes to the Ionian islands Kerkyra, Kefallonia, to the port of Igoumenitsa and to the Italian cities Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, Trieste and Venice. A newly constructed, 20-kilometre (12 mi) ring road (the Bypass of Patras) was first opened in 2002 in order to alleviate heavy traffic throughout the city. …

The following list presents demographic data on the municipality of Patras over the years 2012. From 2011 on, can data also reflect the city's urban area population, as all the municipalities that made up the Patras Urban Area were joined to create the new larger Patras municipality, formed at the 2011 local government reform.