User:Polimerek/sandbox/Patras

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Patra Πάτρα
Settlement
View of Patras from the fortress
Patra Location within the region
Coordinates: 38°15′N 21°44′E
Country	Greece
Geographic region	Peloponnese
Administrative region	Western Greece
Regional unit	Achaea
Districts	11
Government
• Mayor	Kostas Peletidis (KKE)
Area
• Metro	738.9 km2 (285.3 sq mi)
• Municipal unit	125.4 km2 (48.4 sq mi)
Highest elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Metro	260,308
• Metro density	350/km2 (910/sq mi)
• Municipal unit	171,484
• Municipal unit density	1,400/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	26x xx
Area code(s)	261
Vehicle registration	ΑΧ,AZ
Website	www.e-patras.gr

Patras (Greek: Πάτρα, Greek pronunciation: [ˈpatra], Classical Greek and Katharevousa: Πάτραι (pl.), Greek pronunciation: [pátrai̯], Latin: Patrae (pl.)) is Greece's third-largest city and the regional capital of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens. The city is built at the foothills of Mount Panachaikon, overlooking the Gulf of Patras.

Patras has a population of 213,984 (in 2011). The core settlement has a history spanning four millennia; in the Roman period it had become a cosmopolitan center of the eastern Mediterranean whilst, according to Christian tradition, it was also the place of Saint Andrew's martyrdom.According to the results of 2011 census, the metropolitan area has a population of 260,308 and extends over an area of 738.87 km2.

Dubbed as Greece's Gate to the West, Patras is a commercial hub, while its busy port is a nodal point for trade and communication with Italy and the rest of Western Europe. The city has two public universities and one Technological Institute, hosting a large student population and rendering Patras a major scientific centre with a field of excellence in technological education. The Rio-Antirio bridge connects Patras' easternmost suburb of Rio to the town of Antirrio, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece.

Every year, in February, the city hosts one of Europe's largest carnivals: notable features of the Patras Carnival include its mammoth satirical floats and balls and parades, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors in a Mediterranean climate. Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in the performing arts and modern urban literature. It was European Capital of Culture in 2006.

Geography

Satellite view of Patras.

A view of Panachaiko mountain.

Patras is 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens by road, 94 km (58 mi) northeast of Pyrgos, 7 kilometres (4 miles) 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.

Bibliography

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