Suggested Routes
Nafpaktos
At a distance of 15 km from Patras, Nafpaktos, while maintaining its picturesque character, is a nearby and pleasant way out in search of beauty, peace, harmony, good food and an ideal place for entertainment. The castle on top of the pine-covered hill, the old town with its paved alleys, the imposing clock, the Papacharampeios Library, the Farmakis Collection with relics of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the small Venetian harbour surrounded by walls and in summer filled with a multitude of impressive boats are some of the sights of Nafpaktos. With a life of more than 30 centuries, Nafpaktos lived many historical moments, decisive for the course of the Greek nation, Christianity, but also European civilization, culminating in the historic naval battle of Nafpaktos in 1571, where the aggressive course of the Moors for the conquest of Europe was stopped, with unknown consequences for the continuation.
In mountainous Nafpaktia the visitor will be hosted in picturesque villages with wonderful landscapes, such as Elatos, Ano Chora etc. , will do mountain climbing with canoeing (rafting) on the river Evinos.
Galaxidi
The historic Galaxidi, the naval city that has behind it a 4,000 year old historical journey culminating in the struggle of 21 years, arches west of the Gulf of Crissae, stately, picturesque and proud. It has suffered many invasions by conquerors from time to time but has stood the test of time and is today one of the best resorts in Greece. Among the many attractions stand out: the Church of Agios Nikolaos with its magnificent and unique wooden carved temple, remains of the walls of the Ancient City and carved tombs of the classical period. One can also visit the Maritime and Ethnological Museum, the Folklore Museum, the Church of Agia Paraskevi with its sundial, etc.
New Pleurona
Nea Plevrona, 8km from Messolonghi, was built immediately after 235/4 BC when Demetrius II of Macedon destroyed the Old Plevrona which is located on the low hills a little further south. The site where the ruins of the new city are located dominates the surrounding plain, and the lagoon of Messolonghi, suggesting its importance as a strategic point in antiquity.
Nea Plevrona is one of the most characteristic examples of fortification art of the Hellenistic period in the region and in Western Greece in general. The strong city wall is 2 km long. and a width ranging from 2-2.20m. It includes eight gates and thirty-six rectangular towers measuring approximately 5x5m.
The most characteristic monuments of the ancient city are the theatre, with 16 rows of seats, the market in the area of which the foundations of the stoa and a number of pedestals are preserved. statues, the impressive large tank, carved into the rock, measuring 33X22m. and remains of the city’s residential fabric with building foundations and cobbled streets.
Ancient Corinth
Corinth, the glamorous commercial city, the sea empress of ancient times, owes its prosperity to its geographical position, at the crossroads of land and sea routes. Its economy was based on the exploitation of the two seas (Aegean and Ionian) and on its relations with the commercial centres of the East and West.
In the port of Lechaios, which was also a naval naval station, the trireme, the wondrous warship that gave the Greeks the supremacy of navigation and dominated the Mediterranean for about 1000 years, was first built in the 7th century BC by Amenocles.
Wealthy Corinth was one of the first Greek cities to colonize southern Italy and southern France and taught the cultivation of olives and vines.
The Acropolis of Ancient Corinth was fortified in the 7th century BC and was occupied by the Romans, Franks, Knights of Malta, Venetians and Turks due to its strategic position.
The port of Kechreon, in the Saronic Gulf, was the link between Ancient Corinth and the Aegean islands and the peoples of the East.
The cobbled road, the “diolkos” that the Corinthians had constructed to “divert” ships from the Corinthian to the Saronic Gulf and vice versa, did not follow a straight line and therefore its length exceeded 6 km, which is the length of the Isthmus. Pieces of this road with obvious ancient carriage tracks, on which the wheeled vehicle that transported the ships moved, were excavated near the two banks of the channel.