Arachovitika
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arachovitika, Arahovitika or Arakhovitika (Greek: Αραχωβίτικα fr. Αράχωβα Arachova) is a village located in the municipality of Rio in the northern part of the prefecture of Achaia, Greece. It is the third northernmost community in the Peloponnese. Cape Drepano is a trapezoidal cape facing the northwest and is the northernmost point in the Peloponnese and the prefecture of Achaia. The village is connected slightly northwest of the old GR-8 linking Patras and Corinth and the road to nearby Drepano to the south. The nearest interchange for the GR-8A superhighway is nearly 6 km SW via the roundabout. The Gulf of Corinth lies directly to the north and the Strait of Rio-Antirio west of the cape. It is located about 6 km NE of Rio, about 12 km NE of Patras about 6 km ENE of the Rio-Antirio Bridge and 211 km W of Athens via the new road and about 215 km W from the old highway.
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[edit] Subdivision
- Kato Arachovitika (pop: 334 1991) - a village that lies next to Arachovitika's beach. Kato Arachotivika is one of the northernmost settlements in the Peloponnese and the prefecture.
[edit] Nearest places
- Agios Vasileios, west
- Drepano,south, bounded by the toll superhighway
- Psathopyrgos, east
- Cape Drepano (geographic feature), north
- Kato Arachovitika, NW
[edit] Geography
- Location:
- Arachivitika:
- Longitude: 21.834 (21°50'8') E
- Latitude: 38.3225 (38°19'25') N
- Kato Arachovitika:
- Longitude: 21.842 (21°50'33') E
- Latitude: 38.327 (38°19'37') N
- Arachivitika:
- Postal code: 265 00
- Elevation:
- lowest: Gulf of Corinth and the Strait of Rio-Antirio
- centre: about 10 m
- highest: about 200 to 250 m
- Dialing code: +11+30-2610 (030-2610)-93x xxx
[edit] Historical population
| Year | Communal population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 519 | - |
| 1991 | 400 (village), 734 (community) | -119/-22.9% (village) |
Arachovitika has a school, a church, a small train station (Patras - Corinth - Athens), and a square (plateia). Arachovitika is also the northernmost and then easternmost suburban Patras community. Arachovitika is very famous for its beaches located to the northwest stretching up to the cape and also includes a spa. The next main industry are agriculture and fishing especially at the harbor named Arachovitika to its northwest.
The area around Arachovitika has mainly groves with a few pasture lands and other types of crop surrounding the area while in the southwest. Most of the land are groves. Forests are around the plain and south of the community as well as mountains and an abandoned mining area near Drepano. The mountains are bushy but forests lie to the southeast near Psathopyrgos. There have never been suburban housing developments. Arachovitika is bounded by the superhighway GR-8A/E65 (Patras - Athens) which also accesses to GR-5/E55, GR-9/E55 and GR-48/E65 through the westbound lanes to its southeast and east. The mountains are to the east and another which was used for mining in the mid 20th century lies northeast. The Panachaiko cannot be seen, the mountains of southeastern part of Acarnania including Nafpaktia with Nafpaktos and the southern part of Phokida is to the west and the Rio-Antirio bridge. The small stream which flows near Drepano lies less than 1 km E of the centre and does not form the communal boundary with Drepano. The railway runs 1 km N and almost encircles the northern part of about 1 km.
The new superhighway runs south of the community. It was constructed in the mid 20th century along with an interchange with two curves. It was opened a few years later. A boat which was named after the nearby bay Arachovitika Bay which was a Maltese freighter which in 1999 was charged for receiving no wages and cut off from heating and water. The freighter on April 2001 was laid in Dublin and on April 19, the ship was sold for auction.
