Aspra Spitia, Elis

Aspra Spitia (Greek: Άσπρα Σπίτια) is a village in Elis, Greece, part of the municipality Olympia. In 2001 its population was 319.

Nearest places

• Olympia

Location

Aspra Spitia is located ast of Pyrgos, south of Patras and west-northwest of Tripoli.

Population

Geography

Much of the area around Aspra Spitia are forested, farmlands are founded within most of the valley areas and within the village. Near the village, archeologists have excavated prehistoric remains of housing from the Neolithic period.^[1]

Information

After World War II and the Greek Civil War, much of the population left for larger towns and cities especially Patras and started its population trend to fall. The population remained steady since the mid to late 20th century. Houses were stone-built until the 1950s and did not surpass modern-style homes until the 1980s. It was linked with pavement in the 1980s. Its population added only by 3 people between 1991 and 2001.

The village was affected by the fires in 2007 that arrived over the Alfeios riverbanks, flames plundered the forests around the area and changed its geographical shape to an ashy situation. Firefighters battled the blaze along with choppers and airplanes and began between 3 to 5 PM (16:00 to 18:00) on Sunday August 27 and continued through the afternoon and evening hours, parts of the area were partially unaffected. It transformed into an ugly not so beautiful scene that became all burnt and grey, the air became stale and may take several years to recover the forests, planting will rarely be done but the beauty of nature will replenish the area.

Economy

The majority of people in Aspra Spitia work in the nearby factory that produces aluminium. The rest of its residents live off in agriculture and many of these are art workers and hotel services.

See also

• List of places in the Ilia prefecture

References

External links

• Aspra Spitia GTP Travel Pages