Thesprotia

Thesprotia regional unit Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Θεσπρωτίας (Θεσπρωτία)
Basic data
State :	Greece
Region :	Epirus
Area :	1,515 km²
Residents :	43,587 (2011)
Population density :	28.8 inhabitants / km²
NUTS 3 code no. :	EL542
Structure:	4 municipalities
Website:	www.thesprotia.gr

Thesprotia ( Greek Θεσπρωτία , German also Thesprotien ; Albanian  Çamëria ) is a landscape in Greece that forms one of the four regional districts of the Greek region of Epirus . The main town is Igoumenitsa . From 1936 until the Greek administrative reform in 2010 , Thesprotia had the status of a prefecture ; As of January 1, 2011, their competencies were divided between the region and the greatly reduced municipalities. The Thesprotia regional district sends seven members to the Epirotian regional council, but has no further political significance except as a constituency for the Greek parliament. It includes the municipalities of Filiates , Igoumenitsa, Souli and Sagiada .

geography

Thesprotia is located in the west and north of the Epirus region in Greece.

In ancient times, the Thesprotia landscape was bordered to the west by the coast of the Ionian Sea . The border in the north was formed by the Kalamas River (alternative or ancient name Thyamis ), which separated Thesprotia from the Chaonia landscape of the island of Corfu opposite. In modern times, the southern part of Chaonia belongs to the Thesprotia regional district, the northern part to the Qark Vlora ( Albania ). The southern limit of the Thesprotia landscape was the Acheron River . According to other sources, the southern border of the ancient landscape of Thesprotia lay between the rivers Acheron and Louros and thus included the northern areas of the Preveza regional district, which is now the Parga exclave . The adjacent landscape in the south and south-west was called Kassiopia . The southeast of Thesprotia bordered the Amvrakia ( Ambrakia ) region , the east-southeast border separated Thesprotia and Athamania . The eastern border of the Thesprotia landscape is not clearly defined. To the northeast and east, the Molossis ( Molossia ) landscape bordered on Thesprotia. The ancient sanctuary of Dodoni was in Molossis on the eastern border of Thesprotia. Parts of Molossis are now partly northeastern part of the Thesprotia regional district.

The area of ​​Thesprotias differed somewhat in its boundaries from the ancient landscape. In the north, modern Thesprotia borders on Albania . The border with Albania runs along the southern foothills of the Ceraunic Mountains ( Mali Kanalit ) and divides the ancient Chaonia landscape into a northern Albanian and a southern Greek part. This part of Thesprotias is dominated by the southern foothills of the Kerun Mountains. One of the foothills of the Ceraunic Mountains, the Tsamanda in the northeastern region of Thesprotias, is the highest point of Thesprotia with a height of 1,759 m; the summit is on the Albanian-Greek border. The coast around and especially north of Sagiada is rugged and rocky. To the east-northeast, the vegetation increases, especially at the transition to the north- east pindus mountains . The second dominant and at the same time limiting factor of the northern Thesprotia is the river Kalamas (Thyamis). It flows from the northeast from the Nemertsika massif of the Pindos Mountains over 115 km in length into the bay of Valtos of the Ionian Sea to the southwest. In the course it forms gorges, especially between the villages of Vrosina and Pende Ekklisies , but also plains like the one north of Neraida . Shortly before it flows into the Ionian Sea, the Kalamas forms a river delta with hydrobiotopes. It is located between Igoumenitsa in the south and Sagiada and Asprokklisi in the north. The village of Filiates is located on a northern tributary of the Kalamas on the northern edge of the eastern estuary of the river.

The course of the Kalamas separates the northern part of Thesprotia from the central part. To the west on the coast of the Ionian Sea, on the bay of Igoumenitsa, which forms a sheltered harbor, is the city of Igoumenitsa. To the east of Igoumenitsa, Mount Varathi rises to a maximum height of 657 m above sea level and forms the southern boundary of the Kalamas estuary. Further to the east rise the mountain ranges of the Ori Paramythias in a north-west-south-east orientation and immediately to the east the Souliou mountain range . The latter also forms the border to the east with the Ioannina regional district south of the Kalamas Valley. The Ori Paramythias form the eastern boundary of the valley of Paramythia or the valley of the river Kokytos , which has its source between Kefalovryso and Paramythia and flows south-southeast towards Parga . The Kokytos Valley is a fertile plain that slowly descends with the villages of Gardiki , Glyki and Vouvopotamos to the level of the Ionian Sea. At Glyki the cocytus flows into the Acheron , which flows from the east to the west to the Ionian Sea. The Kokytos valley widens significantly from the confluence of the Kokytos and Acheron rivers to the west towards the Ionian Sea.

In contrast to the ancient landscape, the southern border of the area only encompasses the Acheron from its confluence with the Kokytos to the east. To the west, the border of Thesprotias with the Preveza regional district runs north of the Acheron on the southern foothills of the mountains of Parga . Between the mouth of the Acheron in the south at Ammoudia (near the ancient Ephyra ) and the bay of Parga, a 'tongue' of the Protean area extends to the bay of Agios Ioannis on the Ionian Sea. Both northwest of this tongue (area of ​​Parga) and south-southeast of this tongue the landscape belongs to the Preveza regional district. The mountains of Parga ( Ori Pargas ), which run parallel to the coast of the Ionian Sea to the south of the bay of Igoumenitsa, belong entirely to Thesprotia.

The southeast border is the course of the Acheron to the southernmost point of the Souliou mountain range. On the same mountain range, the eastern border from Thesprotia to the Ioannina district runs in a northerly direction. At the northern end of the Souliou Mountains, the Ori Paramythias offer a pass to the passage between the valley or plain of Paramythia in the west and the valley of Dodoni in the east: the 'Stairway Paramythias' ( Skala Paramythias ).

Thesprotia has the westernmost point of mainland Greece on the border with Albania.

history

The ancient inhabitants of Thesprotias - the Thesproten - were one of the three important tribes in ancient Epirus , along with the Molossians and Chaonians . Homer already described the Thesproters in the Odyssey as a seafaring people under the rule of a king. The most important city in the ancient landscape of Thesprotia was Ephyra , which owned a very famous oracle for the dead ( necromancy ).

economy

Thesprotia's economic strength is based on agriculture and tourism. Agriculture is practiced in the Thesprotias plains, for example along the Kalamas and Acheron rivers, but also in the Paramythia plains. Tourism continues to gain in importance. The industry in Thesprotia has so far been poorly developed. In the district of Nea Selefkia in the north of Igoumenitsa there is an industrial area with mainly small industrial companies. The newly created industrial park on Autobahn 2 (Greece) between Igoumenitsa and Paramythia is currently used by a few companies. The service sector in connection with the port is also important - especially for the Igoumenitsas area. With the new construction and expansion of the port, its direct connection to Autobahn 2 and the connection to the Greek railway network planned for 2012 to 2015, an even more intensive use of the goods transport sector is to be expected.

traffic

Road traffic

As in the rest of Greece, the backbone of public and private transport in Thesprotia is the road network. Thesprotia is crossed by several national roads, all of which are developed as 2-lane country roads with two-way traffic.

• The national road 6 begins in Igoumenitsa and runs as a winding route through the mountains of Igoumenitsa towards the east to Ioannina. The national road 6 is also the European route 90 and 92 . In the 1990s, the line was repeatedly expanded and repaired within the framework of the topographical possibilities of the line. It is currently the most important east-west connection to and from Thesprotia, but it will almost certainly lose its position to the motorway 2 , which runs a little further south , provided that it is continuously between Igoumenitsa and Ioannina (later continuously to Thessaloniki). is passable.
• The national road 18 leads inland Thesprotias from Filiates via Paramythia and Garidiki south to Preveza . Despite its status as a national road, it has the character of a secondary route both structurally and in terms of traffic volume.
• The road from Igoumenitsa to Preveza, which runs along the coast, but not directly along it, to Parga and Preveza, is of particular importance for north-south traffic in the regional district. It is not a national road, but is part of the European route 55 . This route was expanded due to the increasing traffic caused by tourism.
• The road from Filiates to Sagiada in the north-west of the regional district is of increasing importance. The opening of a border crossing to Albania in the 1990s created a new route for goods and people to and from Albania (Vlore province).
• The most important road connection in west-east direction will be the Autobahn 2 (A2; Egnatia Odos). This begins directly at the port of Igoumenitsa and leads in an easterly direction via Paramythia to Ioannina. The four-lane motorway with numerous and complex structures such as bridges and tunnels due to the topographical conditions will lead to Thessaloniki via Ioannina , Grevena , Kozani and Veria in the final stage . A connection from Kastoria via the motorway 15 is already partially in operation, a connection to central Greece and Thessaly via the planned motorway 3 and a connection to southern Epiros, the western Greek mainland and the Peloponnese via the motorway 5 (Ionia Odos) is planned , which in total will lead to a massive reduction in travel and transport times to and from Thesprotia. Since Autobahn 2 will be passable from Thessaloniki to Alexandroupoli and on to the Turkish border at the same time , Thesprotia will be assigned the western end of the most efficient main axis of road traffic in the west-east direction in northern Greece.

railroad

Thesprotia does not currently have a connection to the Greek railway network. Within the framework of the trans-European transport corridors and networks (TEN), however, the connection of Thesprotia to the Greek rail network is planned. A train station is to be built in Igoumenitsa to the south of the highway 2 route. The railway line that begins there is then to lead east to Ioannina and from there further south-east to be connected to the existing railway network in Kalambaka (from there connection to Thessaloniki and Athens ). At the same time, a new railway line along the Ionian Sea is planned by means of a new line from Ioannina south to Patras. The start of construction is planned for 2012. However, the implementation does not appear to be certain, as the mountainous topography as with the Autobahn 2 will result in enormous construction costs.

aviation

There is no national or international airport in the area of ​​Thesprotia.

seafaring

Shipping has become of paramount importance for Thesprotia in the form of ferry traffic. Igoumenitsa and its port is the end point and intermediate station of ferry connections (people, vehicles) between Greece and Italy with the cities of Bari , Ancona , Brindisi and Venice . These ferry connections are mainly used by tourists from Central and Western Europe. Their use increased considerably in the early 1990s when the land passage from Central Europe to Greece became impassable due to the wars in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to the ferry connections to Italy and the south of Greece (especially Patras ), Igoumenitsa is the end point of the passenger and car ferry connections to Corfu .

media

In addition to the national Greek radio stations, Thesprotia has local radio stations that broadcast over FM . These are (selection)

• Radiothesprotia - 97.1 and 103.2 FM or VHF with RDS. Paramythia site
• Radio Igoumenitsa - 89.2 and 92.3 FM or VHF with RDS. Location: Igoumenitsa
• 4U Radio Igoumenitsa - 93.3 FM VHF with RDS. Location: Igoumenitsa
• Ekklisia Paramythias - 105.1 FM and 105.9 VHF. Location: Paramythia

In addition to the national and local stations, radio programs from Corfu, Ioannina and Preveza can also be received. The reception of Albanian radio stations is also possible in the north of Thesprotia.

The television reception in Thesprotia is terrestrial and still analog. In the next few years DVB-T will also be switched on in Thesprotia and the rest of the country , which is already used in Athens, Thessaloniki and Thessaly and covers over 60% of the total population of Greece. In Thesprotia you can receive the most important television channels in Greece in good quality as well as the regional channels from Arta and Corfu. The number of receivable TV channels was 25 channels in 2007, as not all Greek TV channels have a broadcasting license valid for the whole of Greece. Thesprotia also had a local television station called ALFA TV Igoumenitsa. This has ceased operations.

The internet connection in Thesprotia can be realized with good speeds. DSL connections with up to 24,000 Mbit are available.

The reception of mobile phones is very good in Thesprotia in localities and urban areas. Problems with the reception of the network signals from cell phone networks are still to be encountered due to the mountainous geography of Thesprotia. All 3 Greek networks of the mobile phone providers Cosmote, Vodafone GR (formerly Panafon), WIND GR (formerly TIM GR) can be received in Thesprotia.

literature

• Sotirios Dakaris: Thesprōtia. (= Archaies ellēnikes poleis. 15). Athens 1972.
• Epiros / Thessalia Map 1: 250,000. Road Editions, Athens. ISBN 960-8481-17-1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
2. ^ Map of the ancient landscape of Thesprotia with the neighboring regions of Molossis and Chaonia (in German).

Web links

• Official website of the Thesprotia Prefecture (in German, Greek, English and Italian).

Coordinates: 39 ° 30 '  N , 20 ° 27'  E