 DISCOVER NAFPAKTOS
Naupactus, or Nafpaktos, is the second largest town in the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece, situated on a bay on the north side of the straits of Lepanto. The harbour, once the best on the northern coast of the Corinthian Gulf, is accessible only to the smallest craft.
The origin of Naupactus comes from the two Greek words: naus ship, boat and pêgnumi, pegnymi builder, fixer.
The distance from Patras is about 15 km NE and about 215 km NW of Athens with the new Rio-Antirio bridge. The Mornos river is a few kilometres ENE which is also the prefectural boundary with Phokida. In Greek legend it appears as the place where the Heraclidae built a fleet to invade the Peloponnese.
HISTORY OF NAFPAKTOS
In historical times it belonged to the Ozolian Locrians; but about 455 BC, in spite of a partial resettlement with Locrians of Opus, it fell to the Athenians, who peopled it with Messenian refugees and made it their chief naval station in western Greece during the Peloponnesian war. Two major battles were fought at this location. In 404 it was restored to the Locrians, who subsequently lost it to the Achaeans, but recovered it through Epaminondas.
Philip II of Macedon gave Naupactus to the Aetolians, who held it till 191 BC, when after an obstinate siege it was surrendered to the Romans. It was still flourishing about 170, but in Justinian I's reign was destroyed by an earthquake. It was again destroyed by earthquakes in 553 and in the 8th century and so on.
In the Middle Ages it fell into the hands of the Venetians, who fortified it so strongly that in 1477 it successfully resisted a four month's siege by a Turkish army thirty thousand strong; in 1499, however, it was rumoured to have been sold by the Venetians to Beyazid II (Turks invading forces).
The mouth of the Gulf of Lepanto was the scene of the great sea fight in which the naval power of the Ottoman Empire was nearly completely destroyed by the united papal, Spanish, Habsburg and Venetian forces (Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571). In 1678 it was recaptured by the Venetians, but was again restored in 1699, by the treaty of Karlowitz to the Ottomans.
The city is a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.
In the war of independence it finally became Greek once more (March 1829). After World War II and the Greek Civil War, its buildings were rebuilt while its architecture remain.
In 1990, construction of a bypass of Naupactus began but when it was finally paved, the opening was delayed for eight years. However, it had to be partly reconstructed due to errors on the previous construction and as of late 2004. Finally it has opened in July 2006 but with no traffic.
Recently, Nafpaktos was devastated by a forest fire that began in a hot afternoon of July 18, 2007 and consumed hundreds of hectares of land to the valley area to the north. It took several firefighters, helicopters and planes to put out the blaze. The blaze was seen as far as Patras and its area. The fire threatened several houses were damages along with several in a settlement. The fire continued into July 19. Several buildings were burnt down and transformed several famous views into an unpopular scenery with burnt trees that may takes years to replace and recover and an ashy ground which won't be normal unil that time.
LANDMARKS OF NAFPAKTOS
Tha port and castle provide the main attraction for the town. Shops, cafes and bars dot the immediate area, while a cafe is also located within the castle walls
The port also includes monuments commemorating the Battle of Lepanto (1571), of which a statue of the famous writer Miguel de Cervantes can be found
A small water park just passed the western portion of the beach near Psani
Nafpaktos is also home to a local museum and also offers visitors a look back to its recent and ancient past with historic sites also marked off within the town providing insight to its Classical era
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
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