Aitoliko (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Αιτωλικό) is a town and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

West Greece Western Greece Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας, translit=Periféria Dhitikís Elládhas, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the northw ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Messolonghi Missolonghi or Messolonghi ( el, Μεσολόγγι, ) is a municipality of 34,416 people (according to the 2011 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 129.305 m². It is located north of the Acheloos delta. The

Greek National Road 5 National Road 5 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 5, abbreviated as EO5) is a single carriageway road in western Greece. It connects Antirrio, at the north end of the Rio-Antirrio bridge, with Ioannina in northwestern Greece, passing through Agrinio a ...

/ E55 passes through the municipal unit. It is located SW of

Agrinion Agrinio (Greek: Αγρίνιο, , Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 106,053 inhabitants. It is the economical center of Aetolia-Acarnania, although its capi ...

, about 20 km NW of

, W of

Nafpaktos Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latinize ...

and the Rio-Antirrio bridge and SE of

Astakos Astakos ( el, Αστακός, meaning "lobster") is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit.

. Until it became a part of Greece, it was known as Anatoliko (Ανατολικό), meaning eastern.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Aitoliko is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *Aitoliko (Aitoliko, Agios Nikolaos, Kefalovryso, Mesa Pigadi, Bouza, Nisaki, Poros, Chaliki) *Agios Ilias *

Stamna Stamna ( el, Σταμνά) is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Aitoliko in the southern part of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece. It is located on a chain of low hills that separate the river Acheloos to the west from the bay of Aitoli ...

(Stamna, Kefalovrysos, Stathmos Stamnas) *Fragkoulaiika (Fragkou, Koulaiika) *Chrysovergi (Chrysovergi, Giatsaiika)

Historical population

Aitoliko has primary schools, a High School (first three years of secondary education), a Lyceum (the second three-year period of secondary education), several churches, a small post office and a central square. The geography has rocky bushy hills to the east and farms along with some grasslands and swamps as far as the Achelous to the west. The

Aitoliko Lagoon The Aitoliko Lagoon ( el, Λιμνοθάλασσα Αιτωλικού ''Limnothalassa Aitolikou'') is a lagoon located in the south of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece. It is separated from the larger Missolonghi Lagoon (a bay of the Gulf of Patras) to t ...

is a lagoon located east of Aitoliko surrounding the main municipality and is 14 km² in area. Aitoliko was located with relation to the ancient towns of Pleuron and

Oiniadai Oeniadae or Oiniadai ( grc, Οἰνιάδαι), or Oeneiadae or Oineiadai (Οἰνειάδαι), was a town in ancient Acarnania, situated on the west bank of the Achelous River, about 10 miles (16 km) from its mouth. It was one of the most import ...

. The name of the town in the middle of the lagoon dates back to ancient times. The old part of the town lies on an island between two lagoons; the

, which extends up to

, lies to the north, and the

Missolonghi Lagoon The Missolonghi Lagoon ( el, Λιμνοθάλασσα Μεσολογγίου, ''Limnothalassa Mesolongiou'') is a shallow lagoon located in the south of Aetolia-Acarnania, Western Greece. It is connected to the Gulf of Patras, a bay of the Ionian ...

, which was

Lake Kynia A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

in antiquity lies to the south and connects with

Gulf of Patras The Gulf of Patras ( el, Πατραϊκός Κόλπος, ''Patraikós Kólpos'') is a branch of the Ionian Sea in Western Greece. On the east, it is closed by the Strait of Rion between capes Rio, Greece, Rio and Antirrio, near the Rio-Antirrio b ...

and into the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

. The island is connected to the mainland on each side by two bridges.

The delta and the lagoons

The Achelous delta to be found west of Mesolonghi is the most extensive delta in Greece. The Mesolonghi lagoon is one of the largest lagoons of the entire Mediterranean sea with its depth of 1.5 m. It is separated from the Gulf of Patras while its sea water is renewed from the Gulf, while the Aitolikon lagoon is a little deeper at 30 m deep. Of economic importance is the saltworks located to the east next to the old GR-5 (Agrinion - Mesolonghi) about 100 m from the sea with an area of about 500 m² and a width of about 1 km between Aitolikon and Mesolonghi. Farmlands lie to the east with hills and rocky landscape. Fishing is common in the lagoon. The lagoons are the richest waters in Greece as far as fish are concerned. Here, boats are used. In different places, wooden huts on stilts can be seen. Land development and waste management endanger the entire delta area. A large tract of land is under nature protection and hunting is banned. In this area, 170 species of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

are founded. It is also home to some parasites including

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

s and

sand smelts Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

including ''

Atherina boyeri The big-scale sand smelt (''Atherina boyeri'') is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae. It is a euryhaline amphidromous fish, up to 20 cm in length. Description It is a small pelagic fish species which occurs near the surface in the ...

''.

History

Around 900 A.D, the Byzantine fleet from

Naupaktos Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latinize ...

(Lepanto) at the

Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isth ...

became and capital and became Nikopolis. The new capital became secured by the fortress. One of these fortresses were favourable for defense on the island and the lagoons in Aitoliko. Since the 12th century, the island fortress of Anatoliko developed to the city. In 1406, it was sold to

Carlo I Tocco Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429. Life Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Madda ...

Kefallinia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...

. The

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

forces divided their incomes from the salt gardens and fishing waters of Anatoliko which lasted until 1430. During the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in the beginning of the 19th century, Aitolikon experienced three Turkish sieges before it became a part of Greece. There were 500 Greek defenders and 15,000 Turks in the first siege, The second siege was repelled, in the third siege, Aitolikon was re-taken by the Turks at the same time as Mesolonghi on April 11, 1826. Generals from Greece that participated included Georgios Liakatas.

Notable people

Vaso Katraki Vaso Katraki ( el, Βάσω Κατράκη, 5 July 1914 – 27 December 1988) was a Greek painter and engraver. She was known for her passionate depictions of the sufferings of the Greek people during and after World War II. In 1967 she was exil ...

, Engraver - Painter, 1914–1988, website: http://www.aitoloakarnania.gr/index.htm * I.M. Panagiotopoulos (born Ioannis Mihail Panagiotopoulos), 1901–1982, website: https://web.archive.org/web/20050313131254/http://www.aitoloakarnania.gr/litterateurs/panagiotopoulos.htm (in Greek) *

Giannis Vogiatzis Giannis Vogiatzis ( el, Γιάννης Βογιατζής; born 12 June 1926) is a Greek actor. Biography Vogiatzis was born in Aitoliko, Aetolia-Acarnania on 12 June 1926. He studied at the Dramatic School at the Royal Theatre and for one spa ...

(b.1926), actor

References

External links

Aitoliko - National Geographic Ellas
(in Greek)
Internet Aitoliko's forum and discussion board