Gavalou ( el, Γαβαλού) is a town and a community in the municipal unit of

Makryneia Makryneia ( el, Μακρυνεία) is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Agrinio, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area o ...

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 ...

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 ...

. In 2011 its population was 1,018 for the town, and 1,051 for the community, which includes the small village Kourtelaiika. The town is located south of

Lake Trichonida Lake Trichonida ( el, Λίμνη Τριχωνίδα ''Limni Trichonida'', Ancient Greek: Τριχωνίς ''Trichonis'') is the largest natural lake in Greece. It is situated in the eastern part of Aetolia-Acarnania, southeast of the city of Agrin ...

, the largest natural lake of Greece. It is 7 km east of Papadates, 10 km northwest of Kato Makrinou and 15 km southeast of

Agrinio 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 ...

Population

History

Gavalou may be built at or near the site of the ancient

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous ...

n town Trichonium, from which the

derived its name. Its position is uncertain. Leake places it S. of the lake at a place called Gavala, and Kiepert, in his map E. of the lake. But since Strabo mentions it along with Stratus as situated in a fertile plain, it ought probably to be placed N. of the lake (Strab. x. p. 450; Pol. v. 7; Steph. B. s. v.). It was evidently a place of importance, and several natives of this town are mentioned in history. (Pol. iv. 3, v. 13, xvii. 10; Paus. ii. 37. § 3; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 155.) The Old Aetolia was the seacoast extending from the Achelous to Calydon, reaching for a considerable distance into the interior, which is fertile and level; here in the interior lie Stratus and Trichonium, the latter having excellent soil. A prominent figure was Alexander of Trichonium in Aetolia and he was commander of the Aetolians in 218 and 219 BC. He attacked the rear of the army of Philip on his return from Thermus, but the attempt was unsuccessful, and many Aetolians fell. (Polyb. v. 13)

Climate

Gavalou has a Mediterranean climate with relatively mild winters and particularly hot summers. Gavalou is after

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

the area with the highest average summer maximum temperatures in the country. Like most of Western

it receives a lot of rainfall during the winter and autumn with an average annual precipitation of 1.156 mm.

External links

Gavalou on GTP Travel Pages

References

{{Makryneia Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania