Georgiou I Square ( el, Πλατεία Γεωργίου Αʹ) is the central square of

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

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 ...

. The square is named after King

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for ...

. It is crossed by Maizonos, Korinthou and Gerokostopoulou streets. The neoclassical Apollon Theatre is situated on the northeast side of the square.

History

Georgiou I Square was built under the Kapodistrias government as a part of the 1829 plans by

Stamatis Voulgaris Stamatis Voulgaris or Stamati Bulgari ( el, Σταμάτης Βούλγαρης), was a painter, an architect and the first urban planner of modern Greece. He was born in Lefkimmi in the island of Corfu, Venetian Ionian Islands in 1774, and died ...

to rebuild the devastated centre of Patras after 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 ...

. Unlike the old city, the new city was built according to a

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...

with several large squares. The square has been renamed several times: Dimokratias at first, then Kalamogdarti, Othonos, Kentriki, Thomopoulou, Ethniki, Palligenesias and since 1863 ''Georgiou I''. In the square there are two fountains, constructed in Denmark.

Gallery

Image:Patrascentralsquare.JPG, Georgiou I Square in the early 20th century File:Patra1910.jpg, The square in 1910 File:Patras City 02.jpg, Detail of the one fountain File:Patras - panoramio (1).jpg, A view File:Ι.Ναός Αγ.Ανδρέα 06.jpg, View File:Apollon Theatre, Patra (2).jpg, Apollon Theatre

References

*''The first version of the article is translated and is based from the

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

at the Greek Wikipedia ( el:Main Page) {{Streets and squares in Patras Streets and squares in Patras Tourist attractions in Patras Neoclassical architecture in Greece