Rio ( el, Ρίο, ''Río'', formerly , ''Rhíon'';

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Rhium'') is a town in the suburbs of Patras 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 ...

in Achaea,

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 north ...

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 Patras, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 98.983 km². The municipal unit had a population of 14,622 in 2011. The campus of the

University of Patras The University of Patras (UPatras; el, Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών, ''Panepistímio Patrón'') is a public university in Patras, Greece. It is the third-largest university in Greece with respect to the size of the student body, the s ...

and the Casino Rio is located in Rio.

Geography

Rion is the northernmost municipal unit of the Peloponnese peninsula. It stretches along the southeastern coast of the

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 and Antirrio, near the Rio-Antirrio bridge, that ...

, about 7 km northeast of Patras city centre. The nearby Strait of Rio, crossed by the Rio–Antirrio bridge, separates the Gulf of Patras from the Gulf of Corinth to the east. The town is dominated by the

Panachaiko The Panachaiko ( el, Παναχαϊκό, "Panachaean"), also known as Vodias (Βοδιάς) mainly at the Middle Ages, is a mountain range in Achaea, Peloponnese, Greece. It spans about 20 km in length from north to south, and 15–20 k ...

mountain to the southeast.

Town layout

The town centre is also known as ''Agios Georgios Riou''. This is where the Rio railway station, on the line from Patras to Corinth, is located. The quarter

Kastellokampos Kastellokampos ( el, Καστελλόκαμπος, meaning "plain with a castle") is a neighbourhood of the city of Patras, Achaea, Greece. It has been part of the municipality of Patras since 1879. It is situated on the Gulf of Patras coast, 6& ...

lies to the southwest of the centre. The ferry terminals, with services to

Antirrio Antirrio ( el, links=no, Αντίρριο, pronounced , la, links=no, Antirrhium) 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 Nafpaktia, of ...

, are in the north, on both sides of the Rio–Antirrio bridge. There is a large fortress with bastions next to the bridge. The campus of the

and the hospital lie in the southeast, across the

Greek National Road 8A Greek National Road 8a ( el, Εθνική Οδός 8a, abbreviated as EO8a) was a toll road in the Attica, Peloponnese and West Greece regions. It connected Athens with the cities of Corinth and Patras. It was built in the 1960s as a replacemen ...

. There are sandy beaches along the coast, and a port north of town centre.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Rio is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): * Agios Vasileios * Aktaio * Ano Kastritsi * Arachovitika (Arachovitika, Kato Arachovitika) * Argyra * Drepano * Kato Kastritsi (Kato Kastritsi, Magoula) * Pititsa * Platani *

Psathopyrgos Psathopyrgos (Greek: Ψαθόπυργος) is a tourist village and community in the municipal unit of Rio in the northern part of Achaea, Greece. Psathopyrgos is located on the Gulf of Corinth, south east of Cape Drepano, the northernmost point ...

(Psathopyrgos, Kato Rodini) *Rio * Sella

History

The name ''Rio'' (and its older form ''Rhion'') derives from the

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 ...

(''rhion''), generally meaning "jutting part", perhaps from (''rhis''), meaning "nose", but also "spur of land". The earliest attested form of the word is the

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC), before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the ''terminus ad quem'' for the ...

, ''ri-jo'', written in Linear B syllabic script. The site of Rio has been a strategic point since antiquity. Early 19th century, there stood an old Turkish castle (the "

Castle of the Morea The Rio Castle ( el, κάστρο του Ρίου), historically known as the Castle of the Morea ( it, Castello de Morea) in opposition to its counterpart, the Castle of Rumelia at Antirrio, is located at the north tip of the Rio peninsula in ...

") at the cape, with a small settlement outside its walls.

Government

The mayors of the municipality were: * Vasileios Zervas (1998–2006) * Christos Liakopoulos (2006–2010)

Population

Gallery

View of panagopoulou road and mountains, Rio, Greece.jpg, Neighborhood and Panachaiko mountain Rio train station, Achaia.JPG, Train station University of Patras Hospital and department of medicine.jpg, Hospital and bridge Library (BYP) - University of Patras.JPG, University library FestungRio.jpg, Castle University cemetery in Rio, Greece.jpg, Cemetery

References

External links

Municipality of Rio

GTP - RioGTP - Municipality of RioGTP - Ancient Rhium
{{Rio, Greece Populated places in Achaea Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece