Aigialeia ( el, Αιγιάλεια, ) is a municipality and a former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

(επαρχία) in the eastern part of the

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. T ...

regional unit,

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 wi ...

. The seat of the municipality is the town

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipal ...

. The municipality has an area of 723.063 km². The main towns are Aigio,

Akrata Akrata, ( el, Ακράτα) is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 180. ...

and Diakopto. The municipality Aigialeia stretches from the south coast of 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 ...

to the mountainous interior of the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

peninsula. The main rivers of the municipality are the Selinountas and the Vouraikos.

Municipality

The municipality Aigialeia was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 6 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *

Aigeira Aigeira ( el, Αιγείρα) (, grc, Αἰγείρα or Αἴγειρα, la, Aegeira) is a town and a former municipality in northeastern Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been a municipal unit of th ...

* Diakopto * Erineos *

Sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' ( gr, συμπολιτεία, , joint citizenship), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, ...

Province

The province of Aigialeia ( el, Επαρχία Αιγιαλείας) was one of the three provinces of Achaea. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality, except the municipal unit Erineos. It was abolished in 2006.

History

Present Aigialeia was the territory of the ancient Achaeans. Several towns of the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

were located here: Rhypes,

Aegium Aegium or Aigion ( grc, Αἴγιον), or Aegeium or Aigeion (Αἴγειον), was a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea, and one of the twelve Achaean cities. It was situated upon the coast west of the river Selinus, 30 stadia from R ...

Ceryneia Ceryneia or Keryneia ( grc, Κερύνεια, also Cerynia or Kerynia (Κερυνία), Ceraunia or Keraunia (Κεραυνία), Cerauneia or Kerauneia (Κεραύνεια), Caryneia or Karyneia (Καρύνεια), was a town and polis (city-state ...

, Boura, Helice, Aegae and

. Helice was submerged as a result an earthquake, which also destroyed Boura. In Roman times, the most important towns were Aegium and Aigeira. In the Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the Byzantines, Slavs, Franks, Venetians, and from the 16th century the Ottoman Turks. Aigialeia was liberated in the first stage of 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 ...

, in 1821. Aigio was struck by an earthquake in 1995, damaging several buildings. The 2007 Greek forest fires cause great damage in the mountains of Aigialeia.

Transport

Roads

The main highways in Aigialeia are: * Greek National Road 8, old road

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

–

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

– Rio –

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

* Greek National Road 8A (part of E55 and E65): Athens – Corinth – Rio – Patras *

Greek National Road 31 Greek National Road 31 is a national highway of southern Greece. It connects Aigio with Kalavryta Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The ...

–

Kalavryta Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and ...

Railways

The

Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways or SPAP ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Πειραιώς-Αθηνών-Πελοποννήσου "Siderodromi Pireos Athinon Peloponisou" or Σ.Π.Α.Π. (S.P.A.P.); french: Chemin de fer du Pirée-Athènes-Pe ...

line Athens – Corinth – Aigio – Patras – Pyrgos – Kyparissia runs through Aigialeia. The Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway is a rack railway, offering passenger service as well.

Media

Newspapers, fanzines and others

* Filodimos –

* Frouros tis Anatolikis Aigialeias * Proti tis Aigaleias – Aigio and Aigaleia *

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

– Akrata

Radio

* Radio Aigio – 99.2 FM

Television

AXION An axion () is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interest ...

– Aigio

Sporting clubs

Panegialios Panegialios ( el, Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (''Panegialios Gymnastics Club'', referring to Aigialeia, a subprefecture covering the northeastern part of Achaea) is a football club based in Aigio, Greece. Panegialios has a long tradition in ...

– Football League * Anagennisi/Aias Sympoliteias – Rododafni * Aris Valimitika * Asteras Temenis * Diakopto AC – Diakopto – fourth division * Egieas Egion * Olympiakos Aigio –

, fourth division *

Thyella Aigio Thyella is a Greek word about the storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hai ...

– Aigio * A.O. Vouraikos Diakopto * A.O. Ziria * Aris Longou – Longos, Achaea * A.O. Thyella Aigeiras –

(1980-2018) * A.O. Akrata –

(1970-2018) * A.E. Aigeiras/Akratas –

(merger of the two local clubs since July 2018)

References

{{Prefectures and provinces of Greece Municipalities of Western Greece Provinces of Greece Achaea Populated places in Achaea