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56-736: The company was founded in 1999, in Patras by a doctor. The business is a franchise specialising in coffee, in-house food and coffee making equipment. In 2009, Coffee Island expanded and introduced its first coffee shop in Cyprus . In 2014 the chief executive officer of the company was Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos and the chain had 135 outlets in Greece and 27 in Cyprus. By 2015 the company had expanded further with 256 stores that employed around 1,300 people in Greece alone. In November 2016, Coffee Island expanded to

112-597: A naval battle took place off the city between the Russians and Ottomans. Patras was one of the first cities in which the Greek Revolution began in 1821; the Ottoman garrison, confined to the citadel, held out until 1828. After the war, most of the city and its buildings were completely destroyed. Patras developed quickly into the second-largest urban centre in late-19th-century Greece. The city benefited from its role as

168-509: A "small industries" park that will be constructed next to the Glaykos river and provide an easy connection with the new port. The city is one of the main Greek internet and GRNET hubs and is connected with high speed lines to Athens as part of the backbone. A metropolitan optical network will be deployed in the city, with a total length of 48 km (30 mi). Two major state hospitals operate in

224-514: A Romanian translation. Sphrantzes was also translated into German in 1954, and into English by Marios Philippides (Amherst, 1980). There is an edition with Italian translation by R. Maisano, Rome 1990 (CFHB 29). For centuries it was believed that Sphrantzes wrote two works, one the Minor Chronicle and the other the Major Chronicle . The Major Chronicle , which also includes the origins of

280-624: A bed of river soils and dried-up swamps. The older upper section (Ano Poli) covers the area of the pre-modern settlement, around the Fortress, on what is the last elevation of Mount Panachaikon (1,926 m (6,319 ft)) before the Gulf of Patras. The largest river in the area is the Glafkos , flowing to the south of Patras. Glafkos springs in Mount Panachaikon and its water is, since 1925, collected in

336-460: A conference hall, along with multi-purpose and exhibitional spaces. The regional unit of Achaea has about 4,800 hotels rooms and in 2006, 286,000 tourists, mainly from Greece, stayed in the area for a total of 634,000 days. Patras still has a large manufacturing base for a variety of industries. The Titan Cement Company operates a large cement factory, with a private port, in Psathopyrgos ,

392-453: A nice bioclimatic school. At the beginning of the 20th century, outside the school complex "Georgios Glarakis", line 2 of the tram ended, starting from Agios Dionysios, going up Dimitriou Gounari Street, passing behind the church of Pantanassa, entering Roman Odeon and finished outside the Glarakis school complex. Historical buildings and mansions of the city, apart Tzini's house, include also

448-460: A peace between Carlo II Tocco and his uncle's illegitimate sons over the succession to rule over Epirus, he was kidnapped by Catalan pirates, along with his retinue, and held at Cephalonia until the pirates took the group back to Glarentza where they were ransomed. Upon returning to Constantinople, he was made protovestiarites and appointed ambassador by the Emperor. After this point, Sphrantzes

504-525: A slave, but was ransomed 1 September 1453 then made his way to Mistras. There he obtained protection at the court of Thomas Palaiologos , despot of the Morea . He managed to go to Adrianople in 1454, ransom his wife, and return to the Morea, while evading the Sultan Mehmed. He served as an ambassador to Venice on behalf of Thomas Palaiologos in 1455. After the fall of the Morea in 1460, Sphrantzes retired to

560-417: A small mountainous reservoir-dam near the village of Souli and subsequently pumped in order to provide energy for the country's first hydroelectric plant . Other smaller streams are Charadros , Meilichos , Kallinaos , Panagitsa and the mountain torrent Diakoniaris . Patras, like much of Western Greece , has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ). It features

616-438: A suburb of Patras. Patras hosts several timber manufacturing companies, and a wood distribution center of Shelman . The largest local company is Abex . The paper sector is also active including a paper factory belonging to Georgia-Pacific ( Delica ) and two important Greek companies, Elite and El-pack , headquartered in the city. Patras has several packing and industrial equipment companies. The most important of them are

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672-547: Is built at the foot of Mount Panachaikon , overlooking the Gulf of Patras . As of the 2021 census, the municipality of Patras has a population of 215,922, while the urban population is 173,600. The core settlement has a history spanning four millennia. In the Roman period, it had become a cosmopolitan center of the eastern Mediterranean whilst, according to the Christian tradition, it was also

728-584: Is expected to expand its activities in 2019. The Corallia Innovation Hub, Innohub hosts many companies focusing on Microelectronics. Among them one of the largest is the multinational software company Citrix Systems which operates a R&D centre with more than 100 computer scientists and engineers. Another company that maintains an R&D center in Patras is Dialog Semiconductor , a UK-based manufacturer of semiconductor-based system solutions. Another large Greek IT company, Unisystems announced recently (October 2018)

784-723: The Apollon Theatre in Georgiou I Square, the City Hall, the headquarters of the Local Trade Association and the Court of Justice. A replica of Patras Lighthouse , the city's emblematic old lighthouse – which was at the dock of Ayios Nikolaos – rises at the end of Trion Navarchon street, near the temple of Saint Andreas. In general, much of Patras' coastline is framed by roads and avenues running alongside; these include Dymaion Coast to

840-669: The Despotate of Morea and its despot Constantine Palaiologos , who thus succeeded in recovering for the Byzantine Empire the whole of the Morea , apart from Venetian possessions. The administration of Patras was given to George Sphrantzes , while Constantine was immediately contested by the Ottoman Empire and later, in 1449, became emperor of the Byzantine empire. Patras remained a part of

896-672: The Despotate of Morea until 1458, when it was conquered by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire , Mehmet II . Under the Ottomans, it was known as "Baliabadra", from the Greek : Παλαιά Πάτρα ('Old Patras'), as opposed to Νέα Πάτρα ('new Patra'), the town of Ypati in Central Greece . Though Mehmet granted the city special privileges and tax reductions, it never became a major centre of commerce. Venice and Genoa attacked and captured it several times in

952-650: The Ottoman Imperial Harem in September 1455, aged 14 years and five months. At the monastery he wrote his Chronicle (Χρονικόν), which details the history of the House of the Palaiologoi from 1401 to 1476. It is a very valuable authority for the events of his own times. The distinctive traits of his work are loyalty to the Palaiologoi -- Sphrantzes often exaggerated their merits and suppressed their defects -- hatred of

1008-583: The Turks , and devotion to Eastern Orthodoxy . Steven Runciman described his work as "honest, vivid and convincing" and that Sphrantzes "wrote good Greek in an easy unpretentious style." There are editions by I. Bekker (1838) in the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae vol. 39, and in J. P. Migne , Patrologia Graeca vol. 156. The most recent critical edition of Sphrantzes is by Vasile Grecu (Bucharest, 1966), which appeared with

1064-403: The urban geography of Patras is its division into upper and lower sections. This is the result of an interplay between natural geography and human settlement patterns; the lower section of the city (Kato Poli), which includes the 19th-century urban core and the port, is adjacent to the sea and stretches between the estuaries of the rivers of Glafkos and Haradros. It is built on what was originally

1120-593: The 15th and 16th centuries, but never re-established their rule effectively, except for a period of Venetian rule in 1687–1715 after the Morean War . It has been noted that during and in the aftermath of the suppressed 1770 Orlov revolt "when the Greeks got the upper hand they settled old scores; when the Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless: recapturing Patras, they left scarcely anyone alive." In 1772,

1176-507: The 1922 population exchange between Greece and Turkey . In the Second World War, the city was a major target of Italian air raids . In the Axis occupation period, a German military command was established and German and Italian troops stationed in the city. After the liberation in 1944, the city recovered, but in later years was increasingly overshadowed by the urban pole of Athens. Since 2014,

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1232-465: The Emperor Manuel, Sphrantzes did many favors for Constantine, developing a strong rapport with the future Emperor for, as he writes, "my uncle had been his tutor and my cousins and I were his companions, friends, and attendants." After the death of Manuel, he became the servant of Constantine and left with him 26 December 1427 when Constantine was appointed Despot of the Morea . When they arrived in

1288-567: The Imperial Wardrobe") under John VIII Palaiologos , and a close confidant to Constantine XI Palaiologos , the last Byzantine emperor. He was an eyewitness of the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, made a slave by the victorious Ottomans, but ransomed shortly afterwards. Sphrantzes served the surviving members of the Palaiologian family for the next several years until taking monastic vows in 1472. It

1344-440: The Morea, Constantine made him governor of Glarentza , and Sphrantzes assisted Constantine in the latter's efforts to conquer the remainder of the Morea, but was captured 26 March 1429 in a skirmish outside of Patras and held prisoner until his relationship to Constantine was recognized, and he was paroled back to the Byzantine side to negotiate surrender of the citadel. While traveling to Epirus as an ambassador, to help arbitrate

1400-474: The Palaiologoi, is more detailed particularly about the siege of Constantinople. But, beginning in 1934, the research of such scholars as J.B. Falier-Papadopoulos, Franz Dölger , and Raymond-Joseph Loenertz demonstrated that the Major Chronicle was written decades later by Makarios Melissenos ("Pseudo-Sphrantzes"), a priest who fled to Naples from a Greek-Venetian island conquered by the Ottomans. Why Melissenos selected Sphrantzes to elaborate and expand upon

1456-484: The Prapopoulos building, Golfinopoulos mansion ( Alhambra ), Perivolaropoulos mansion, Palamas house, while among the demolished after WWII were Tsiklitiras mansion, Kanellopoulos house, Chaidopoulos building, Frangopoulos house, Green mansion and Mineyko mansion. Nowadays, the municipal units of Rio , Paralia , Messatida and Vrachnaiika have functionally become a part of the wider urban complex of Patras. Apart from

1512-496: The Sultan's Mir Ahor , or Master of Horse. However, before Sphrantzes could ransom them from the Mir Ahor, the Sultan learned of them and bought them. "Thus their wretched mother was left all alone in the company of a single nurse," Sphrantzes writes. Sphrantzes records he learned of his son's death, at the age of 14 years and a day short of eight months, on December 1453. Much later did Sphrantzes learn of his daughter Thamar's death in

1568-663: The United Kingdom opening its first store in Covent Garden, London in the United Kingdom while in May 2017 another store opened in Toronto , Canada . As of December 2019 the chain consists of 432 coffee shops, mostly in Greece, but also in Cyprus, UK, Dubai, and Canada, while it has established its own coffee production and processing units. As of 2018 2017 the company was ranked as

1624-459: The biological diversity of the area and the preservation of its climate is the swamp of Agyia , a small and coastal aquatic ecosystem of only 30 ha (74 acres), north of the city centre. The main features of this wetland are its apparent survival difficulty, being at the heart of a densely populated urban centre that features a relatively arid climate and its admittedly high level of biodiversity, with over 90 species of birds being observed until

1680-508: The castle, around the Roman Odeon , the church of Pantokrator, in the Upper Town (Ano Poli), is the most appealing of the city, because of its status as the only area where construction height is limited to two-storey buildings. Ιn Ano Poli is interesting the old school complex "Georgios Glarakis" work of the architect Georgios Petrιtsopoulos in 1931 which is built with stone and recently became

1736-459: The city center, the main districts of Patras are: Patras municipal unit : Rio municipal unit : Paralia : Messatida : Vrachneika : Patras is 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens by road, 94 km (58 mi) northeast of Pyrgos , 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Rio , 134 km (83 miles) west of Corinth , 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Kalavryta and 144 km (89 mi) northwest of Tripoli . A central feature of

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1792-522: The city largely depends on its service sector. The area still retains some of its traditional winemaking and foodstuff industries as well as a small agricultural sector. Major businesses in Patras include: Most Greek banks have their regional headquarters for Western Greece in Patras. In 2010, the new Infocenter of Patras was established, inside the neoclassical building of the former market "Agora Argyri", in Ayiou Andreou street. The building includes

1848-582: The city's mayor is Kostas Peletidis . The city is divided into the upper and the lower section, connected with roads and broad stairs. The upper section ( Ano Poli ) is the older and the more picturesque; however, the lower section ( Kato Poli ) is laid out according to the 1858 city plan , featuring a variety of squares. The most notable of these are the Psila Alonia and the Georgiou I Square . A number of notable neoclassical buildings are to be found, including

1904-522: The city: the Agios Andreas Hospital is the oldest of the two; and General University Hospital of Patras . There also exists two smaller state hospitals, Karamandanio - a children's hospital, and the Center of Chest Diseases of Southwestern Greece. A large range of private hospitals and clinics operate in parallel. Numerous art venues and an ultra-modern archaeological museum were constructed for

1960-562: The daughter of the imperial secretary Alexios Palaiologos Tzamplakon, and the Emperor Constantine was his best man. He was preparing to take his son John (and the larger part of his portable wealth) to the Morea, then to Cyprus, traveling by land "so that my son could visit the places and learn all those things which would be of use in his life" when the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II began his siege of Constantinople. Despite being involved in

2016-446: The defense of the city, George Sphrantzes' account of the siege and capture of Constantinople in 1453 lacks much detail. About the death of Emperor Constantine, he writes simply, "in this capture my late master and emperor, Lord Constantine, was killed. I was not at his side at that hour but had been inspecting another part of the City, according to his orders." Sphrantzes was captured and made

2072-644: The early 1990s, according to a study by the Patras Bureau of the Hellenic Ornithological Society . Patras is the regional capital of Western Greece and the capital of the Achaea regional unit. Since 2011, the city is also the capital of the administrative division, which includes (along with Western Greece) the regions of Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands . The current municipality of Patras

2128-434: The facilities still cover hundreds of acres in the south side of the city. Some of the largest industries in the city belong to the soft drinks and drinks sector. There are factories from Coca-Cola HBC and Athenian Brewery established in area, along with the facilities of the largest local company in soft-drinks production, Loux ( ΛΟΥΞ ). The city is also home to many leading Greek wineries and distilleries, among them

2184-440: The local Antzoulatos and the multinational Frigoglass , a subsidiary of Coca-Cola , headquartered in the suburbs of Patras. Ideal Bikes is the leading bike producer in Greece, with large export activities. The once omnipresent textile industry of the city is now almost defunct after the shut-down of the huge factory of Peiraiki-Patraiki (Πειραϊκή-Πατραϊκή), followed by numerous smaller textile industries. The remains of

2240-518: The main export port for the agricultural produce of the Peloponnese. In the early 20th century, Patras developed fast and became the first Greek city to introduce public streetlights and electrified tramways. The war effort necessitated by the First World War hampered the city's development and also created uncontrollable urban sprawl after the influx of displaced persons from Asia Minor after

2296-470: The monastery of Tarchaneiotes in Corfu . By Helena, he had five children, of whom two sons died in infancy, a third son Alexios died at the age of 5, while John and his only daughter Thamar lived to adulthood; the Emperor Constantine was godfather to both John and Thamar. Following the capture of Constantinople both children had become slaves of some elderly Turks, along with his wife Helena, and then were sold to

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2352-558: The municipality of Patras over the years 2012. From 2011 on, can data also reflect the city's urban area population, as all the municipalities that made up the Patras Urban Area were joined to create the new larger Patras municipality, formed at the 2011 local government reform . Heavy infrastructure works performed in the 2000s include the Peiros-Parapeiros dam (to provide water supply for Patras and surrounding towns) and

2408-641: The needs of European Culture Capital designation. The cultural and educational facilities include the Municipal Library, the university libraries, many theatres, the municipal art gallery, the University of Patras 's facilities, the Hellenic Open University and the Technical Institute of Patras. A number of research facilities are also established in the university campus area. The economy of

2464-447: The performing arts and modern urban literature. It was European Capital of Culture in 2006. In 1205, the city was captured by William of Champlitte and Villehardouin , and became a part of the principality of Achaea . It became the seat of the Barony of Patras , and its Latin archbishop primate of the principality. In 1408, Patras became Venetian , until it was recaptured in 1430 by

2520-525: The place of Saint Andrew 's martyrdom . Dubbed as Greece's ' Gate to the West' , Patras is a commercial hub, while its busy port is a nodal point for trade and communication with Italy and the rest of Western Europe . The city has three public universities, hosting a large student population and rendering Patras an important scientific centre with a field of excellence in technological education. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge connects Patras' easternmost suburb of Rio to

2576-509: The river Kallinaos. Patra is a relatively newly built city, as its medieval buildings were completely destroyed in the Greek War of Independence . The oldest surviving buildings (apart from ancient monuments and the castle) are the church of Pantocrator in Ano Poli and a residential building (Tzini's house) at the corner of Agiou Nikolaou and Maisonos street, built in 1832. The area on the south of

2632-737: The second-largest flour-mills in Greece, Kepenou-Mills . Acciona has completed the largest wind park in Greece, on the Panachaiko mountain, overlooking the city of Patras. The Public Electric Company, operates a small hydroelectric plant on river Glafkos . Intracom (Greece's largest multinational provider of telecommunications products) facilities in Patras house the offices of Telecommunications Software Development, Terminal Equipment Design, Development Programmes, and Support Services divisions. Expansion plans have recently been completed. INTRASOFT, another core company of INTRACOM holdings group, has recently (2018) began operations in Patras and it

2688-538: The signing of a cooperation agreement with the Patras-based IT company Knowledge SA, that lays the foundation for the establishment of a Remote Development Center in Patras. George Sphrantzes George Sphrantzes , also Phrantzes or Phrantza ( Greek : Γεώργιος Σφραντζῆς or Φραντζῆς; 30 August 1401 – c. 1478), was a late Byzantine Greek historian and Imperial courtier. He was an attendant to Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos , protovestiarites ("Lord of

2744-477: The sixth largest coffee chain network in Europe. Patras Patras ( Greek : Πάτρα , romanized :  Pátra pronounced [ˈpatra] ; Katharevousa and Ancient Greek : Πάτραι ; Latin : Patrae ) is Greece 's third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece , in the northern Peloponnese , 215 km (134 mi) west of Athens . The city

2800-462: The south and Iroon Polytechneiou Street to the north. Patras and its region is home to various Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Monuments, including the Roman Odeon of Patras, the Fortress of Rio and the Fortress (castle) of Patras. More specifically, the main sights of the city are: Other Roman monuments include the ruins of the Roman stadium, remains of the Roman wall and a preserved bridge over

2856-580: The town of Antirrio, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. Every year, in February, the city hosts one of Europe's largest carnivals. Notable features of the Patras Carnival include its mammoth satirical floats and balls and parades, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors in a Mediterranean climate . Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in

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2912-403: The typical mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers, with spring and autumn being pleasant transitional seasons. Autumn in Patras, however, is wetter than spring. Humidity is high during the winter months and lower during the summer. Snowfall is extremely rare in coastal areas but is more common and abundant in the surrounding mountains. Patras falls in 10b hardiness zone . Of great importance for

2968-505: The venerable Achaia Clauss and Parparoussi located in Rio. In the food sector, Friesland Foods , through the local subsidiary NoyNoy , operates a new yogurt factory in the city's industrial area. Patras is also home to important fish-farming companies ( Andromeda , Nireus ). ECOFEED operates in the industrial zone of Patras, the largest fish-feeds factory in the Mediterranean. The city hosts

3024-450: Was a key supporter of Constantine. He attempted to secure Athens for his master in 1435; he negotiated Constantine's second marriage with Caterina Gattilusio in 1440; he was appointed prefect of Mistras in 1446; and most importantly he was sent on an embassy to Georgia and the Empire of Trebizond in search of a third wife for Emperor Constantine. During these duties he married Helena,

3080-406: Was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of 5 municipalities that made up the Patras Urban Area. These former municipalities, which became municipal units, are: (in parentheses their population, 2011) The municipality has an area of 334.858 km (129 sq mi), the municipal unit 125.420 km (48 sq mi). The following list presents demographic data on

3136-497: Was while a monk he wrote his history, which ends with the notice of Sultan Mehmed II 's attempt to capture Naupaktos , which he dates to the summer of 1477; Sphrantzes is assumed to have died not long after that event. George was born in Constantinople on 30 August 1401, during the second Ottoman blockade of the city ; his godmother was the nun Thomais. In 1418 he was appointed attendant to Emperor Manuel. During his service to

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