Parga

.

Administrative Region : Epirus
Regional unit : Preveza

Parga (Greek: Πάργα) is a town and former municipality located in the northwestern part of the peripheral unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki.[1] Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the cities of Preveza and Igoumenitsa. It is a resort town known for its scenic beauty.

Municipality

The present municipality Parga was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:[1]

Fanari
Parga

South and east walls of the castle of Parga , Photo: Samuli Lintula, May 2005.

Parga

Sarakiniko Beach

History
Parga by Francesco Hayez (1791–1882).

In antiquity the area was inhabited the Greek tribe of the Thesprotians. The settlement of Parga itself dates back to ancient times and used to be called Ypargos. In 1570, a Venetian fortress was established on the rocky headland to the north of the town. Parga, like the rest of the Periphery of Epirus joined Greece following the Balkan Wars.

Geography
The island of Panagia off the coast of Parga.

Parga is located on a hillside with a road linking Aghia and GR-55. A promontory and a rocky hill with various types of pine trees is situated in the west and a small promontory with trees to the east. In Parga's bay, between the town beach and the harbour, there is an islet on which is a chapel and jetty. The island can be easily visited by swimming the short distance from the town beach. Lake Kalodiki is situated to the east.

Parga is surrounded by mountainous countryside, which is rocky and bushy in the east while it is forested and grassy to the northwest. The islands of Paxoi and parts of southern Corfu can be seen and sometimes Lefkada as well. The Venetian castle separates Parga's bay and harbour from the long sandy crescent shaped Valtos beach. There are excellent views of both bays from the now ruined fortress.

Parga has a school, a lyceum, a gymnasium, a church, a post office, banks, a port situated in the central part with ferries to the beaches in the central and the eastern part of Parga, taverns and a square (plateia).

Transportation
View of the seafront.
Traditional houses.

The town of Parga is linked with direct suburban buses (KTEL) to other Greek cities and towns such Igoumenitsa,[2] Preveza and Athens.[3] There are also non-direct connections to Thessaloniki and Ioannina,[4] although during July and August there is a daily direct bus connection to Ioannina.[5] The closest airports to Parga are located at Aktio (75 km) with seasonal direct flights to/from Athens and Thessaloniki and other domestic destinations and is also served by charter flights from abroad, at Ioannina (91 km) with regular flights to and from Athens, and at Corfu[6] (49 km + car-ferry from Igoumenitsa) with direct flights to and from Athens, Thessaloniki, European destinations and the Ioanian Islands.

Historical population
Year Town population Municipality population
1981 1,892 -
1991 1,699 3,569
2001 2,022 3,846

See also

List of communities of Preveza

People from Parga

Panagiotis Aravantinos (1811–1870), historian and scholar
Dimoulitsas family, fighters of Greek War of Independence
Pargali Ibrahim Pasha, one of the most notable grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire.
Andreas Idromenos (1764–1843), scholar

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Greece

World

Index

Index

Hellenica World