Kalavryta or Kalavrita (Greek: Καλάβρυτα) is a town, a province and a municipality in the eastcentral part of the prefecture of Achaia. It is the southern terminus of the Kalavryta - Diakopto Road and the eastern terminus of the Patras - Kalavryta Road. It is the largest municipality covering about 18% of the prefecture and is the leastly populated municipality in density. It also has the most number of communes in the prefecture. It is located approx. 40 km S of Aigio, 38 km S of GR-8/E65, about 190 km W of Athens, about 85 km NNW of Tripoli and about 130 km NE of Olympia.

Nearest places

• Rigoi NE

Communes

• Ano Vlassia
• Ano Loussi
• Doumena
• Drosato
• Flampoura (Kalävryta)
• Goumenissa
• Kalavryta
• Kallifoni
• Kandalos
• Kato Vlassia
• Kato Zachlorou
• Kerpini
• Kertezi
• Korfes
• Kouteli
• Lagovouni
• Lapanagoi
• Manesi
• Mikros Pontias
• Petsakoi
• Plataniotissa
• Priolithos
• Profitis Ilias
• Rogoi
• Sigouni
• Skepasto
• Trechlo
• Valta
• Vilivina

Historical population

The village has a small school, a lyceum, a gymnasium, a church, a small post office, banks, a train station and a square (plateia).

The climate is a little cooler that the lowlands and receives some snow during the winter months but on Chelmos/Aroania, summers are a little cooler than Kalavryta and winter is very common which is used for skiing.

Much of the municipality are forested and mountains except for the southeast and southwest. The rest of the land are farmlands.

It was the place on to which an action taken place on the 21 March 1821 ignited the Greek War of Independence.

On 13 December 1943, in retribution of the killing of 81 German soldiers captured by partisans during the Nazi occupation in World War II, the German troops ordered all male residents of Kalavryta, aged 14 years and up, to gather in a field just outside the village. There, they machine-gunned down almost all 700 of them. Only about 13 survived. After that they burnt down the town before they left and the next day they burnt down the Monastery of Agia Lavra, birth place of the Greek War of Independence.

The famous Diakopto-Kalavryta Railway was built by Italian engineers between 1885 and 1895. It is the southern terminus. The railway runs through a gorge but for the southern part runs within the road linking Kalavryta and Trapeza. Its length is 22 km and the journey is 68 min long.

Kalavryta also has a famous Cave Lakes which is filled with lakes inside that cave in the southeast. Kalavryta also has the Kalavryta Ski Centre which is located east of town, situated on the slopes of mount Aroania (Chelmos) at 2,341 m is the tallest in Achaia.

The monastery is located on a hill situated 8 km SW via the road from Kalavryta. Its elevation is abound 940 m. Another monastery is Mega Spilio which is located in the northeast.

External links

• The Plaka - Kalavryta
• Museum of the Sacrificed People of Kalavryta
• peloponnes/english/diakofto_kalavryta_railway.htm/ Diakofto-Kalavryta Railway
• Kalalvryta Ski Center (in Greek)
• http://www.cybex.gr/kalavryta-ski-center/
• http://photodedavid.free.fr/Grece/kalavryta/index.html --Pics of Kalavryta

See also

• Communities of Achaia

Cities and towns in Greece

Kalavrita | Kalavryta