Itea, Phocis

Itea (Greek: Ιτέα meaning willow), is a town and a former municipality in the southeastern part of Phocis, Greece. Since 2011 local government reforms made the city a part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal unit.

Administrative division

The municipal unit Itea consists of the communities Itea, Kirra and Tritaia.

Geography

Itea is situated on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, 2 km (1 mi) west of Kirra, 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Delphi, 11 km (7 mi) south of Amfissa and 52 km (32 mi) east of Naupactus. The Greek National Road 48 connects Itea with Naupactus, Delphi and Livadeia, the Greek National Road 27 with Amfissa and Lamia. The community of Itea covers an area of 6.305 km² (2.434 sq mi) while the minicipal unit covers an area of 26.351 km² (10.174 sq mi).

Historical population

See also

References

External links

Phocis

Phocis (/ˈfoʊsɪs/; Greek: Φωκίδα, pronounced [foˈciða], Ancient Greek: Φωκίς [pʰɔːkís]) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth. It is named after the ancient region of Phocis, but the modern regional unit also includes parts of ancient Locris and Doris.

Geography

Modern Phocis has an area of 2120 km² (819 mi²), of which 560 km² (216 mi²) are forested, 36 km² (14 mi²) are plains, and the remainder is mountainous. The massive ridge of Parnassus (2,459 m/8,068 ft), which traverses the heart of the country, divides it into two distinct portions. The neighboring prefectures are Aetolia-Acarnania to the west, Phthiotis to the north and Boeotia to the east. Much of the south and east are deforested and rocky and mountainous while the valley runs from Itea up to Amfissa. Forests and greenspaces are to the west, the central part and the north.

Phocis (ancient region)

Phocis was an ancient region in the central part of Ancient Greece, which included Delphi. A modern administrative unit, also called Phocis is named after the ancient region, although the modern region is substantially larger than the ancient one.

Geography

Ancient Phocis was about 1,619 km² (625 mi²) in area, bounded on the west by Ozolian Locris and Doris, on the north by Opuntian Locris, on the east by Boeotia, and on the south by the Gulf of Corinth. The massive ridge of Parnassus (2,459 m/8,068 ft), which traverses the heart of the country, divides it into two distinct portions.

Being neither rich in material resources nor well placed for commercial enterprise, Phocis was mainly pastoral. No large cities grew up within its territory, and its chief places, such as Delphi and Elatea, were mainly of strategic or cultural importance.

History

The early history of Phocis remains quite obscure. During the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC the Phocians at first joined in the national defence, but, by their irresolute conduct at the Battle of Thermopylae lost that position for the Greeks; at the Battle of Plataea they were enrolled on the Persian side. In 457 BC an attempt to extend their influence to the headwaters of the Cephissus in the territory of Doris brought a Spartan army into Phocis in defence of the "metropolis of the Dorians". A similar enterprise against Delphi in 448 BC was again frustrated by Sparta, but not long afterwards the Phocians recaptured the sanctuary with the help of the Athenians, with whom they had entered into alliance in 454 BC. The subsequent decline of Athenian land power had the effect of weakening this new connection; at the time of the Peloponnesian War Phocis was nominally an ally and dependent of Sparta, and had lost control of Delphi.