Agrinio is a city in the prefecture of Etoloakarnania in the Region of Western Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of Agrinio and according to the Greek census of 2011 as a municipality has a population of 94,181 inhabitants, as a municipal district of Agrinio has 59,329 and as a city 46,899. Together with Patras and Ioannina, they are the three largest urban centers in the western part of the country.
According to mythology, it was built by King Agrios,
who was a descendant of the ancestor Etolos and his son Plevronas.
The city, built almost next to the river Acheloos which was the
natural border between Aetolia and Acarnania was several times under
the domination of both sides. Diodorus Sikeliotis mentions it in 322
to 321 BC. when it was occupied by the Akarnanes. In 314 BC.
destroyed by Cassander and his brother Philip.
The
excavations of Ioannis Miliadis in 1920 showed that the ancient city
was located in the neighboring Zapanti (today's Megali Chora), but
in recent years many ancient artifacts have been found even in the
center of today's city.
After some centuries in obscurity,
the city reappears during the Turkish occupation, in the 14th
century, under the name Vrachori (Imbrahoar), for the etymology of
which several theories have been formulated. It was inhabited by
many Turks and at the beginning of the 18th century it became the
seat of the santzaki of Carlelli, the administrative center of
today's Etoloakarnania. He took an active part in the Greek
Revolution of 1821 and after a siege of many days was temporarily
liberated on June 11, 1821. Later it was conquered again by
Kioutachis and finally signed for the borders of the free Greek
state in 1832.
After the liberation, Vrachori again took its
ancient name Agrinion. The city began to grow rapidly, especially
after the end of the 19th to the beginning of the twentieth century,
when it turned en masse to the cultivation of tobacco. Huge
warehouses and tobacco processing factories were built, mainly those
of the Papastratos, Papapetrou and Panagopoulos families. After the
Asia Minor Catastrophe, a large number of refugees arrived in the
city and settled in the area of Agios Konstantinos, while we had a
large movement of populations from Epirus and Evritania.
Beyond the city center of Agrinio as roughly defined by the areas
around Demokratias and Hatzopoulos Squares, Mitropolis and Papastratos
Street, there are a number of neighborhoods and districts, the main ones
being the following:
Saint Dimitrios. Area southwest of the city,
which received its name from the namesake I.N., around which it is
"located". The city's courthouse, the former Agrini Railway Station, the
Papapetrou Tobacco Warehouses and the old KTEL bus are located in the
area.
Agios Ioannis Riganas. This is the district at the
south-eastern end of the city, where the workers' residences of the same
name are located. It takes its name from the small church of Ai Giannis
of Riganas which is located even further outside the city and towards
the stream of Ermitsa.
Saint Constantine. The area is located in the
northwest of the city and used to be an independent municipality,
although it is fully integrated into the urban fabric of Agrinio. The
history of this particular neighborhood essentially begins after the
Asia Minor Catastrophe, when families from Asia Minor arrived and
settled there.
Giannuzzi. Giannuzzi is a suburb to the south of the
city, with a large concentration of restaurants and secular centers.
Genoa. An old historical district of Agrinio, Genova is located
approximately on the borders of the new church of Agios Christophers.
Various opinions and concerns have been expressed about its name as to
whether it is due to the presence of Genoese during the Turkish
occupation, but this has not been scientifically proven.
Essay.
Formerly a separate community now adjacent to the city. It is located
"below" the national road and in its wider area are both the city's
airports, military and civil.
Two Streams. District in the northeast
of the city, adjacent to the grove of Agios Christopheros.
Eritrea.
Area located at the new entrance of the city between Agios Konstantinos
and the center of Agrinio.
Karapaneika. A central and densely
populated district of the city, it takes its name from the 28th of
October Square, better known by its old name of Karapaneikon Square.
Little Red Riding Hood. A rural suburb to the north of the city, it has
experienced intense residential development in recent years.
Whites.
Southern sparsely populated suburb in the area of the Military Airport.
Berries. Neighborhood to the left and north of the hospital.
Spark
plug. Suburb near Giannuzzi, to the south of the city.
Neapolis (or
Rousseika). Neapoli is a suburb to the north of the city. Triantaiika
also belongs to it, where together with Eleophytos they form the
community of Eleophytou.
I showered. Historic district of the city in
the area of the churches of Agia Triada and Agios Georgios. It has been
named after the Turk Ducs Aga to whom it belonged before the Revolution
of 1821. In the area is the municipal winter cinema.
Old Saint
Christopher - Saint Thomas. A neighborhood that has seen a lot of
residential development in recent decades, with a number of luxury
buildings, famous for its "elevated" view and the neighboring forest.
Butterfly. With this name we refer to the area around the flyover that
crosses the national road.
Sotiropoulou. District of the city north
of the park.
Wheel. Sparsely populated area with many olive groves on
the eastern edge of the city.
Fuscari. Neighborhood near the center
of the city, west and on the borders of the church of Agios Dimitrios,
in which many Evrytans settled from the 60s onwards.
The Papastrateio municipal park.
The Archaeological Museum, where
the archaeological finds of the area are kept and can be visited.
The
Folklore Museum.
The Papastrateios Municipal Library and the Kapralos
art gallery.
The preserved tobacco warehouses of Papastratos and
Papapetrou.
The Asia Minor Refugees Monument with the Asia Minor
Mother as the central figure, in Agios Konstantinos Agriniou.
The
church of the Holy Trinity of Mauritius, from the 8th - 9th century
approximately.
The ancient Stratos.
The former Agrinio Railway
Station.
Lakes Trichonida and Lysimachia towards which the city has
been expanding in recent years (especially towards the first).
The
gorge of Kleisoura.
The Kremasto hydroelectric dam.
The Stratos
hydroelectric dam.
The Kastraki hydroelectric dam.
The old minaret
in the area of Megali Chora (Zapanti) (an area where excavations
revealed parts of ancient Agrinio).
The grove of Agios Christopheros
north of the city, a product of artificial reforestation which is the
"lung" of Agrinio.
Departments of the University of Patras operate in Agrinio. These
sections are as follows:
Department of History and Archaeology.
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology.
Department of Food Science
and Technology.
Department of Agricultural Products and Food Business
Administration.
Department of Environmental Engineering.
The
Department of History and Archeology was founded in 2019 in place of the
Department of Cultural Environment Management and New Technologies.
From 2009 to 2013, Agrinio was the seat of the University of Western
Greece, which was abolished with the Athena plan.
Just outside of Agrinio, the Ionian Sea passes through, connecting it with all of Western Greece, but also to the north with Epirus and to the south with the Peloponnese. The urban KTEL of Agrini operates routes within the city while connecting it with other cities in Greece. Agrinio is served by air from the airport of Aktion.
From 1935 to 1967, with the exception of the years of occupation, the
newspaper Nea Epochi was published. Since 1998, the newspaper has been
published electronically, under the same title.
In Agrinio, since
2000, the daily newspaper Consciousness of Etoloakarnania has been
published, which is circulated throughout the prefecture, and is also
available in electronic format. The owner of Consciousness Corporation,
which owns the newspaper of the same name, also owns two local radio
stations, the informative West of Greece 92.8 and the entertainment Loud
Radio 98.2.
The Acheloos MEDIA radio and television group has
been operating in Agrinio since 1992, which owns the eponymous
television channel Acheloos TV[18], which is the large regional channel
of Northwestern Greece. It is informative and covers Western Greece, the
prefecture of Evrytania, the prefectures of Epirus and the Ionian
Islands. The same group also owns the radio station of the same name,
Acheloos FM 98.4, which is of local scope with an informative nature and
has been rebroadcasting part of the program of the Athenian Real FM 97.8
since mid-2008.
The news sites aitoloakarnaniabest.gr,
agriniosite.gr, agrinionews.gr also operate. Archived 2019-07-16 at the
Wayback Machine. and agriniopress.gr Archived 2019-07-15 at the Wayback
Machine..
The other radio stations broadcasting from Agrinio are:
89.2 Feast FM Stereo
90.7 Radio World
93.7 Agrinio FM
94.2
Energy FM
94.7 Rhythm Radio
95.1 Music Life Radio
97.1 Radio
Akarnania
97.8 Radio Live FM
99.5 Air FM
100.9 Kefi FM
101.7
Vision FM
102.2 Radio Agrinio
103.5 Antenna Star FM
106.3 Radio
Station of the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania
107.0 Mad
Radio
107.4 Aria FM