Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa Ηγουμενίτσα
View of the old port
Igoumenitsa
Location within the region
Coordinates:
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Epirus
Regional unit	Thesprotia
Government
• Mayor	Giorgos Katsinos
Area
• Municipality	426.6 km2 (164.7 sq mi)
• Municipal unit	80.8 km2 (31.2 sq mi)
Highest elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2011)
• Municipality	25,814
• Municipality density	61/km2 (160/sq mi)
• Municipal unit	17,902
• Municipal unit density	220/km2 (570/sq mi)
Community
• Population	9820
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	461 00
Area code(s)	26650
Vehicle registration	ΗΝ
Website	www.igoumenitsa.gr

Igoumenitsa (Greek: Ηγουμενίτσα, Greek pronunciation: [iɣumeˈnitsa]), is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani.

The 670 km (420 mi) long Egnatia Highway, which serves northern Greece, terminates at Igoumenitsa.

Municipality

The promenade.

The new port of the city.

The present municipality Igoumenitsa was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in brackets):

• Igoumenitsa (Agia Marina, Agios Vlasios, Graikochori, Igoumenitsa, Kastri, Kryovrysi, Ladochori, Mavroudi, Nea Selefkeia)
• Margariti (Eleftheri, Karteri, Katavothra, Margariti, Mazarakia, Mesovouni, Spatharaioi)
• Parapotamos (Drimitsa, Geroplatanos, Koritiani, Parapotamos)
• Perdika
• Syvota (Argyrotopos, Faskomilia, Plataria, Syvota)

History

In ancient times Igoumenitsa was known as Titani, (Gitani, Gitana, Goumani) and was one of the most important towns of the Kingdom of Thesprotis during the 4th century BC, covering 28 hectares. The circumference of its walls was 2,400 metres. The walls had four gates. Internal walls, in the shape of a sickle, divided the city in half. Its most noteworthy tower, located at the top of the hill, was round, and is thought to have been a religious sanctuary. Excavations have revealed a theatre which seats 2,500 and ruins of two temples.

The city was a meeting place of the Epirote League (Livy 42.38.1). A spur near Philiates between the Kalamas River, the acropolis had a fine semicircular tower. A small theater, towers, and gateways which are still visible. The Kalamas may have been navigable to this point. The city was destroyed by the Romans in 167 BC and later on it was annexed into the Roman Empire. It was ruled by Ottoman Empire and was renamed as "Reşadiye" in 1909 honour of Mehmet V, Ottoman Sultan between 1909 and 1918. During Italo-Turkish War, Hamidiye torpedo boat was sunk by an Italian destroyer on December 30, 1912 in here.

After the liberation of the region from Ottoman rule during the Balkan wars in 1913, the city name was Grava (Greek: Γράβα) which means "cave" in ancient Greek and in 1938 became head of the prefecture of Thesprotia and renamed to Igoumenitsa.

Following World War II, the Muslim Cham Albanian residents of Igoumenitsa (Albanian: Gumenicë) were expelled to neighbouring Albania after large parts of them collaborated with the invading German forces.

Traffic

The Patras, Greece to Brindisi, Italy car–ferry ships of the Hellenic Mediterranean Lines (HML) stop at Igoumenitsa, before crossing the Adriatic Sea and vice versa, as well as the ships of Superfast Ferries, ANEK Lines and several other shipping companies, before going to Ancona, Bari or Venice in Italy, and vice versa. Frequent passenger and car ferries to and from Corfu.

The Egnatia Odos motorway, which was opened in 2009 and is part of the , has significantly enhanced the connection with Thessaloniki and Turkey and shortened the required travelling time from and to the Turkish border by several hours. Between Thessaloniki and the Turkish border, the road runs more or less parallel to the ancient Roman Via Egnatia.

Historical population

Year	Town	Municipal unit	Municipality
1981	6,389	-	-
1991	6,807	11,608	-
2001	9,104	14,710	-
2011	9,820	17,902	25,814

Climate

The average rainfall in Igoumenitsa is around 1,100 mm (43.3 in). By comparison in Athens it is only 380 mm (15.0 in); in Crete it is 640 mm (25.2 in), and in Ioannina 1,300 mm (51.2 in).

The temperature table are dated as of 2005.

Month	Inland temperature	Sea temperature
January	12°C	16°C
February	9°C	15°C
March	14°C	16°C
April	16°C	17°C
May	22°C	19°C
June	25°C	22°C
July	28°C	24°C
August	27°C	25°C
September	25°C	24°C
October	20°C	23°C
November	18°C	20°C
December	13°C	17°C

The water is safe for swimming between the months of May to November, that's only half a year. In 2005, the town had 65 rainy days, the summer had 4 rainy days with 10 hours of mix of sun and clouds each day. The last 25 years, the lowest temperature was −9 °C (16 °F) and the highest was 43 °C (109 °F).

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Greece

Twin towns – Sister cities

Igoumenitsa is twinned with:

• Sarandë, Albania

Gallery

• 

  Igoumenitsa as seen from Egnatia Odos

• 

  View of Igoumenitsa from the sea

• 

  Panoramic view

See also

• List of settlements in Thesprotia

External links

• Official website (Greek)