Árta, chief town of a nomos (district) in Epirus, lies on the left bank of the river Árakhthos, on the site of ancient Ambrakia, which gave its name to the almost completely land-locked Ambracian Gulf on the Ionian Sea.
Founded in the seventh century B.C. by settlers from Corinth, Ambrakia became in 297 B
.C. the capital of the Molossian king Pyrrhos of Epirus. In 31 B.C. the population of the town was transferred to the newly founded city of Nikopolis. In the A.D. 13th century the town, now known as Árta, became capital of the Despotate of Epirus, the rulers of which were related to the Imperial house of the Angeloi and for a time, during the Frankish occupation of Constantinople, themselves bore the title of emperor. This period left its mark on Árta in the form of the castle built on the site of the ancient acropolis (now occupied by the Xenia Hotel) and a number of churches in the town and monasteries in the surrounding area. In 1318 Árta fell into the hands of the Norman lordship of Kefalloniá; in 1340 it returned briefly to Byzantine control; in 1348 it became part of the Serbian principality of Ioánnina; in 1449 it was occupied by the Turks; and in 1881 it was united with Greece.
Bus connections with Athens and towns in Epirus.
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