Patras is the largest town and principal port of the Peloponnese, chief town of the nomos of Achaea, the see of an archbishop and a university town.
The town was founded about 1100 B.C., but became of importance as a port only in Roman times. After the fourth Crusade it became the see of a Roman
Catholic archbishop. In 1408 it came under the control of Venice and in 1430 of Mistra. In 1460 it fell into the hands of the Turks, by whom it was destroyed in 1821, at the beginning of the war of liberation. Thereafter it was rebuilt in neo- classical style on a rectangular street layout.
Ferry services from Ancona and Brindisi in Italy. Boat connections with the islands of Kefalloniá, Paxí and Corfu. Station on the Athens-Corinth-Pyrgos railraod line.
Bus connections with Athens and Pyrgos.
Patra stands below its Venetian Castle, on the site of the ancient city where, according to history, the Apostle Andrew taught Christianity and was later crucified and buried. It is the largest communication center of Western Greece and is a thriving commercial and industrial center.
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