Arta (Greek: Άρτα) is a town in Epirus, which draws visitors to it old, impressive stone bridge and the castle ruins in the centre of town.

Understand

Arta's bridge

A provincial town that is worth seeing. The Arachthos River flows to the west with its reservoir lying directly to the north. Its population was 27,000 in 2021.

The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia (Ancient Greek: Ἀμβρακία). Remains of the classic era include the ancient walls, the ruins of an ancient temple of Apollo, a small theatre, and remnants of the southwest cemetery.

Climate

Arta has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Like much of Western Greece, it receives plenty of precipitation, making it one of the wettest cities in Greece.

Get in

Regular bus lines connect Arta with all bigger Greek cities. A bus from Athens departs several times a day and trip takes about 5 hours.

The city is linked with the GR-5 (Antirrio - Ioannina) and the GR-30 which links with Peta and Trikala.

See

• 1 Rogoi Castle. A larger hilltop castle in a beautiful location on a curve of the Louros river. It is an old castle. Its most important period was during the despair of Epirus in the 13th century and at the beginning of the 14th century. The name of the castle comes from the word "arogi" and means "help" as it was used as a refuge during the attacks by the Slavs and Bulgarians on the Coastal population.  
• 2 Bridge of Arta.  

The Church of the Parigoritissa

• 3 Church of the Parigoritissa. A 13th-century Byzantine metropolitan church. The church is a large, almost square three-storey building. It is of the octagonal type, with the central dome supported by eight piers divided into three tiers. There are also four smaller domes on each corner of the church's flat roof, and a lantern. Its interior decoration is rich, with marble revetment up to the level of the galleries, and extensive surviving mosaics and frescoes above that. On the dome the mosaic of the Pantokrator, surrounded by angels, and 12 prophets between the drum's windows.  
• 4 Archaeological Museum of Arta (by the river, close to the historical bridge). The bulk of the collection comes from excavations of the two cemeteries housed outside the walls of the ancient city of Ambracia (east and southwest), from public buildings such as the small and large Greek Theatre, the Temple of Apollo and the Prytaneion, houses and other building residues, as well as ceramic and other laboratories, discovered by archaeological research. The exhibition spans from the Paleolithic up to the Roman period.  

Learn

• Technological Educational Institute of Epirus.  

Sleep

• Hotel Vyzantino, Filothei 47042, ☏ +30 26810 52205, info@hotelvyzantino.gr. A 4-star hotel, 5 minutes from the town centre. It has 4 room types. (updated Dec 2020)