Argyra, Greece

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Argyra
Αργυρά
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Argyra
Coordinates: 38°17′N21°52′E / 38.283°N 21.867°E / 38.283; 21.867 Coordinates: 38°17′N21°52′E / 38.283°N 21.867°E / 38.283; 21.867
Country Greece
Administrative region West Greece
Regional unit Achaea
Municipality Patras
Municipal unit Rio
Population (2011) [1]
   Rural 288
Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)
Vehicle registration AX

Argyra (Greek : Αργυρά) is a village in the municipal unit of Rio, Achaea, Greece. It is situated in the northern foothills of the Panachaiko, at about 450 m elevation. It is 2 km west of Sella and 7 km east of Rio. In 2011, it had a population of 288. A wind energy facility has been built about 4 km to the south.

Greek language language spoken in Greece, Cyprus and Southern Albania

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.

Rio, Greece Place in Greece

Rio is a town in the suburbs of Patras and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Patras, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 98.983 km2. The municipal unit had a population of 14,622 in 2011. The campus of the University of Patras and the Casino Rio is located in Rio.

Achaea Regional unit in Western Greece, Greece

Achaea or Achaia, sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. Its population surpassed 300,000 for the first time in 2001.

Contents

Population

YearPopulation
1981305
1991275
2001370
2011288

History

The ancient town Argyra was located near the river Selemnos, the spring Argyra and the town Boline. Both towns were already ruined in Pausanias' days (2nd century AD). According to local legend, Argyra was a sea-nymph, who fell in love with Selemnus and used to come up out of the sea to visit him, sleeping by his side. [2] The ancient town is located between the villages of Ano Kastritsi and Argyra.[ citation needed ]

Argyra was a town or village in ancient Achaea, in the neighbourhood of Patrae. It was located near the river Selemnus, the spring Argyra and the town of Bolina. Pausanias says it was on the road from Patrae to Aegium, following the Caradrus river. Pausanias relates a local legend that Argyra was a sea-nymph, who fell in love with a shepherd named Selemnus and used to come up out of the sea to visit him, sleeping by his side, but when Selemnus lost its beauty, the nymph stopped visiting him and Selemnus died of a broken heart. Then, Aphrodite transformed Selemnus into a river. In the war between the Achaeans and the Romans Patrae suffered so severely, that the greater part of the inhabitants abandoned the city and took up their abodes in the surrounding villages of Mesatis, Antheia, Bolina, Argyra, and Arba. A long time later, the Emperor Augustus forced the inhabitants of these places to abandon them to repopulate the city of Patrae. In the time of Pausanias the town was in ruins.

Selemnos is a river in the northern part of Achaea, Greece. The river flows entirely in the municipal unit of Rio and empties into the Gulf of Corinth.

Pausanias (geographer) 2nd-century AD Greek geographer

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second-century AD, who lived in the time of Roman emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece, a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from his first-hand observations. This work provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and modern archaeology. Andrew Stewart assesses him as:

A careful, pedestrian writer...interested not only in the grandiose or the exquisite but in unusual sights and obscure ritual. He is occasionally careless or makes unwarranted inferences, and his guides or even his own notes sometimes mislead him, yet his honesty is unquestionable, and his value without par.

See also

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Argyra may refer to:

In Greek mythology, Argyra was one of the Naiads, a nymph who resided in a well. There was a city in ancient Achaea, also named Argyra, that was the site of a spring. According to legend, the nymph Argyra was in love with a shepherd named Selemnus whom she visited frequently. But when he aged and his youthful beauty vanished, she forsook him. When the boy died of grief, the goddess Aphrodite out of pity changed him into a river. There was a popular belief in Achaia that a forsaken lover who bathes in this river will forget their pain.

Sella, Greece Place in Greece

Sella is a village in the municipal unit of Rio, Achaea, Greece. It is located in the northern foothills of the Panachaiko, at 500 m above sea level. The river Volinaios flows east and north of the village. It is 2 km east of Argyra and 9 km east of Rio. In 2011, it had a population of 302.

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References

  1. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority.
  2. Pausanias Description of Greece 7.23