Vartholomio
Vartholomio (
Greek: 'αρθολομιο, pre-
1970s, -ιον,
-ion) is a town and a municipality in northwestern
Ilia in
Greece. Its population is around 3,182 (
1991). Elevation is 3 to 4 m above sea level. The
Pineios River flows southeast of the town and empties into the
Ionian Sea south of the centre, and a bridge was under repairs in
1997 for lane expansion. Distance is 4 km W of
Gastouni, 4 km S of
Dimitra, 14 km SE of
Kyllini, 10 km E of
Kyllini Baths, 34 km NW of
Pyrgos, 74 km W of
Patras. The closest beaches are founded southwest. The neighboring communities and villages are
Dimitra,
Kardiakafti and
Kastro to the north,
Gastouni to the east and
Lygia and
Kyllini Baths to the west.
The town has two elementary schools and one high school building, with a standard junior high school and a music oriented junior high school -the only one in the Ilia perfecture.There are also two churches with yards, and a town square with cafes and tavernas. Until
2002, the town had a freight yard which began when
SPAP opened the line to
Kyllini in the early
20th century. The freight yard stands in the north along with the train tracks where it used to stand. In the late-
20th century, one railway going to nearby
Lygia closed down due to diminsihing use, and later in
2002, the railway line from Kyllini to Kavasilas became abandoned and remains unused to this day.
In 1998 a big earthquake struck the town and most buildings were damaged, including its high school. Nowadays, repairs have been made, destroyed houses have been replaced with new ones and the town has been through a general face lift, resulting in a modern image and a modern way of living as well.
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1981: 3,216 (community)
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1991: 3,182 (community), 5,640 (municipality)
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2001: 3,714 (community), 5,348 (municipality}
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Agios Panteleimonas (pop: 31)
*
Vationa (pop: 83)
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Vrana (pop: 342)
*
Thines (pop: 23)
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Kokkala (pop: 31)
*
Romeika (pop: 76)
*
Stroumouli (pop: 25)
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Dimitra*
Kalyvia*
Lygia*
Machos*Vartholomio
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Popular Museum of Vartholomio*
Information on the 12/2/2002 earthquake*
GTP - Vartholomio*
traveljournals.net - Vartholomio*
Communities in Elia
