Karditsa Prefecture

Karditsa is one of the prefectures of Greece. Located in the south-western Thessaly, it is primarily an agricultural prefecture. The name of the prefecture is derived from its capital Karditsa, a small city of approximately 35,000 people. The prefecture is known for its beautiful countryside and friendly people, while the Dimotiki Agora (Δημοτική Αγορά) or Public Market is found in the city and forms one of UNESCO's protected cultural monuments.

The city is also an important knowledge centre, supporting the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Thessaly, the Faculty of Wood and Furniture Technology, and the Faculty of Forestry Technology of the Educational and Technological Institution of Larissa. There is also a Police Academy.

Karditsa is about 300 kilometers from Athens, and can be reached by bus or train from Athens and Thessaloniki. It is located SSE of Trikala, SW of Larissa and NE of Arta.

The western half of the prefecture is dominated by the Pindus mountains, famous for the Agrafa region of Greece.

Karditsa is bounded by the prefectures of Trikala to the north, Larissa to the east, Phthiotis to the southeast, Aetolia-Acarnania and Evrytania to the southwest and Arta to the west. The main rivers are Megdova to the south, one, another to the northwest to the east and the Pineios River to the north.

Geography
The farmlands dominate the central and the eastern part which is part of the Thessalian Plain while the Agrafa mountains dominate the southern and the western part. The Plastiras Dam and Lake Plastiras, located to the west of the city of Karditsa, supplies water to the plains and the central part of Greece.

Population

 * 2001: 121,775

History
Encompassing the ancient geographical region of Thessaliotis, one of the four ancient districts of Thessaly, the present day Karditsa prefecture was in the Kingdom of Macedonia and later the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Great Wallachia, the Ottoman Empire from the 1400s until 1881 and finally Greece after the liberation of Thessaly and northcentral Greece. Its economy and agriculture boomed during that period; Karditsa was administered as the Trikala-Karditsa prefecture until 1947. It was affected by World War II and the Greek Civil War which saw many buildings destroyed and inhabitants left homeless and in hiding. The prefecture was later rebuilt and received electricity, appliances and motorised transport, while emigration also began in the 1950s, when construction of Lake Plastiras was added. Television arrived in the 1970s and the 1980s for its villages, and its economy later declined, seeing high unemployment in the prefecture.

People
The plains of central and southern Karditsa are inhabited by the Karagounides (Καραγκούνηδες), while the Agrafa mountains in the west of the prefecture are dominated by a strong Sarakatsani (Σαρακατσάνοι) and Aromanian, or Vlach (Βλάχοι - Vlahi), element.

Transport
There are a number of highways E75 and the main railway from Volos to Meteora crosses Thessaly. The region is directly linked to the rest of Europe through International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos in a small distance from Karditsa.


 * Greece Interstate 30, NW, Cen., SE
 * Karditsa - Larissa road, Cen., NE
 * Karditsa Bypass

Persons

 * Nikolaos Plastiras
 * Vassilis Papazachos
 * Georgios Karaiskakis
 * Charilaos Florakis
 * Seraphim Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
 * Elena Paparizou
 * Nikolaos Michopoulos
 * Kostas Bantas

Municipalities and communities
See also: List of settlements in the Karditsa prefecture

Sporting teams

 * Anagennisi Karditsa (football) - Karditsa (city) - second division
 * A.O. Karditsa - Karditsa - fourth division
 * Iraklis Sofades - Sofades
 * Tavropos - Karditsa - fourth division