Araxos

Araxos ( _el. Άραξος), Latin form: Araxus is a village located in the municipality of Larissos in the northwestern part of the prefecture of Achaia. It is located on a road connecting south to Lappa and east to Lakkopetra and Kato Achaia and also a road to Kalogria and Metochi. It is located 9 km N of GR-9/E55, 14 km W of Kato Achaia, 48 km (old: 38 km) WSW of Patras and 68 km (old: 74 km) N of Pyrgos. The name dates back to ancient times.

ubdivisions

*Paralimni, (Greek: Παραλίμνη meaning "lagoon", which is located in the south-southeast) also Mavro Oros, N - a small settlement with less than ten buildings located in the north at the cape. Much of the area are rocky with a few trees. Cape Araxos (Άκρα Άραξος "Akra"-) the like between the Gulf of Patras and the Ionian Sea. The view of the green hills of Aetolia and Aitolia-Acarnania along with Messolonghi can be seen in the north, the northern part of Achaea, the western half of the mountains of Phocis, mount Panachaicus and most of the Patras area including the new Rio-Antirio bridge in during nighttime hours, the bottom part at 40 m below cannot be seen due to a minor curvature. The northern half of Zante and the eastern half of Kefallinia and Ithaca which cannot be seen during sunset in the west. The cape and the small peninsula sits north of Mavro Oros. The settlement sits on a plain with the Ionian sea in the west and the Pappa Lagoon in the east. Mavro Oros covers the southern part and a small hill covers the north with a small plain.

Nearest places

*Lakkopetra, E
*Lappa, S
*Metochi, WSW
*Kalogria, W

Geography

*Location:
**Araxos
***Longitude: 21.405 (21°24'17') E
***Latitude: 38.16 (38°9'44') N
**Mavros Oros/Paralimni
***Longitude: 21.495 (21°29'45') E
***Latitude: 37.658 (37°39'30') N
*Postal code: 271 00
*Elevation:
**lowest: sea level
**centre: around 3 m
**highest: 289 m? @ Mavro Oros
*Dialing code: +11+30-26930 (030-26930)-34

Historical population

Araxos has a small school, a church, and a square ("plateia"). Residential houses and buildings align with the road. The length is about 1 km and the width is only 40 to 50 m in average. Much of Araxos and the community are deforested. Farmlands dominate the south, the southeast and east. Forests are founded in the southwest, the north, around Araxos, the south and within the military airport. Rocky landscape and some forests are to the west as part of Mavro Oro (Greek: Μαύρο Όρος, meaning Black Mountain). It has an around 150 m tall mountain running southwest to northeast and an around 286 m mountaintop to the west. It also has a mountain range running south to north with a length of around 5 km and is mainly cliffy in the south. Another small mountain is in the northeast with the range running south to north with a tower on top of the mountain. The Pappa Lagoon which runs southwest then south to north is in the north and is only 100 m from the Araxos - Lakkopetra Road.

Araxos Air Base

An auxiliary military airfiled was constructed in the area in 1939. Construction of the modern military air base began around 1958 and became operational in 1962. The base is used by 116 Combat Wing of the Hellenic Air Force and, until recently, the NATO 345 Air Munitions Company (1978-2001). Until 2001 U.S. B61 nuclear bombs intended for delivery by Hellenic Air Force A-7H aircraft under NATO nuclear weapons sharing arrangements were stored in vaults inside the base's Hardened Aircraft Shelters using the WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System.Citation | title=U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe | url=http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/euro/euro.pdf | author=Hans M. Kristensen | date=February 2005 | publisher=Natural Resources Defense Council | accessdate=2006-05-23]

The runway length is 3352 m running in a south to north direction (18/36). The military installations are accessed from Lakkopetra to the north. Araxos is the closest airport to the city of Patras. During summer time the airport serves a few civilian chartered flights from northern Europe. The civil aviation installations are accessed from the south. The airport IATA code is GPA and the ICAO code is LGRX. [ [http://www.airliners.gr/el/airports/step.php?id=9 Araxos Airport (in Greek)] ]

ee also

*Communities of Achaia

References

External links

* [http://www.alxd.gr/AirportGuide/araxos/araxosE.html Araxos Airport in Greek Airport Guide]