Aspra Spitia, Ilia

Aspra Spitia (Greek: Άσπρα Σπίτια) is a village near Olympia and is also a part of the municipality, its 2001 population was 319 for the village and is ranked 12th in the municipality and is ranked before Kryoneri and after Pournari.

Nearest places

*Olympia

Location

Aspra Spitia is located ast of Pyrgos, south of Patras and west-northwest of Tripoli.

Population

Geography

Much of the area around Aspra Spitia are forested, farmlands are founded within most of the valley areas and within the village. Near the village, archeologists have excavated prehistoric remains of housing from the Neolithic period. [ [http://old.mfa.gr/english/greece/through_time/archaeology/recent_discoveries/findings.html / Hellenic Republic - Ministry of Foreign Affairs ] ]

Information

Aspra Spitia has approximately 6 to 7 km of paved roads and 10 km of gravel roads. Aspra Spitia also has approximately 10 km of hydro lines as well as phone lines.

After World War II and the Greek Civil War, much of the population left for larger towns and cities especially Patras and started its population trend to fall. The population remained steady since the mid to late 20th century. Houses were stone-built until the 1950s and did not surpass modern-style homes until the 1980s. It was linked with pavement in the 1980s. Its population added only by 3 people between 1991 and 2001.

The village was affected by the fires in 2007 that arrived over the Alfeios riverbanks, flames plundered the forests around the area and changed its geographical shape to an ashy situation. Firefighters battled the blaze along with choppers and airplanes and began between 3 to 5 PM (16:00 to 18:00) on Sunday August 27 and continued through the afternoon and evening hours, parts of the area were partially unaffected. It transformed into an ugly not so beautiful scene that became all burnt and grey, the air became stale and may take several years to recover the forests, planting will rarely be done but the beauty of nature will replenish the area.

Economy

Its residents live off in agriculture and many of these are art workers and hotel services.

Other

Aspra Spitia has a school, a lyceum (middle school), a church, and a square ("plateia"). Its nearest gymnasium (secondary school) and banks are in Olympia.

ee also

*List of places in the Ilia prefecture

References

External links

* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=4444 Aspra Spitia GTP Travel Pages]