The Gulf of Patras (Greek: Πατραϊκός Κόλπος Patraikos Kolpos) is a gulf that stretches from the eastern part of the Ionian Sea between Oxeia island and Cape Araxos in the south in the west up to the Strait of Rion at the capes Rio and Antirrio to the east next to the Rio-Antitrio Bridge. The gulf area is approx. 350 to 400 km². The length is approximately 40 to 50 km and the width ranges from 10 to 20 km. The famous Port of Patras lies to the southeast and is the only major port on the gulf. The length of the port was 2 km long, it is nearly 5 km long of the southern part is yet to be opened and is not completed. Messolonghi also has a port. Th egulf does not have many ports but has beaches in the south, the east and parts of the north. The old ports of Rio-Antirio lie east of the gulf. The port serves ferry routes to Ancona and Brindisi in Italy along with Kefallonia. The shipping routes that are linking Athens and from the Aegean and the Black Sea and the eastern Meditteranean with the western Mediterranean especially the Adriatic and the western ports. Fishing is also common because the gulf are rich in fishes

There were three battles called the Battle of Lepanto fought in this gulf in 1499, 1500 and in 1571.

There have been sunken ships including the Vivi that hit a mine and sank 30 m below sea level on September 11, 1940.

Cities and towns

• Rio east, east, beach
• Patras east, port and beaches
• Paralia, southeast
• Roitika, southeast
• Monodendri, southeast
• Tsoukouleika , south southeast
• Alissos, south, beach
• Alykes , north of Kato Achaia, south
• Ioniki Akti , south
• Mavry Myti, southwest
• Cape Araxos, southwest
• Messolonghi Lagoon, northwest
• Messolonghi, north
• Antirrio, northeast, port

Tributaries

• • • Achelous River
    • Louros River , north
    • a creek
    • Glaucos/Glavkos River - Panachaicus mountains to south of Patras
    • a creek (near Agyia)

External links

• Gulf of Patras from Space
• Sattelite image of the East Ionian and the Gulf of Patras
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14757384&dopt=Abstract
• http://11gym-patras.ach.sch.gr/iv.htm (in Greek)