Central Greece / Sterea Ellada ...
Central Greece is the most populous geographical region of Greece, with a population of 4,591,568 people, and covers an area of 24,818.3 kmē, making it the second largest of the country. It is located to the north of the Peloponnese and to the south of Thessaly and Epirus, bordering the Aegean Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the west and the Corinthian Gulf to the south. Its climate is temperate along its coastlines, and dry in the interior.
One of the most mountainous districts of the country, Central Greece lies in the heart of the mainland, home to the Oracle of Delphi, Theves, Mount Elikon and Parnassos.
It acquired its name - Sterea Ellada - (firm) after 1821 since it constituted the only clearly continental portion of the newly liberated Greek state.
Its geographical position accounts for the great variety in the region's climate, which is dry and mountainous inland and mild on the coast. The contours of its landscape, too, are very diverse: thickly wooded green slopes, hills with pines, oaks, poplars and fast-moving streams separated by flat lands, plateaus and lakes, alternating harmoniously with the countless bays, intricate network of coves - some peaceful, some sheer and rugged - and picturesque islands that decorate the south west coast.
The region is also famous for the great battles fought here, some of which affected the course of history (Plataiai, Chaironia), some of unsurpassed symbolic singificance (Thermopylae) as well as for such personalities as Hesiodos, Pindar, Epaminondas, Pelopidas and Plutarch, all sons of this Land.
Visitors today, whose main aim is a pilgrimage to Delphi, should nonetheless not restrict themselves to the inexhaustible historical reference points. Contemporary Central Greece also has much to offer: abundant natural beauty, magnificently varied scenery, as well as highly evolved tourism facilities, all of which provide infinite opportunities for a most pleasant stay both winter and summer.
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