Editing Nafpaktos (section)

==History==

===Antiquity===
In Greek legend, Naupactus is the place where the [[Heraclidae]] built a fleet to invade the [[Peloponnese]].

In [[Classical Antiquity]], it was an important town of the [[Locri Ozolae]] and the best harbour on the northern coast of the [[Corinthian Gulf]]. The town was situated just within the entrance of this gulf, a little east of the promontory [[Antirrhium]]. It is said to have derived its name from the [[Heracleidae]] having here built the fleet with which they crossed over to [[ancient Peloponnesus|Peloponnesus]].<ref>{{Cite Strabo|ix. p.426}}</ref><ref name="Cite Pausanias|10|38|10">{{Cite Pausanias|10|38|10}}</ref><ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)]], 2.8.2.</ref>

Though Naupactus was indebted for its historical importance to its harbour at the entrance of the Corinthian gulf, it was probably originally chosen as a site for a city on account of its strong hill, fertile plains, and copious supply of running water. After the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] it fell into the power of the [[ancient Athens|Athenians]], who settled there the [[ancient Messenia|Messenians]], who had been compelled to leave their country at the end of the [[Third Messenian War]] in 464&nbsp;BCE, and during the [[Peloponnesian War]] it was the headquarters of the Athenians in all their operations in Western Greece,<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|4|24|7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Thucydides|1.103, 2.83, ''et seq.''}}</ref> and the scene of the [[Battle of Naupactus (429 BC)|Battle of Naupactus]] in 429&nbsp;BCE. After the [[Battle of Aegospotami]] the Messenians were expelled from Naupactus, and the Locrians regained possession of the town.<ref name="Cite Pausanias|10|38|10"/> Afterwards it passed into the hands of the [[ancient Achaea|Achaeans]], from whom, however, it was wrested by [[Epaminondas]].<ref>{{Cite Diodorus|15.75}}</ref> [[Philip II of Macedon]] gave it to the [[ancient Aetolia|Aetolians]],<ref>{{Cite Strabo|ix. p.427}}</ref><ref>Dem. ''Phil.'' iii. p. 120.</ref> and hence it is frequently called a town of Aetolia.<ref>''[[Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax]]'', p. 14</ref><ref>{{Cite Mela|2.3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pliny|4.2.3}}</ref> The Aetolians vigorously defended Naupactus against the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] for two months in 191&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite Livy|36.30, ''et seq.''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Polybius|5.103}}</ref> [[Ptolemy]] calls it a town of the Locri Ozolae,<ref>{{Cite Ptolemy|3.15.3}}</ref> to whom it must therefore have been assigned by the Romans after Pliny's time.

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] saw at Naupactus a temple of [[Poseidon]] near the sea, a temple of [[Artemis]], a cave sacred to [[Aphrodite]], and the ruins of a temple of [[Asclepius]].<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|10|38|12}}-13.</ref> The Roman playwright [[Plautus]] mentions Naupactus in his comedy ''[[Miles Gloriosus]]'' as the destination of an Athenian master (Pleusicles) who is on a diplomatic mission to the city.

Naupactus is mentioned in the 6th-century list of [[Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)|Hierocles]],<ref>{{Cite Hierocles|p. 643}}</ref> but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 551/2, during the reign of [[Justinian I]].<ref>Procop. ''B. Goth.'' 4.25.</ref>{{sfn|Veikou|2012|pp=466–468}}

===Medieval and early modern history===
The town and its hinterland were hit by an epidemic coming from Italy in 747/8 and almost deserted.{{sfn|Veikou|2012|pp=466–468}} From the late 9th century, probably the 880s, it was capital of the [[Byzantine]] ''[[Theme (Byzantine district)|thema]]'' of [[Nicopolis (theme)|Nicopolis]]. At the same time, its bishopric was elevated to a [[metropolitan see|metropolis]]. During the 9th–10th centuries, the town was an important harbour for the [[Byzantine navy]] and a strategic point for communication with the [[Catepanate of Italy|Byzantine possessions]] in southern Italy.{{sfn|Veikou|2012|pp=466–468}}{{sfn|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|1994|pp=9–10, 18}}

A rebellion of the local populace, which led to the death of the local ''[[strategos]]'' George, is recorded during the early reign of [[Constantine VIII]] (r. 1025–28).{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}} In 1040, the town did not take part in the [[uprising of Peter Delyan]], and although attacked by the rebel army, alone among the towns of the theme of Nicopolis, it resisted successfully.{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}} [[Nicholas the Pilgrim|St. Nicholas of Trani]] is recorded as having departed for [[Otranto]] in 1094 from the port.<ref>Testimony of his companion on the voyage [http://www.traniviva.it/magazine/contenuti/la-storia-di-san-nicola/ Bartholomew the Monk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504191751/http://www.traniviva.it/magazine/contenuti/la-storia-di-san-nicola/ |date=2014-05-04 }} excerpted from ''"San Nicola Pellegrino - Vita, Critica Storica e Messaggio Spirituale"'' by Gerardo Cioffari (published to coincide with the 900th anniversary of his death in 1994) – at ''TraniViva'' city web portal (Italian); access date: 30 January 2017</ref>  The history of the town over the next two centuries is obscure; during the visit of [[Benjamin of Tudela]] in 1165, there was a Jewish community of about 100 in the town.{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}}

Following the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire after the [[Fourth Crusade]], it became part of the [[Despotate of Epirus]].{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}}{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=65}} Under its metropolitan, [[John Apokaukos]], the see of Naupactus gained in importance and headed the local [[synod]] for the southern half of the Epirote domains.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=115}} In 1294, the town was ceded to [[Philip I, Prince of Taranto]] as part of the dowry of [[Thamar Angelina Komnene]]. The ruler of [[Thessaly]], [[Constantine Doukas of Thessaly|Constantine Doukas]], attacked Epirus in the next year and captured Naupactus, but in 1296 handed most of his conquests back to the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]], and Naupactus became a major Angevin base on the Greek mainland.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=236–237}}

In 1304 or 1305, the Epirotes recovered Naupactus during a war with the Angevins, but handed it back when peace was concluded in 1306.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=239–240}} The town briefly became part of the Serbian Empire during the 1350s.

[[File:Lepanto naupactus venecian fortress.JPG|thumb|right|The Venetian fortress.]]
In 1361 the town was captured by the [[Catalan Company|Catalans]] of the [[Duchy of Athens]].{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}} In 1376 or 1377 it fell to [[John Bua Spata]], an Albanian [[Despotate of Arta|despot of Arta]]. 
It was briefly occupied  [[Knights Hospitaller]] in 1378, and, now  wedged between the expanding lands of the [[Count of Cephalonia]] [[Carlo I Tocco]] and the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] possessions,  sold to the [[Republic of Venice]]  by [[Paul Spata]]  in 1407.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=352, 356, 401}}

After 1449, the town was an isolated Venetian exclave in Ottoman territory, as the Ottomans completed their conquest of the rest of Epirus and Aetolia-Acarnania.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=544}} The town was important to Venice, as it secured their trade through the [[Corinthian Gulf]], and the Republic took care to erect strong fortifications to secure its possession.{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}} In the end, the fortress fell to the Ottomans in 1499, during the [[Second Ottoman–Venetian War]].{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=1442–1443}}

[[File:Battle of Lepanto 1571.jpg|right|thumb|''The Battle of Lepanto'', [[National Maritime Museum]], Greenwich/London.]]
Under the Ottomans, Naupactus was known as ''Aynabahtı, İnebahtı'' and was the seat of [[Sanjak of İnebahtı|an Ottoman province]]. In 1521 ([[Hijri year|Hijri]] 927) the town had 509 Christian, 84 [[Ottoman Jews|Jewish]], and 28 [[Romani people|Roma]] households.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=GÖKBİLGİN |first=M. TAYYİB |date=1956 |title=KANUNÎ SULTAN SÜLEYMAN DEVRİ BAŞLARINDA RUMELİ EYALETİ, LİVALARI, ŞEHİR VE KASABALARI |url=https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin-pdf/1214/tur |journal=BELLETEN |volume=20 |issue=78 |page=277 |issn=0041-4255 |eissn=2791-6472 |via=BELLETEN}}</ref> The mouth of the [[Gulf of Lepanto]] was the scene of the great sea battle in which the naval power of the [[Ottoman Empire]] was nearly completely destroyed by the united Spanish, Papal, and Venetian forces ([[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]], October 7, 1571). In 1687 it was [[Morean War|recaptured]] by the Venetians, but was again restored to the Ottomans in 1699, by the [[Treaty of Karlowitz]]. Among those who fought in the [[Battle of Lepanto]] was [[Miguel de Cervantes]], the most famous Spanish writer; there is a statue located at the port, in his honour.

===Modern history===
Nafpaktos became part of [[First Hellenic Republic|independent Greece]] in March 1829.
It was incorporated as a commune in 1912 and as an independent municipality in 1946. In the [[Kapodistrias reform|1997 reform]], 
Nafpaktos municipality was enlarged by the incorporation of 13 communes.<ref>Κεντρική Ένωση Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων Ελλάδας (ΚΕΔΚΕ), Ελληνική Εταιρία Τοπικής Ανάπτυξης και Αυτοδιοίκησης (ΕΕΤΑΑ) (Hrsg.): Λεξικό Διοικητικών Μεταβολών των Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων (1912–2001). 2 (Τόμος Β', λ–ω), Athens 2002, p. 185.</ref> In the [[Kallikratis Plan|2010 reform]], Nafpaktos municipality was merged with five other municipalities to form [[Nafpaktia]] municipality, and the town of Nafpaktos proper is now a communal district within the ''Nafpaktos'' municipal district of Nafpaktia municipality.

Naupactus suffered damage from the [[2007 Greek forest fires]].