 kalavryta () is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of achaea, greece. the town is located on the right bank of the river vouraikos,  south of aigio,  southeast of patras and  northwest of tripoli. notable mountains in the municipality are mount erymanthos in the west and aroania or chelmos in the southeast. kalavryta is the southern terminus of the diakopto-kalavryta railway, built by italian engineers between 1885 and 1895. ==history== kalavryta is built near the ancient city of cynaetha. during the late middle ages, the town was the centre of the barony of kalavryta within the frankish principality of achaea, until it was reconquered by the byzantines in the 1270s. after that it remained under byzantine control until the fall of the despotate of the morea to the ottoman turks in 1460. with the exception of a 30-year interlude of venetian control, the town remained under turkish rule until the outbreak of the greek war of independence in 1821, in whose early stages kalavryta figures prominently: it was here that on 21 march 1821 the flag of the revolt was raised at the monastery of agia lavra by bishop germanos iii of old patras. thumb|left|mt chelmos near kalavryta. thumb|left|kalavryta. on 13 december 1943, in what is commemorated as the massacre of kalavryta, allegedly in retribution for the killing of 81 german soldiers captured by partisans during the nazi occupation in world war ii, german troops ordered all male residents of kalavryta, aged 14 years and up, to gather in a field just outside the village. there, they machine-gunned down 696 of them. only 13 survived. after that they burnt down the town before they left and the next day they burnt down the monastery of agia lavra, birthplace of the greek war of independence. post-war, the federal government of germany offered gestures of atoneme
Kalavryta Municipalities_of_West_Greece Populated_places_in_Achaea Provinces_of_Greece