Ilia

With two films by Greek creators, a highly anticipated movie featuring Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, and a swarm of celebrities arriving on August 28th for their customary pilgrimage on the red carpet of the oldest film festival in the world, the new season kicks off

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake occurred outside Kyllini.

According to sources from the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, the epicenter of the earthquake was located 12 km. 12 km southwest of Andravida.

The Gorge of Neda, which separates the prefectures of Ilia and Messinia, in the southwestern Peloponnese, will be declared a protected landscape and natural formation, the Environment Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Police in western Greece have seized more than 20 kilograms of marijuana and arrested two suspects on smuggling charges.

The government announced emergency measures on Wednesday evening in the prefectures of Ilia, Zakynthos and Achaia in western Greece to contain the spread of the coronavirus after a ninth case was confirmed earlier in the day. 

Under the measures schools, sports arenas, cinemas, theaters and archaeological sites will be closed for 48 hours.

The destruction wreaked by a large fire in the Strofylia national park in the Peloponnesian prefecture of Ilia on Tuesday has reignited debate about extending the traditional summer firefighting season and increasing protection for areas of natural beauty.

A group of farmers from the village of Ilia, near Karditsa, central Greece, who have managed to get their organic tomatoes onto the shelves of sought-after stores in Europe and the US, attribute the thriving of their produce to a musical diet including the German composer Richard Wagner.

A months-long investigation by Greece's fire service in cooperation with police authorities has found that most of last summer's wildfires in Eastern Attica, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos and in the southern prefecture of Ilia were human-caused, set by rackets seeking to have forests reclassified as crop or grazing lands or for residential development.

Firefighters battled two big blazes in the Peloponnese on Sunday, one of which came close to threatening an archaeological site.

The first fire started at 2.20 p.m. in the area of Potamia near Megalopoli in Arcadia. Fourteen fire service trucks, two private water carriers and 38 firemen brought the blaze under control.

Greece keeps breaking new records in tourist arrivals, yet there are a number of extremely important and persistent problems that it should be dealing with, especially when it comes to key infrastructure issues.