In Focus: Patras, Greece
Patras is the regional capital of Western Greece and the country's third largest city. It is located 215 kilometers west of Athens, within Achaia Prefecture, while the port of the city serves as the main gateway to Greece from Western Europe. Τhe urban complex of the city is the third most populous in Greece after the ones of Athens and Thessaloniki and it constitutes one of the largest financial, commercial, and cultural center of the Peloponnese Peninsula and Western Greece. The city hosts the University of Patras which is one of the country's most prominent public universities and the University Regional General Hospital which is affiliated with the University of Patras and has earned a reputation as a well-respected medical center.