During the Hellenistic times, the king of Molosses Pyrros named Amvrakia as the capital of his state in 295 BC. Pyrros gave international glamor to the city, as well as throughout Epirus and decorated Amvrakia with important buildings.
In 171 BC the old city was captured by the Romans and since then its decadence began. With the establishment of Nikopolis many of the residents settled there. It seems to have been inhabited again after the Goths invasion (6th century), in order to find new prosperity for Michael Paphlagonos (1,040 BC) when the inhabitants of Nikopolis joined the Bulgarians.
After the fall of Constantinople by the Franks (1204), Arta became the capital of the Despotate of Epirus, founded by Michael Angelos Komninos. In 1449 it was captured by the Turks.
During the Revolutions of 1821, the city but mainly the mountainous region of Tzoumerka and Radovizi were the base of many fighters. But the defeat of the Greeks and the Philhellenes in the village of Petas, ceased all rebellious efforts in the area, which remained under Turkish occupation. Arta regained its independence with the Berlin Treaty in 1881, and in 1883 the homonymous county was created.
The modern city, capital of the prefecture of Arta, is located 365 km from Athens. It is built on the left bank of the river Arachthos and spreads at the base of the hill of Peranthi. Its privileged position, the fertility of its soil and the climate were the main reasons that gave the town a continuous life, from the 9th century B.C. until today.
Arta is known for the legend of its Bridge, which they were “building it at day, but every night it collapsed” and was finally finished when the founder’s wife was “built” underneath it as a sacrifice.
