In the Roman period, it had become a cosmopolitan center of the eastern Mediterranean whilst, according to the Christian tradition, it was also the place of Saint Andrew's martyrdom.

Dubbed as Greece's 'Gate to the West', Patras is a commercial hub, while its busy port is a nodal point for trade and communication with Italy and the rest of Western Europe.

The city has three public universities, hosting a large student population and rendering Patras an important scientific centre[3] with a field of excellence in technological education.

Notable features of the Patras Carnival include its mammoth satirical floats and balls and parades, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors in a Mediterranean climate.

Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in the performing arts and modern urban literature.

[6] It has been noted that during and in the aftermath of the suppressed 1770 Orlov revolt "when the Greeks got the upper hand they settled old scores; when the Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless: recapturing Patras, they left scarcely anyone alive.

A number of notable neoclassical buildings are to be found, including the Apollon Theatre in Georgiou I Square, the City Hall, the headquarters of the Local Trade Association and the Court of Justice.

A replica of Patras Lighthouse, the city's emblematic old lighthouse – which was at the dock of Ayios Nikolaos – rises at the end of Trion Navarchon street, near the temple of Saint Andreas.In general, much of Patras' coastline is framed by roads and avenues running alongside; these include Dymaion Coast to the south and Iroon Polytechneiou Street to the north.

[21] Nowadays, the municipal units of Rio, Paralia, Messatida and Vrachnaiika have functionally become a part of the wider urban complex of Patras.

This is the result of an interplay between natural geography and human settlement patterns; the lower section of the city (Kato Poli), which includes the 19th-century urban core and the port, is adjacent to the sea and stretches between the estuaries of the rivers of Glafkos and Haradros.

The older upper section (Ano Poli) covers the area of the pre-modern settlement, around the Fortress, on what is the last elevation of Mount Panachaikon (1,926 m (6,319 ft))[22] before the Gulf of Patras.

Glafkos springs in Mount Panachaikon and its water is, since 1925, collected in a small mountainous reservoir-dam near the village of Souli and subsequently pumped in order to provide energy for the country's first hydroelectric plant.

[24] Of great importance for the biological diversity of the area and the preservation of its climate is the swamp of Agyia, a small and coastal aquatic ecosystem of only 30 ha (74 acres), north of the city centre.

There are factories from Coca-Cola HBC and Athenian Brewery established in area, along with the facilities of the largest local company in soft-drinks production, Loux (ΛΟΥΞ).

The Roman Odeon hosts ancient dramas in the summer, while the Pantheon theater, the Art Factory, the Lithographeion and the Agora theatres provide additional venues.

Patras has also a very strong indie rock scene [citation needed] with critically acclaimed bands such as Raining Pleasure, Abbie Gale, Serpentine, Doch an Doris and others.

The Patras Carnival (Patrino Karnavali) is the largest event of its kind in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe, with a heritage reaching back 160 years.

The concept of the event revolved around the main theme of "Bridges" and "Dialogues", drawing benefit from the city's rich history and its position as a "Gate to the West", to underline the essence of the productive interaction of culture and civilisations in Europe.

The EU Commission found Patras' plans very ambitious and also commented that a successful hosting of the title by a medium-sized city would make it possible to redefine the meaning of the term Cultural Capital.

It holds relics of Andrew the Apostle, which were returned to the city of Patras from St. Peter's Basilica, Rome in September, 1964, on the orders of Pope Paul VI.

More recent figures include the Papandreou family, arguably the most influential in post World War II Greece, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, the last democratically elected head of government before the establishment of the 1967 junta, and Costis Stephanopoulos, the former president of the Hellenic Republic.

[74] Patras will also be the central hub of the Ionia Odos highway, intended to bridge western Greece from Kalamata to Ioannina and the Kakavia border station.

Additional work was recently announced to begin in 2023 in order to connect via highway the Rion Antirrion bridge with Nafpaktos, Itea, Amfissa and Lamia.

Patras is bypassed by the Olympia Odos (A8) motorway, which is also part of the E55 route that crosses the Rio-Antirio Bridge, dominating the sealine across the Gulf of Corinth.

In the past regional rail links were provided by the Hellenic Railways Organisation, connecting Patras to Athens and Piraeus as well as to Pyrgos and Kalamata.

[69] OSE announced the suspension of all the rail service in the Peloponnese in January 2011[75] so today the railway track is in use only by suburban trains that connect Patras with the adjacent villages of Rio and Agios Vasileios.

The central passenger train station of Patras which is a small building constructed in 1954, lies to the west of the downtown area, between Othonos-Amalias Avenue and the north port.

Finally, the old depot of Aghios Dionysios, consisting of about ten tracks, offers basic turntable and roundhouse facilities; it is about 400 m (1,312.34 ft) long.

The construction works are currently in progress close to the suburbs of Patras, but the remaining few kilometres till the city centre and the new port are still under study because of various financial and technical problems.

[clarification needed] Commuter rail services have recently been established by Proastiakos, with one line currently connecting Patras, Rio, and Agios Vasileios.