The Regional Unit of Arta has its capital Arta. It is 365 km from Athens and 440 km from Thessaloniki.

The city of Arta is built amphitheatrically on the banks of the river Arachthos and occupies the position of ancient Amvrakia. Amvrakia was an important colony of the Corinthians and was founded around 625 BC. As the capital of Pyrrhus (since 295 BC) it has gained power, wealth and considerable urban, political and religious organization. Destroyed by the Romans in 189 BC.

In 1082 the city was first mentioned under the name Arta. After the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, Arta became the capital of the Despotate of Epirus, the first Greek state.

In the 13th and 15th centuries, Arta was an important economic and cultural center of northwest Greece. In 1449, it was occupied by the Turks and in 1881 it acquired its independence. Since then, Arta has made remarkable progress, based mainly on its significant wealth-producing sources. Modern Arta now has all the advantages and potential of a growing region.

Its important classical and Byzantine monuments, its magnificent mountainous region and the amazing natural value and beauty of the Amvrakikos Gulf are the factors that can be used even more rationally and planned for its further progress.

Such progress is also linked to the development of mild and specialized forms of tourism: scientific, congress, ecological, sports, mathematics, making the Prefecture of Arta a region of particular investment importance.