- "Distomo" may also refer to a work by Federico García Lorca
|Administrative region:||Central Greece|
|Population statistics (as of 2001)|
|Time zone:||EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)|
|Elevation (center):||218 m (715 ft)|
Distomo (Greek: Δίστομο) is a town in western Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 4,368 (2001). Distomo is situated in the western foothills of Mount Helicon, at about 450 m elevation. It is 5 km north of the Gulf of Corinth coast, 9 km southeast of Arachova, 12 km east of Desfina, 16 km southeast of Delphi, 18 km west of Livadeia and 105 km northwest of Athens. The Greek National Road 48 (Naupactus - Arachova - Livadeia) passes north of the town.
Distomo is known as the site of the Distomo massacre that was perpetrated by the German army against the local inhabitants during the Second World War. One of the most important monuments of Byzantine architecture, the monastery of Hosios Loukas, is situated close to Distomo. The aluminum producing company Aluminium of Greece has its production facilities in the coastal village Agios Nikolaos. Other industries include agriculture and services.
The municipal unit Distomo is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
|Year||Village population||Municipal district population||Municipality population|
On 10 June 1944, Distomo was the venue for a collective punishment policy by the Germans. Collective punishment on civilians constitutes a war crime. It was meant as "retribution" for the previous death of three Germans at the hands of local guerrillas, even though the villagers had no relation to the guerrillas.
The 4th SS Polizei Division perpetrated grave crimes with superiors encouraging the soldiers. Among them ripping out the intestines of a baby and splattering them on a close relative.
Decades later, a Greek court awarded restitution to Greek victims, but the German government pressed Greece politically to nullify that decision.
To enforce the decision by the Greek court, this case was brought before an Italian court, Greece being unwilling to enforce their own decisions. The judges awarded the plaintiffs the Villa Vigoni in Menaggio, Italy, a German government-sponsored nonprofit foundation. The German government appealed a decision by the Italian supreme civil court for restitutions at the International Court of Justice, claiming for State immunity.
- De Facto Population of Greece Population and Housing Census of March 18th, 2001 (PDF 793 KB). National Statistical Service of Greece. 2003.
- Kallikratis law Greece Ministry of Interior (Greek)