Methana

Methana Μέθανα
View of Methana peninsula from the sea
Location
Methana
Coordinates	37°34′N 23°23′E / 37.567°N 23.383°E / 37.567; 23.383Coordinates: 37°34′N 23°23′E / 37.567°N 23.383°E / 37.567; 23.383
Government
Country:	Greece
Periphery:	Attica
Prefecture:	Piraeus
Districts:	4
Mayor:	Christos Pallis PASOK
Population statistics (as of 2001[1])
City
- Population:	2,057
- Area:	50.161 km² (19 sq mi)
- Density:	41 /km² (106 /sq mi)
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (center):	18 m (59 ft)
Postal:	180 30
Telephone:	22980
Website
www.methana.gr

Methana (Greek: Μέθανα), can refer to a town, a municipality, a volcano (the Methana Volcano), and a peninsula located in the Piraeus Prefecture, in Greece in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the district of Loutropolis Methana (Λουτρόπολη fr. λουτρό loutros spring + πόλη poli city). The town (pop. 1,148 in 2001) is located north of the road connecting to the rest of the Peloponnese and Galatas. It is located east of Ligouri, northeast of Kranidi, north of Ermioni and northwest of Galatas and Poros. The highest point is 740 m (Helona Mountain). The municipality has a land area of 50.161 km² and a 2001 census population of 2,057 inhabitants. Its largest other settlements besides the town of Methana are Vathý (pop. 170), Megalochóri (167), Kounoupítsa (136), Kypséli (94), Ágioi Theódoroi (75), and Dritsaíika (64).

Communities and subdivisions

• Capitol town Methana
• Dritseika
• Megalochori
• Vathy
• Kameni Chora
• Kypseli
• Agii Theodorii
• Agios Georgios
• Kounoupitsa
• Palia Loutra
• Makrylongos
• Agios Nikolaos

Historical population

Half of the entire peninsula's population lives in Methana town.

Volcanic activity

Methana Volcano

The peninsula is entirely of volcanic origin and contains over 30 volcanic eruption centers. The last volcanic eruption occurred near present-day Kameni Chora in 230 BC and a submarine volcano erupted in 1700. Famous writers such as Ovid, Strabo and Pausanias reported the last volcanic eruption in Methana. The peninsula is the northwesternmost of the arc of the Aegean islands of which the active volcanic areas are Methana, Milos, Santorini and Nisyros. In the future, Methana (and the area of the Saronic gulf) may expect other volcanic eruptions.

Geography

Since 1991, the peninsula has been investigated by the team of ETH Zürich geologically and cartographically. From this, a topographical map of the entire peninsula at a scale of 1:25,000 was made. An interactive 3D map was created and is on the World Wide Web. Also a rich photographic archive with about 10.000 color slides has been produced (see links below).

The panorama of the northeastern part of Argolis, southeastern and eastern Corinthia along with the southern part of the Attica peninsula and the Saronic Islands of Aegina and Salamis along with a smaller one and the mountains of the eastern tip of the neighboring peninsula.

Much of the municipality are mountainous and bushy and grassy. The mountain range covers the central part of the peninsula and has a small ridge north of the seat. The residential area is within the sea. The pastures are around Methana. A mountain ridge is founded in the west and is about 3 km long with a stream in the middle and a cliff in the south.

History

The earliest known settlement (near the village of Vathy) dates from 1500–1300 BC. Many ancient sites were identified through the archaeological survey conducted in the 1980s by the University of Liverpool in association with the British School at Athens. The Acropolis Palaiokastro is located near the village of Vathy. The fortress is in Kypseli at the coast Akropolis Oga at the principal pace of Nisaki (Νησάκι, meaning little island). A Mycenaean settlement was excavated by Helene Konstolakis-Jiannopoulou in 1990 along with the chapel of Agios Konstantinos and Elenis. Selected artifacts can be visited in the museums of Poros island and in Piraeus. This site dates between 1500 and 1300 BC. In the Hellenistic period, the peninsula became one of the Ptolemaic bases in the Aegean when it was renamed Arsinoe.

Persons

• Giorgos Batis (1885-1967) singer
• Lina Nikolakopoulou Lyricist

References

External links

• "Methana". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0102-02=. 
• Official website (Greek)
• GTP Travel Pages (Community)
• Methana Volcano
• Erosion of Methana

See also

• Communities of Attica, including the Methana peninsula

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Methana