Peloponnesus

 

(pĕl'əpənē'səs) or Pelopónnisos (pâ'lôpô'nyēsôs) , formerly Morea (mōrē'ə) , peninsula (1991 pop. 1,086,935), c.8,300 sq mi (21,500 sq km), S Greece. It is linked with central Greece by the Isthmus of Corinth, and it is washed by the Aegean Sea on the east and southeast, by the Ionian Sea on the southwest and west, and by the gulfs of Pátrai and Corinth on the north. Its deeply indented south coast terminates in Cape Matapan. Mainly mountainous, the region includes the Taygetus, Kyllene, and Erímanthos mts. The Evrótas and Alfiós are the chief rivers.

Economy

Predominately agricultural and pastoral, the Peloponnesus produces currants, grapes, figs, citrus fruit, olives, tobacco, and wheat. The most fertile parts of the peninsula are the coastal strips in the north and west. Sheep and goat raising, textile manufacturing, fishing, and sericulture are major sources of income. There are deposits of pyrite, manganese, lignite, and chromium. The peninsula attracts many tourists; the port cities of Pátrai, Corinth, Kalamata, and Návplion are the main modern centers of the Peloponnesus.

History

Originally populated by Leleges and Pelasgians (said to have been the builders of Mycenae and Tiryns), the peninsula was later occupied by the Achaeans and then by the Dorians, who dominated the Peloponnesus in historic times. The chief ancient divisions of the Peloponnesus were Elis, Achaea, Argolis, and the city-state of Corinth in the north; Arcadia in the center; and Lacedaemonia (comprising Messenia and Laconia) in the south. Sparta, Corinth, Argos, and megalopolis were among its chief cities in ancient times.

With the exception of Achaea and Argos, the whole peninsula participated in the Persian Wars (500–449 B.C.). At the time of the Peloponnesian War (5th cent. B.C.) almost the entire peninsula was dominated by Sparta. Spartan hegemony, which after the defeat of Athens extended over all Greece, was broken in the 4th cent. B.C. by Epaminondas of Thebes, who thus prepared the way for the establishment of Macedonian supremacy over the Peloponnesus by Philip II of Macedon. The Second Achaean League, unable to shake off the Macedonian yoke, was ended in 146 B.C. by the Roman conquest of the Peloponnesus. Under Roman and Byzantine rule the Peloponnesus was reduced to provincial status and in the centuries that followed was repeatedly raided and invaded by Slavs, Bulgars, and Pechenegs.

When, in 1204, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade established the Latin Empire of Constantinople (see Constantinople, Latin Empire of), the French Villehardouin family received the principality of Achaia or Achaea (i.e., the Peloponnesus) as fief, except for several ports, which passed to Venice. A French feudal state was created and enjoyed a period of great prosperity and chivalrous culture under the Villehardouin princes. Many castles remain to show the unique mixture of French feudal culture and Hellenistic civilization that flourished in the Peloponnesus in the 13th cent. After the death (1278) of William of Villehardouin, the last prince, the principality passed first to the Angevin dynasty of Naples (by marriage), later to various nobles, and in 1383 to a body of Navarrese soldier-adventurers.

The Byzantine Greeks meanwhile had gradually recovered a good part of the peninsula, and in 1432 they achieved complete control. Their triumph, however, was short-lived, for by 1460 Sultan Muhammad II had conquered the peninsula and annexed it to the Ottoman Empire. In the Turko-Venetian Wars from the 15th cent. until the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), Venice held parts of the Peloponnesus at various times and the entire peninsula from 1687 to 1715. As a result of the Greek War of Independence (1821–29) the peninsula passed to independent Greece.

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus (Greek: Πελοπόννησος Pelopónnisos; see also List of Greek place names) is a large peninsula in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth. The peninsula is divided among three distinct peripheries of modern Greece: most of the Peloponnese and parts of the West Greece and Attica peripheries.

Prefectures

• Arcadia
• Argolis
• Corinthia (except municipalities of Agioi Theodoroi and most of Loutraki-Perachora, which lie east of the Corinth Canal)
• Laconia
• Messinia
• Achaea
• Elis
• Piraeus (only the municipalities of Methana, Troizina, and part of Poros)

Geography

The Peloponnese covers an area of some 21,549 km² (8,320 square miles), and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. While technically it may be considered an island since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893, like other peninsulas that have been separated from their mainland by man-made bodies of waters, it is rarely, if ever referred to as an "island". It has two land connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth and an artificial one in the shape of the Rio-Antirio bridge (completed 2004).

The peninsula has a mountainous interior and deeply indented coasts, with Mount Taygetus its highest point. It possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, Messenia, the Mani Peninsula, Cape Malea (also known as Epidaurus Limera), and the Argolid in the far northeast of the Peloponnese.

Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesan coast: the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, and the Ionian Islands to the west. The island of Kythira, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands.

History

The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means "Island of Pelops". During the Middle Ages, the peninsula was known as the Morea.^[1] According to folk etymology, this is because the Crusaders found it densely planted with mulberry trees (Greek: moreai) used by the flourishing silk industry.

Mainland Greece's first major civilization, the Aegean (or Mycenaean) civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from the stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. During classical antiquity, the Peloponnese was at the heart of the affairs of ancient Greece, possessed some of its most powerful city-states and saw some of its bloodiest battles. It was the site of the cities of Sparta, Corinth, Argos and Megalopolis, and was the homeland of the Peloponnesian League. The peninsula was involved in the Persian Wars and was the scene of the Peloponnesian War of 431 BC-404 BC. It fell to the expanding Roman Republic in 146 BC and became the province of Achaea.

The Peloponnese was subsequently ruled by the Byzantine Empire (but some areas were under Slavic rule between 618-805), until the Fourth Crusade in 1204, when it was lost to the Venetians and Franks. The Franks founded the Principality of Achaea in the northern half of the peninsula in 1205, while the Venetians occupied a number of ports around the coast such as Monemvasia, Pylos and Koroni, which they retained into the 15th century. The Byzantines regained control of the southeastern part of the peninsula, centred at the fortified hill town of Mystras near Sparta. From there, the Greek Despotate of Morea staged a revival from the mid-13th century through to the mid-15th century, until the Ottoman Turks overran the Peloponnese between 1458-1460. The Venetians occupied the peninsula between 1685-1718, after the successful Morean War (1684-1699) but Ottoman control was reestablished in 1715. Throughout the 18th century, Ottoman authority remained relatively solid and opposed only by rebellions in the Mani Peninsula, the southernmost part of the Peloponnese, and the activities of the bands of the klephts. The Russian-instigated Orlov Revolt of 1770 temporarily threatened Ottoman rule, but was quickly and brutally subdued.

The Peloponnesians played a major role in the Greek War of Independence – the war actually began in the Peloponnese, when rebels took control of Kalamata on March 23, 1821. The decisive naval Battle of Navarino was fought off Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese, and the city of Náfplio on the east coast became the seat of independent Greece's first parliament.

During the 19th and 20th century, the region became a relatively poor backwater and a significant part of its population emigrated to the larger cities of Greece, especially Athens, and other countries such as the United States and Australia. It was badly affected by the Second World War and Greek Civil War, experiencing some of the worst atrocities committed in Greece during those conflicts. Living standards have improved dramatically throughout Greece since then, especially after the country's accession to the European Union in 1981. The rural Peloponnese is renowned for being amongst the most traditionalist and conservative regions of Greece and is a stronghold of the right-wing New Democracy party, while the larger urban centres like Kalamata and especially Patra are bastions of the centre-left Panhellenic Socialist Movement.

2007 forest fires

Main article: 2007 Greek forest fires

In late August 2007 large parts of Peloponnese suffered from wildfires, which caused severe damages in countless villages, forests and the death of more than 60 people. The impact of the fires to the environment and economy of the region are still unknown. It is known, however, that these fires are the largest wildfires in the history of Europe, and the largest environmental disaster in Greek history.

Cities

The principal modern cities of the Peloponnese are (2001 census):

• Patras (169,242 inhabitants)
• Kalamata (54,065 inhabitants)
• Corinth (30,434 inhabitants)
• Tripoli (28,976 inhabitants)
• Argos (25,068 inhabitants)
• Pyrgos (24,765 inhabitants)
• Aigion (21,966 inhabitants)
• Sparta (16,473 inhabitants)
• Nafplio (13,124 inhabitants)

Archaeological sites

The Peloponnese possesses many important archaeological sites dating from the Bronze Age through to the Middle Ages. Among the most notable are:

• Bassae (ancient town and the temple of Epikourios Apollo)
• Corinth (ancient city)
• Epidaurus (ancient religious and healing centre)
• Messene (ancient city)
• Mistra (ancient town near Sparta)
• Monemvasia (medieval fortress-town)
• Mycenae (fortress-town of the Aegean civilization
• Olympia (site of the Olympic Games)
• Pylos, (the palace of Nestor)
• Tegea (ancient religious centre)
• Tiryns (ancient fortified settlement)

See also

• Geography of Greece
• Global warming
• Morea
• Prefectures of Greece
• Peloponnesian League
• The Peloponnesian War

Notes

External links

• Official Regional Government Website
• Greek Fire Survivors Mourn Amid Devastation in Peloponnese.

Regions of Greece
Aegean Islands • Attica • Central Greece • Crete • Epirus • Ionian Islands • Macedonia • Peloponnese • Thessaly • Thrace

Coordinates: 37°20′59″N, 22°21′08″E

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