fbpx
Wikipedia

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese (/ˌpɛləpəˈnz, -ˈns/ PEL-ə-pə-NEEZ, -⁠NEESS), Peloponnesus (/ˌpɛləpəˈnsəs/ PEL-ə-pə-NEE-səs; Greek: Πελοπόννησος, romanizedPelopónnēsos, IPA: [peloˈponisos]) or Morea (Medieval Greek: Μωρέας, romanizedMōrèas; Greek: Μωριάς, romanized: Mōriàs) is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. From the late Middle Ages until the 19th century, the peninsula was known as the Morea, a name still in colloquial use in its demotic form.

Peloponnese
Πελοπόννησος
Peloponnese (blue) within Greece
Country Greece
Capital and largest cityPatras
Area
 • Total21,549.6 km2 (8,320.3 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total1,155,019
 • Density54/km2 (140/sq mi)
DemonymPeloponnesian
ISO 3166 codeGR-J

The peninsula is divided among three administrative regions: most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions.

Geography edit

 
The Corinth Canal
 
Landscape in Arcadia
 
View of the Argolic gulf, with Nafplio visible

The Peloponnese is a peninsula located at the southern tip of the mainland, 21,549.6 square kilometres (8,320.3 sq mi) in area, and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It is connected to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Corinth Canal was constructed in 1893. However, it is also connected to the mainland by several bridges across the canal, including two submersible bridges at the north and the south end. Near the northern tip of the peninsula, there is another bridge, the Rio–Antirrio bridge (completed 2004). The peninsula has a mountainous interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea (also known as Epidaurus Limera), and the Argolid in the far northeast of the Peloponnese. Mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres (7,897 ft). Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast (2,376 m or 7,795 ft), Aroania in the north (2,355 m or 7,726 ft), Erymanthos (2,224 m or 7,297 ft) and Panachaikon in the northwest (1,926 m or 6,319 ft), Mainalon in the center (1,981 m or 6,499 ft), and Parnon in the southeast (1,935 m or 6,348 ft). The entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past.

The longest river is the Alfeios in the west (110 km or 68 mi), followed by the Evrotas in the south (82 km or 51 mi), and also the Pineios, also in the west (70 km or 43 mi). Extensive lowlands are found only in the west, except for the Evrotas Valley in the south and the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to numerous spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw.

Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast: the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, and the Ionian to the west. The island of Kythira, off the Epidaurus Limeira peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonisos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the major quake of 365 AD.

Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven major regions: Achaea (north), Corinthia (northeast), Argolis (east), Arcadia (center), Laconia (southeast), Messenia (southwest), and Elis (west). Each of these regions is headed by a city. The largest city is Patras (pop. 170,000) in Achaia, followed by Kalamata (pop. 55,000) in Messenia.

Climate edit

Peloponnese for the most part enjoys a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), while the Gulf of Corinth has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh).[1] Rainfall is higher in the west coasts, while the east of the peninsula is significantly drier. Average annual temperatures can reach up to 20.2 °C (68.4 °F) in Monemvasia, while summer highs reach up to 36.0 °C (96.8 °F) in Sparta, within the Evrotas Valley.

Climate data for Araxos, Patras (1955–2010) 11 m. asl
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 13.8
(56.8)
14.2
(57.6)
16.1
(61.0)
19.3
(66.7)
24.2
(75.6)
28.5
(83.3)
33.3
(91.9)
33.6
(92.5)
29.0
(84.2)
23.5
(74.3)
18.9
(66.0)
15.2
(59.4)
22.1
(71.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 10.2
(50.4)
10.5
(50.9)
12.3
(54.1)
15.4
(59.7)
20.0
(68.0)
24.3
(75.7)
26.9
(80.4)
27.0
(80.6)
23.4
(74.1)
19.1
(66.4)
14.8
(58.6)
11.6
(52.9)
18.0
(64.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2)
6.3
(43.3)
7.6
(45.7)
9.8
(49.6)
13.3
(55.9)
16.8
(62.2)
19.0
(66.2)
19.8
(67.6)
17.2
(63.0)
14.2
(57.6)
10.6
(51.1)
7.8
(46.0)
12.4
(54.3)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 93.2
(3.67)
78.7
(3.10)
61.8
(2.43)
43.6
(1.72)
20.1
(0.79)
8.6
(0.34)
4.1
(0.16)
5.9
(0.23)
33.1
(1.30)
83.8
(3.30)
129.9
(5.11)
121.2
(4.77)
684.0
(26.93)
Average rainy days 13.7 12.4 11.6 9.1 6.0 2.6 0.9 1.2 5.1 9.4 12.6 15.9 100.5
Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service[2]
Climate data for Monemvasia (2007-2023)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22.4
(72.3)
25.3
(77.5)
24.6
(76.3)
30.5
(86.9)
35.3
(95.5)
45.2
(113.4)
42.7
(108.9)
39.9
(103.8)
38.3
(100.9)
33.2
(91.8)
31.4
(88.5)
24.9
(76.8)
45.2
(113.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 14.9
(58.8)
15.5
(59.9)
17.3
(63.1)
20.5
(68.9)
25.0
(77.0)
29.5
(85.1)
32.1
(89.8)
32.0
(89.6)
28.7
(83.7)
23.9
(75.0)
20.3
(68.5)
16.7
(62.1)
23.0
(73.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) 12.7
(54.9)
13.2
(55.8)
14.6
(58.3)
17.4
(63.3)
21.5
(70.7)
25.8
(78.4)
28.6
(83.5)
28.8
(83.8)
25.6
(78.1)
21.5
(70.7)
18.1
(64.6)
14.6
(58.3)
20.2
(68.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 10.4
(50.7)
10.8
(51.4)
11.9
(53.4)
14.3
(57.7)
18.0
(64.4)
22.2
(72.0)
25.1
(77.2)
25.6
(78.1)
22.5
(72.5)
19.1
(66.4)
15.9
(60.6)
12.5
(54.5)
17.4
(63.2)
Record low °C (°F) 2.1
(35.8)
1.6
(34.9)
4.2
(39.6)
9.1
(48.4)
12.1
(53.8)
15.8
(60.4)
18.4
(65.1)
20.5
(68.9)
16.7
(62.1)
12.5
(54.5)
8.9
(48.0)
4.7
(40.5)
1.6
(34.9)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 111.2
(4.38)
68.5
(2.70)
38.9
(1.53)
20.5
(0.81)
8.2
(0.32)
10.2
(0.40)
2.6
(0.10)
0.9
(0.04)
26.0
(1.02)
59.7
(2.35)
95.8
(3.77)
89.7
(3.53)
532.2
(20.95)
Source 1: National Observatory of Athens Monthly Bulletins (April 2007 – Dec 2023)[3]
Source 2: Monemvasia N.O.A station[4]
Climate data for Sparta (2009–2023)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 23.5
(74.3)
26.4
(79.5)
27.2
(81.0)
34.1
(93.4)
40.7
(105.3)
44.4
(111.9)
44.2
(111.6)
45.7
(114.3)
40.3
(104.5)
36.4
(97.5)
30.8
(87.4)
23.5
(74.3)
45.7
(114.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7)
15.9
(60.6)
18.4
(65.1)
22.8
(73.0)
27.8
(82.0)
32.5
(90.5)
36.0
(96.8)
35.9
(96.6)
31.3
(88.3)
25.3
(77.5)
20.1
(68.2)
15.9
(60.6)
24.7
(76.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7)
9.9
(49.8)
12.0
(53.6)
15.4
(59.7)
20.0
(68.0)
24.6
(76.3)
27.7
(81.9)
27.7
(81.9)
23.8
(74.8)
18.5
(65.3)
13.9
(57.0)
10.1
(50.2)
17.7
(63.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 3.0
(37.4)
3.9
(39.0)
5.6
(42.1)
8.0
(46.4)
12.2
(54.0)
16.7
(62.1)
19.5
(67.1)
19.6
(67.3)
16.4
(61.5)
11.8
(53.2)
7.8
(46.0)
4.4
(39.9)
10.7
(51.3)
Record low °C (°F) −5.3
(22.5)
−4.2
(24.4)
−4.6
(23.7)
−0.7
(30.7)
6.2
(43.2)
9.4
(48.9)
14.2
(57.6)
13.1
(55.6)
9.1
(48.4)
1.5
(34.7)
−1.7
(28.9)
−5.2
(22.6)
−5.3
(22.5)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 124.0
(4.88)
81.4
(3.20)
62.4
(2.46)
33.1
(1.30)
24.8
(0.98)
35.3
(1.39)
11.9
(0.47)
19.0
(0.75)
52.2
(2.06)
61.5
(2.42)
84.4
(3.32)
93.8
(3.69)
683.8
(26.92)
Source: National Observatory of Athens (Feb 2009 - Oct 2023),[5][6]
Sparta N.O.A station,[7] World Meteorological Organization[8]

History edit

 
A map of the regions of the Peloponnese of classical antiquity

Mythology and early history edit

 
The Lion Gate in Mycenae

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 or Peninsula (archaic meaning of the word nesos) of Pelops.

The Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greece's (and Europe's) first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from the palaces of Mycenae, Pylos and Tiryns; among others. The Mycenaean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records.

Classical antiquity edit

 
The Temple of Hera, Olympia

In 776 BC, the first Olympic Games were held at Olympia, in the western Peloponnese and this date is sometimes used to denote the beginning of the classical period of Greek antiquity. During classical antiquity, the Peloponnese was at the heart of the affairs of ancient Greece, possessed some of its most powerful city-states, and was the location of some of its bloodiest battles.

The major cities of Sparta, Corinth, Argos and Megalopolis were all located on the Peloponnese, and it was the homeland of the Peloponnesian League. Soldiers from the peninsula fought in the Persian Wars, and it was also the scene of the Peloponnesian War of 431–404 BC. The entire Peloponnese with the notable exception of Sparta joined Alexander's expedition against the Persian Empire.

Along with the rest of Greece, the Peloponnese fell to the expanding Roman Republic in 146 BC, when the Romans razed the city of Corinth and massacred its inhabitants. The Romans created the province of Achaea comprising the Peloponnese and central Greece. During the Roman period, the peninsula remained prosperous but became a provincial backwater, relatively cut off from the affairs of the wider Roman world.

Middle Ages edit

 
View of the Acrocorinth

Byzantine rule edit

After the partition of the Empire in 395, the Peloponnese became a part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. The devastation of Alaric's raid in 396–397 led to the construction of the Hexamilion wall across the Isthmus of Corinth.[9] Through most of late antiquity, the peninsula retained its urbanized character: in the 6th century, Hierocles counted 26 cities in his Synecdemus. By the latter part of that century, however, building activity seems to have stopped virtually everywhere except Constantinople, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Athens. This has traditionally been attributed to calamities such as plague, earthquakes and Slavic invasions.[10] However, more recent analysis suggests that urban decline was closely linked with the collapse of long-distance and regional commercial networks that underpinned and supported late antique urbanism in Greece,[11] as well as with the generalized withdrawal of imperial troops and administration from the Balkans.[12]

Slavic invasion, settlement and decline edit

The scale of the Slavic invasion and settlement in the 7th and 8th centuries remains a matter of dispute, although it is nowadays considered much smaller than previously thought.[13] The Slavs did occupy most of the peninsula, as evidenced by the abundance of Slavic toponyms, but these toponyms accumulated over centuries rather than as a result of an initial "flood" of Slavic invasions, and many appear to have been mediated by speakers of Greek, or in mixed Slavic-Greek compounds.[10][14][15]

Fewer Slavic toponyms appear on the eastern coast, which remained in Byzantine hands and was included in the thema of Hellas, established by Justinian II c. 690.[16] While traditional historiography has dated the arrival of Slavs to southern Greece to the late 6th century, according to Florin Curta there is no evidence for a Slavic presence in the Peloponnese until after c. 700 AD,[17] when Slavs may have been allowed to settle in specific areas that had been depopulated.[18]

Relations between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from intermittent uprisings.[19] There was also a continuity of the Peloponnesian Greek population. This is especially true in Mani and Tsakonia, where Slavic incursions were minimal, or non-existent. Being agriculturalists, the Slavs probably traded with the Greeks, who remained in the towns, while Greek villages continued to exist in the interior, governing themselves, possibly paying tribute to the Slavs.[20] The first attempt by the Byzantine imperial government to re-assert its control over the independent Slavic tribes of the Peloponnese occurred in 783, with the logothete Staurakios' overland campaign from Constantinople into Greece and the Peloponnese, which according to Theophanes the Confessor made many prisoners and forced the Slavs to pay tribute.[21]

 
A map of Byzantine Greece c. 900 AD, with the themes and major settlements

From the mid-9th century, following a Slavic revolt and attack on Patras, a determined Hellenization process was carried out. According to the Chronicle of Monemvasia, in 805 the Byzantine governor of Corinth went to war with the Slavs, exterminated them, and allowed the original inhabitants to claim their lands. They regained control of the city of Patras and the region was re-settled with Greeks.[22] Many Slavs were transported to Asia Minor, and many Asian, Sicilian and Calabrian Greeks were resettled in the Peloponnese. By the turn of the 9th century, the entire Peloponnese was formed into the new thema of Peloponnesos, with its capital at Corinth.[20]

The imposition of Byzantine rule over the Slavic enclaves may have largely been a process of Christianization and accommodation of Slavic chieftains into the Imperial fold, as literary, epigraphic and sigillographic evidence testify to Slavic archontes participating in Imperial affairs.[23] By the end of the 9th century, the Peloponnese was culturally and administratively Greek again,[24] except for a few small Slavic tribes in the mountains such as the Melingoi and Ezeritai. Although they were to remain relatively autonomous until Ottoman times, such tribes were the exception rather than the rule.[25] Even the Melingoi and Ezeritai, however, could speak Greek and appear to have been Christian.[26]

The success of the Hellenization campaign also shows that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks, in contrast to areas further north in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century.[27] A human genetics study in 2017 showed that the Peloponnesians have little admixture with populations of the Slavic homeland and are much closer to Sicilians and southern Italians.[28]

Apart from the troubled relations with the Slavs, the coastal regions of the Peloponnese suffered greatly from repeated Arab raids following the Arab capture of Crete in the 820s and the establishment of a corsair emirate there.[29][30] After the island was recovered by Byzantium in 961 however, the region entered a period of renewed prosperity, where agriculture, commerce, and urban industry flourished.[29]

Frankish rule and Byzantine reconquest edit

 
The Frankish castle of Clairmont (Chlemoutsi)
 
The court of the Byzantine despots in Mystras, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

In 1205, following the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the forces of the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders under William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin marched south through mainland Greece and conquered the Peloponnese against sporadic local Greek resistance. The Franks then founded the Principality of Achaea, nominally a vassal of the Latin Empire, while the Venetians occupied several strategically important ports around the coast such as Navarino and Coron, which they retained into the 15th century.[31] The Franks popularized the name Morea for the peninsula, which first appears as the name of a small bishopric in Elis during the 10th century. Its etymology is disputed, but it is most commonly held to be derived from the mulberry tree (morea), whose leaves are similar in shape to the peninsula.[32]

In 1208, William I founded a commission at Andravida consisted of Latin bishops, two bannerets and five Greek magnates and chaired by himself, to assess the land and divide it, according to Latin practice, in fiefs. The result was divide the country into twelve baronies, mostly centred around a newly constructed castle—a testament to the fact that the Franks were a military elite amidst a potentially hostile Greek population.[33][34] The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by the Latin Archbishop of Patras. Each of the latter was granted a number of estates as knightly fiefs, with the Archbishop receiving eight, the other bishops four each, and likewise four granted to each of the military orders: the Templars, Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights.[35] Shortly after 1260, a thirteenth barony, that of Arcadia (modern Kyparissia) was established, which was also a personal fief of the Villehardouins.[36] The barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign but rather a "first among equals" among them. Thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Prince's permission, or to decree capital punishment. Since Salic Law was not adopted in Achaea, women could also inherit the fiefs.[37]

Despotate of Morea and Ottoman incursions edit

Frankish supremacy in the peninsula, however, received a critical blow after the Battle of Pelagonia, when William II of Villehardouin was forced to cede the newly constructed fortress and palace at Mystras near ancient Sparta to a resurgent Byzantium. At this point, the emperor concluded an agreement with the captive prince: William and his men would be set free in exchange for an oath of fealty, and for the cession of Monemvasia, Grand Magne, and Mystras.[38] The handover was effected in 1262, and henceforth Mystras was the seat of the governor of the Byzantine territories in the Morea. Initially this governor (kephale) was changed every year, but after 1308 they started being appointed for longer terms.[39] Almost immediately on his return to the Morea, William of Villehardouin renounced his oath to the emperor, and warfare broke out between Byzantines and Franks. The first Byzantine attempts to subdue the Principality of Achaea were beaten back in the battles of Prinitsa and Makryplagi, but the Byzantines were firmly ensconced in Laconia. Warfare became endemic, and the Byzantines slowly pushed the Franks back.[40] The insecurity engendered by the raids and counter-raids caused the inhabitants of Lacedaemon to abandon their exposed city and settle at Mystras, in a new town built under the shadow of the fortress.

While Mystras served as the provincial capital from this time, it became a royal capital in 1349, when the first despot was appointed to rule over the Morea. The Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, reorganized the territory in 1349 to establish it as an appanage for his son, the Despot Manuel Kantakouzenos. Around that time, the Ottoman Turks began raiding the Peloponnese, but their raids intensified only after 1387 when the energetic Evrenos Bey took control. Exploiting the quarrels between Byzantines and Franks, he plundered across the peninsula and forced both the Byzantine despots and the remaining Frankish rulers to acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty and pay tribute. This situation lasted until the Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Ankara in 1402, after which Ottoman power was for a time checked.[41] From 1349 until its surrender to the Ottoman Turks on 31 May 1460, Mystras was the residence of a Despot who ruled over the Byzantine Morea, known as the "Despotate of the Morea". For the larger portion of his reign, Manuel maintained peaceful relations with his Latin neighbors and secured a long period of prosperity for the area. Greco-Latin cooperation included an alliance to contain the raids of the Ottoman Sultan Murad I into Morea in the 1360s. The rival Palaiologos dynasty seized the Morea after Manuel's death in 1380, with Theodore I Palaiologos becoming despot in 1383.

Theodore I ruled until 1407, consolidating Byzantine rule and coming to terms with his more powerful neighbours—particularly the expansionist Ottoman Empire, whose suzerainty he recognised.[42] Subsequent despots were the sons of the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, brother of the despot Theodore: Theodore II, Constantine, Demetrios, and Thomas. As Latin power in the Peloponnese waned during the 15th century, the Despotate of the Morea expanded to incorporate the entire peninsula in 1430 with territory being acquired by dowry settlements, and the conquest of Patras by Constantine. However, in 1446 the Ottoman Sultan Murad II destroyed the Byzantine defences—the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth.[43] His attack opened the peninsula to invasion, though Murad died before he could exploit this. His successor Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453. The despots, Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, brothers of the last emperor, failed to send him any aid, as Morea was recovering from a recent Ottoman attack. Their own incompetence resulted in the Morea revolt of 1453–1454 led by Manuel Kantakouzenos against them, during which they invited in Ottoman troops to help them put down the revolt. At this time, the Greek archons made peace with Mehmed.[44] After more years of incompetent rule by the despots, their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan, and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule, Mehmed came into the Morea in May 1460. Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled. By the end of the summer the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities possessed by the Greeks.

Ottoman incursions into the Morea resumed under Turahan Bey after 1423. Despite the reconstruction of the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth, the Ottomans under Murad II breached it in 1446, forcing the Despots of the Morea to re-acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty, and again under Turahan in 1452 and 1456. Following the occupation of the Duchy of Athens in 1456, the Ottomans occupied a third of the Peloponnese in 1458, and Sultan Mehmed II extinguished the remnants of the Despotate in 1460. A few holdouts remained for a time. The rocky peninsula of Monemvasia refused to surrender, and it was first ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair. When the population drove him out, they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Pope's protection before the end of 1460. The Mani Peninsula at the south end of the Morea resisted under a loose coalition of the local clans, and that area then came under Venice's rule. The last holdout was Salmeniko, in the Morea's northwest. Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there, stationed at Salmeniko Castle. While the town eventually surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461, when they escaped and reached Venetian territory.[41] Only the Venetian fortresses of Modon, Coron, Navarino, Monemvasia, Argos and Nauplion escaped Ottoman control.[41]

Albanian migration, settlement and relocations to Italy edit

 
Ethnographic map of the Peloponnese, 1890

The same period was also marked by the migration and settlement of Christian Albanians to parts of Central Greece and the Peloponnese, a group that eventually became known as the Arvanites[45][46] The Albanians settled in successive waves, often invited by the local rulers. They start appearing more frequently in the historical record from during the second part of the 14th century, when they were being offered arable land, pasture and favorable taxation in exchange for military service.[47] One of the larger groups of Albanian settlers, amounting to 10,000, settled the Peloponnese during the reign of Theodore I Palaiologos, first in Arcadia and subsequently in other regions around Messenia, Argolis, Elis and Achaia. Around 1418, a second large group arrived, possibly fleeing Aetolia, Acarnania and Arta, where Albanian political power had been defeated. The settling Albanians lived in tribes spread out into small villages, practicing nomadic lifestyles based on pastoralism and animal husbandry. By the mid-15th century, they formed a substantial part of the population of the Peloponnesus.[48] Military sources of the era (1425) report about 30,000 Albanian men who could carry arms in the Peloponnese.[49] The Greeks tended to live in large villages and cities, while Albanians in small villages.[50]

Following Ottoman conquest, many Albanians fled to Italy, settling primarily in nowadays Arbereshe villages of Calabria and Sicily. On the other hand, in an effort to control the remaining Albanians, during the second half of the 15th century, the Ottomans adopted favorable tax policies towards them, likely in continuation of similar Byzantine practices. This policy had been discontinued by the early 16th century.[51] Throughout the Ottoman–Venetian wars, many Albanians died or were captured in service to the Venetians; at Nafpaktos, Nafplio, Argos, Methoni, Koroni and Pylos. Furthermore, 8,000 Albanian stratioti, most of them along with their families, left the Peloponnese to continue their military service under the Republic of Venice or the Kingdom of Naples. At the end of the Ottoman–Venetian wars, a large number of Albanians had fled from the Peloponnese to Sicily.[52]

A demographic census by Alfred Philippson, based on fieldwork between 1887 and 1889, found that out of the approximately 730,000 inhabitants of the Peloponnese, and the three neighboring islands of Poros, Hydra and Spetses, Arvanites numbered 90,253, or 12.3% of the total population.[53][54]

Ottoman conquest, Venetian interlude and Ottoman reconquest edit

The Venetian fortresses were conquered in a series of Ottoman-Venetian Wars: the first war, lasting from 1463 to 1479, saw much fighting in the Peloponnese, resulting in the loss of Argos, while Modon and Coron fell in 1500 during the second war. Coron and Patras were captured in a crusading expedition in 1532, led by the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, but this provoked another war in which the last Venetian possessions on the Greek mainland were lost.[55]

 
The Venetian Lion of Saint Mark and halberds from the time of the Kingdom of the Morea in the National Historical Museum, Athens
 
"Commander Panagiotis Kephalas plants the flag of liberty upon the walls of Tripolizza", Siege of Tripolitsa, by Peter von Hess.
 
The flag of the revolutionaries in the Peloponnese raised by the Kolokotronis family during 1821, and commonly (though unofficially) associated with the Peloponnese region

Following the Ottoman conquest, the peninsula was made into a province (sanjak), with 109 ziamets and 342 timars. During the first period of Ottoman rule (1460–1687), the capital was first in Corinth (Turk. Gördes), later in Leontari (Londari), Mystras (Misistire) and finally in Nauplion (Tr. Anaboli). Sometime in the mid-17th century, the Morea became the centre of a separate eyalet, with Patras (Ballibadra) as its capital.[56][57] Until the death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1570, the Christian population (counted at some 42,000 families c. 1550[55]) managed to retain some privileges and Islamization was slow, mostly among the Albanians or the estate owners who were integrated into the Ottoman feudal system.

Although they quickly came to control most of the fertile lands, Muslims remained a distinct minority. Christian communities retained a large measure of self-government, but the entire Ottoman period was marked by a flight of the Christian population from the plains to the mountains. This occasioned the rise of the klephts, armed brigands and rebels, in the mountains, as well as the corresponding institution of the government-funded armatoloi to check the klephts' activities.[56]

With the outbreak of the "Great Turkish War" in 1683, the Venetians under Francesco Morosini occupied the entire peninsula by 1687, and received recognition by the Ottomans in the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699).[58] The Venetians established their province as the "Kingdom of the Morea" (It. Regno di Morea), but their rule proved unpopular, and when the Ottomans invaded the peninsula in 1715, most local Greeks welcomed them. The Ottoman reconquest was easy and swift, and was recognized by Venice in the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718.[59]

The Peloponnese now became the core of the Morea Eyalet, headed by the Mora valesi, who until 1780 was a pasha of the first rank (with three horsetails) and held the title of vizier. After 1780 and until the Greek War of Independence, the province was headed by a muhassil. The pasha of the Morea was aided by several subordinate officials, including a Christian translator (dragoman), who was the senior Christian official of the province.[59] As during the first Ottoman period, the Morea was divided into 22 districts or beyliks.[59] The capital was first at Nauplion, but after 1786 at Tripolitza (Tr. Trabliçe).[56]

The Greeks of the Peloponnese rose against the Ottomans with Russian aid during the so-called "Orlov Revolt" of 1770, but it was swiftly and brutally suppressed by bands of Muslim Albanian mercenaries hired by the Ottomans. Referred to by the local Greek populace as "Turk-Albanians", those forces had also destroyed many cities and towns in Epirus during the 1769–70 revolt there.[60] The Peloponnese suffered more than any other Greek inhabited area by irregular Albanian gangs during the decades following.[61] In Patras nearly no one was left alive after the Turkish-Albanian invasion.[62] The city of Mystras was left in ruins and the metropolitan bishop Ananias was executed despite having saved the life of several Turks during the uprising. A great number of local Greeks were killed by the Albanian groups, while children were sold to slavery.[63] It is estimated that 20,000 local Greeks were captured during those nine years of devastation by those Albanian mercenaries and sold to slave markets. Also an additional of 50,000 Greeks left Peloponesse: around one-sixth of the pre-1770 population.[64]

The Ottoman government was unable to pay the wages the Albanian mercenaries demanded for their service, causing the latter to ravage the region even after revolt had been put down.[65] 1770-1779 was a prolonged period of devastation and atrocities committed by Albanian irregulars in the Peloponnese.[66] In 1774 the Russo-Turkish War ended with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca which granted general amnesty to the population. Nevertheless, attacks by Muslim Albanian mercenaries in the region continued not only against the Greek population but also against Turks.[67] The extensive destruction and lack of control in the Peloponnese forced the central Ottoman government to send a regular Turkish military force to suppress those Albanian troops in 1779,[68] and eventually drive them out from Peloponnese.[69] As a result of the invasion by those mercenary groups the local population had to found refuge in the mountains of Peloponnese to avoid persecution. The total population decreased during this time, while the Muslim element in it increased.[59]

As such Greek resistance in the peninsula was reinforced and powerful groups of klephts were formed under the clans of Zacharias, Melios, Petmezas and Kolokotronis. Klephtic songs of that era describe the resistance activities.[70] Nevertheless, through the privileges granted with the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, especially the right for the Christians to trade under the Russian flag, led to a considerable economic flowering of the local Greeks, which, coupled with the increased cultural contacts with Western Europe (Modern Greek Enlightenment) and the inspiring ideals of the French Revolution, laid the groundwork for the Greek War of Independence.[59]

Modern Greece edit

 
The Battle of Navarino, in October 1827, marked the effective end of Ottoman rule in Greece.
 
Panoramic view of Nafplion, the first capital of modern Greece
 
The Rio–Antirrio bridge, completed in 2004, links the western Peloponnese with mainland Greece.
 
The rock of Monemvasia

The Peloponnesians played a major role in the Greek War of Independence – the war began in the Peloponnese, when rebels took control of Kalamata on March 23, 1821. After the arrival of Ypsilantis's emissaries, local people rose under the leadership of Mavromichalis. Greek and Albanian insurgents organised in units of armed civilians took control of most of the fortresses.[71] The Greek insurgents made rapid progress and the entire peninsula was under Greek control within a few months, except for a few coastal forts and the main Turkish garrison at Tripolitsa.[72] The fighting was fierce and marked by atrocities on both sides; eventually the entire Muslim population was either massacred or fled to the forts. The capture of Tripolitsa in September 1821 marked a turning point. Rivalries among the insurgents eventually erupted into civil war in 1824, which enabled the Ottoman Egyptian vassal Ibrahim Pasha to land in the peninsula in 1825.[72]

The Peloponnese peninsula was the scene of fierce fighting and extensive devastation following the arrival of Ibrahim's Egyptian troops. Partly as a result of the atrocities committed by Ibrahim, the UK, France, and the Russian Empire decided to intervene in favor of the Greeks. The decisive naval Battle of Navarino was fought in 1827 off Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese, where a combined British, French and Russian fleet decisively defeated the Turko-Egyptian fleet.[72] Subsequently, a French expeditionary corps cleared the last Turko-Egyptian forces from the peninsula in 1828. The city of Nafplion, on the east coast of the peninsula, became the first capital of the independent Greek state. By the conclusion of the war, the entire Muslim population of the newly independent Greek state, including the Peloponnese, had been exterminated or had fled.[73]

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region became relatively poor and economically isolated. 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 improved dramatically throughout Greece after the country accedes to the European Union in 1981.

The Corinth Canal was completed in the late 19th century, linking the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian. In 2001, the Rio-Antirio Bridge was completed, linking the western Peloponnese to western Greece. In late August 2007, large parts of Peloponnese suffered from wildfires, which caused severe damage in villages and forests and the death of 77 people. The impact of the fires to the environment and economy of the region are still unknown. It is thought to be one of the largest environmental disasters in modern Greek history.

Regional units edit

 
The Peloponnese within Greece
 
The Peloponnese from ISS, 2014

Cities edit

 
View of Patras from the Patras Castle.
 
The Saint Peter's square is the central square of Argos.

The principal modern cities of the Peloponnese are (2011 census):

Archaeological sites edit

 
The ancient theatre of Epidaurus
 
View of the ancient Asclepeion in Messene

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

‡ UNESCO World Heritage Site

Cuisine edit

Specialities of the region:

  • Goges/Goglies (type of pasta)
  • Giosa, lamb or goat meat
  • Gournopoula (or Bouziopoula), pork
  • Hilopites
  • Kalamata olive
  • Kolokythopita (pumpkin pie)
  • Chortopita
  • Piperopita
  • Kagianas
  • Trahanas
  • Kokoras krasatos
  • Katsikaki me patates
  • Melitzanes Tsakonias (Tsakonia)
  • Syglino (pork meat) (Mani Peninsula)
  • Regali (lamb soup) (Mani)
  • Diples (dessert)
  • Galatopita (dessert)
  • Tentura drink (Patras area)

Several notable Peloponnese wines have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The Mantineia region makes a white wine made from Moschofilero, the Nemea wine region makes renowned red wines from the Agiorgitiko grape, and fortified red wine is made in the region around the city of Patras from Mavrodafni grapes.

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "Monthly Bulletins". www.meteo.gr.
  2. ^ . Hellenic National Meteorological Service. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Meteo Greece was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Μετεωρολογικός σταθμός Μονεμβασιάς" [Meteorological station of Monemvasia]. Meteo (in Greek and English). 2023. from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  5. ^ (in Greek). National Observatory of Athens. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022.
  6. ^ "N.O.A Monthly Bulletins".
  7. ^ "Latest Conditions in Sparta".
  8. ^ "World Meteorological Organization". Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  9. ^ Kazhdan (1991), p. 927
  10. ^ a b Kazhdan (1991), p. 1620
  11. ^ Curta (2011), p. 65
  12. ^ Curta (2011), p. 63
  13. ^ Gregory, TE (2010), A History of Byzantium, Wiley-Blackwell, p. 169, It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic "invasions" were probably, for the most part, the same as those who had lived there earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors, including the Byzantines.
  14. ^ Curta (2011), pp. 283–285
  15. ^ Obolensky (1971), pp. 54–55, 75
  16. ^ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 911, 1620–1621
  17. ^ Curta (2011), pp. 279–281
  18. ^ Curta (2011), p. 254
  19. ^ Fine (1983), p. 63
  20. ^ a b Fine (1983), p. 61
  21. ^ Curta (2011), p. 126
  22. ^ Fine (1983), pp. 80, 82
  23. ^ Curta (2011), p. 134
  24. ^ Fine (1983), p. 79
  25. ^ Fine (1983), p. 83
  26. ^ Curta (2011), p. 285
  27. ^ Fine (1983), p. 64
  28. ^ Stamatoyannopoulos, George et al., Genetics of the Peloponnesian populations and the theory of extinction of the medieval Peloponnesian Greeks, European Journal of Human Genetics, 25.5 (2017), pp. 637–645
  29. ^ a b Kazhdan (1991), p. 1621
  30. ^ Bées & Savvides (1993), p. 236
  31. ^ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 11, 1621, 2158
  32. ^ Kazhdan (1991), p. 1409
  33. ^ Setton (1976), p. 30
  34. ^ Miller (1921), p. 71
  35. ^ Miller (1921), pp. 72–73
  36. ^ Setton (1976), p. 31
  37. ^ Miller (1921), p. 74
  38. ^ Bon 1969, pp. 122–125.
  39. ^ Gregory & Ševčenko 1991, p. 1382.
  40. ^ Bon 1969, pp. 129ff..
  41. ^ a b c Bées & Savvides (1993), p. 237
  42. ^ Runciman 2009.
  43. ^ Rosser 2011, p. 335.
  44. ^ Contemporary Copy of the Letter of Mehmet II to the Greek Archons 26 December 1454 (ASV Documenti Turchi B.1/11) 27 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ^ Carl Waldman; Catherine Mason (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. Infobase Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4381-2918-1. OCLC 466183733.
  46. ^ Obolensky (1971), p. 8
  47. ^ Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019), The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 213, During the rule of Manuel Cantacuzenus in Mystras (1348-1380), Albanians were mentioned in the Veligosti area"... "in the late 1370s and the early 1380s Neri Acciamoli, the lord of Corinth, in his confrontation with the Navarrese recruited [800] Albanian mercenaries"..."By 1391 there was an influx of Albanians that could be hired as mercenaries"... "The Venetians were in need of colonists and soldiers in their depopulated areas and hence offered plots of arable land, pastures and tax exemptions to the wandering Albanians in southern Greece
  48. ^ Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019), The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 214, ...Albanian nomadic clans, who formed populous groups consisting of families, or tribes. They came to the Peloponnese carrying their animals and movable goods and offered military service in return for being allowed to settle, and enjoy free movement and tax exemption.
  49. ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1974). "Arvanitika: the long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety". International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 132–134: 61. Military reports give us fairly accurate data for the time of the colonization : sources report 30,000 Albanian men fit for military service on the Peloponnese around 1425 .
  50. ^ Liakopoulos 2015, p. 114
  51. ^ Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019), The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 214, the main reason for placing them in a different category in the cadastre is the 20% reduction on the ispence encumbrance (20 akces instead of the 25 the Greeks paid). This most probably mirrors a late Byzantine and Venetian practice that the Ottomans adopted to control the intractable Albanians"..."Within half a century, the favorable taxation terms granted to the Albanians had ceased to exist
  52. ^ Biris 1998, p. 340
  53. ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1998). "Arvanitika: The long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (134): 61. doi:10.1515/ijsl.1998.134.39. ISSN 1613-3668.
  54. ^ Philippson, Alfred (1890). Supan, Alexander Georg (ed.). "Zur ethnographie des Peloponnes". Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen (in German). Justus Perthes. 36: 33–34. ISSN 0031-6229.
  55. ^ a b Bées & Savvides (1993), p. 239
  56. ^ a b c Bées & Savvides (1993), p. 238
  57. ^ Birken (1976), pp. 57, 61–64
  58. ^ Bées & Savvides (1993), pp. 239–240
  59. ^ a b c d e Bées & Savvides (1993), p. 240
  60. ^ Ioannis Kaphetzopoulos; Charalambos Flokas; Angeliki Dima-Dimitriou (2000). The struggle for Northern Epirus. Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate. pp. 12, 32. ISBN 978-960-7897-40-4.
  61. ^ Anscombe, Frederick F. (17 February 2014). State, Faith, and Nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Lands. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-107-72967-4. No area suffered more than the Morea, which was pillaged regularly by Albanian gangs over the decades after 1770, despite Istanbul's repeated strictures against Albanians setting foot on the peninsula.
  62. ^ Constantine David (2011). In the Footsteps of the Gods: Travellers to Greece and the Quest for the Hellenic Ideal. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 169. ISBN 9780857719478. ...when the Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless; recapturing Patras, they left scarcely anyone alive.
  63. ^ Steven Runciman (2009). Lost Capital of Byzantium: The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 118. ISBN 9780857718105.
  64. ^ Brewer, David (16 April 2012). Greece, the Hidden Centuries: Turkish Rule from the Fall of Constantinople to Greek Independence. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-85772-167-9.
  65. ^ Steven Runciman (2009). Lost Capital of Byzantium: The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 119. ISBN 9780857718105.
  66. ^ Kostantaras, Dean J. (2006). Infamy and Revolt: The Rise of the National Problem in Early Modern Greek Thought. East European Monographs. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-88033-581-2. The 1770 revolution ended not only in failure but a prolonged period of devastation and atrocity in the Peloponnesus, committed by Albanian irregulars
  67. ^ Kaligas Haris (2009). Monemvasia: A Byzantine City State. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 92. ISBN 9781134536030.
  68. ^ Jelavich 1983, p. 78.
  69. ^ Stavrianos 2000, p. 189.
  70. ^ Nikolaou, Georgios (1997). Islamisations et Christianisations dans le Peloponnese (1715- 1832). Didaktorika.gr (Thesis). Universite des Sciences Humaines - Strasbourg II. p. 192. doi:10.12681/eadd/8139. hdl:10442/hedi/8139.
  71. ^ Isabella, Maurizio (2023). Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions. Princeton University Press. p. 129.
  72. ^ a b c Richard Clogg (20 June 2002). A Concise History of Greece. Cambridge University Press. pp. 35–42. ISBN 978-0-521-00479-4.
  73. ^ William St Clair, That Greece Might Still Be Free, Open Book Publishers, 2008, p.104-107 ebook

References edit

  • Biris, Kostas (1998). Αρβανίτες: οι Δωριείς του Νεώτερου Ελληνισμού (in Greek). Melissa. ISBN 978-960-204-031-7.
  • Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe (in French). Paris: De Boccard.
  • Jelavich, Barbara (1983). History of the Balkans. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69, 78. ISBN 9780521252492.
  • Koryllos, Christos (1890). Η Εθνογραφία της Πελοποννήσου: Απάντησις εις τα υπό του κ. A. Philippson γραφέντα (in Greek).
  • Liakopoulos, Georgios C. (2015). "A Study of the Early Ottoman Peloponnese in the Light of an Annotated editio princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman Taxation Cadastre (c.1460–1463)". Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin. 1. doi:10.25592/uhhfdm.407. ISSN 2410-0951.
  • Rosser, John H. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Byzantium (Second ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810874770.
  • Runciman, Steven (2009) [1980]. Lost Capital of Byzantium: The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 978-1-84511-895-2.
  • Stavrianos, Leften Stavros (2000). The Balkans Since 1453. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 187–190, 195. ISBN 978-1-85065-551-0.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Britannica.com
  • Greek Fire Survivors Mourn Amid Devastation in Peloponnese.
  • Stewart, Daniel (2013). "Storing up Problems: Labour, Storage, and the Rural Peloponnese". Internet Archaeology (34). doi:10.11141/ia.34.4.

37°20′59″N 22°21′08″E / 37.34972°N 22.35222°E / 37.34972; 22.35222

peloponnese, this, article, about, peninsula, traditional, geographic, region, modern, administrative, region, region, neez, neess, peloponnesus, səs, greek, Πελοπόννησος, romanized, pelopónnēsos, peloˈponisos, morea, medieval, greek, Μωρέας, romanized, mōrèas. This article is about the peninsula and the traditional geographic region For the modern administrative region see Peloponnese region The Peloponnese ˌ p ɛ l e p e ˈ n iː z ˈ n iː s PEL e pe NEEZ NEESS Peloponnesus ˌ p ɛ l e p e ˈ n iː s e s PEL e pe NEE ses Greek Peloponnhsos romanized Peloponnesos IPA peloˈponisos or Morea Medieval Greek Mwreas romanized Mōreas Greek Mwrias romanized Mōrias is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece and the southernmost region of the Balkans It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf From the late Middle Ages until the 19th century the peninsula was known as the Morea a name still in colloquial use in its demotic form Peloponnese PeloponnhsosTraditional regionPeloponnese blue within GreeceCountry GreeceCapital and largest cityPatrasArea Total21 549 6 km2 8 320 3 sq mi Population 2011 Total1 155 019 Density54 km2 140 sq mi DemonymPeloponnesianISO 3166 codeGR JThe peninsula is divided among three administrative regions most belongs to the Peloponnese region with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions Contents 1 Geography 1 1 Climate 2 History 2 1 Mythology and early history 2 2 Classical antiquity 2 3 Middle Ages 2 3 1 Byzantine rule 2 3 2 Slavic invasion settlement and decline 2 3 3 Frankish rule and Byzantine reconquest 2 3 4 Despotate of Morea and Ottoman incursions 2 3 5 Albanian migration settlement and relocations to Italy 2 4 Ottoman conquest Venetian interlude and Ottoman reconquest 2 5 Modern Greece 3 Regional units 4 Cities 5 Archaeological sites 6 Cuisine 7 See also 8 Footnotes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External linksGeography edit nbsp The Corinth Canal nbsp Landscape in Arcadia nbsp View of the Argolic gulf with Nafplio visibleThe Peloponnese is a peninsula located at the southern tip of the mainland 21 549 6 square kilometres 8 320 3 sq mi in area and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece It is connected to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth where the Corinth Canal was constructed in 1893 However it is also connected to the mainland by several bridges across the canal including two submersible bridges at the north and the south end Near the northern tip of the peninsula there is another bridge the Rio Antirrio bridge completed 2004 The peninsula has a mountainous interior and deeply indented coasts The Peloponnese possesses four south pointing peninsulas the Messenian the Mani the Cape Malea also known as Epidaurus Limera and the Argolid in the far northeast of the Peloponnese Mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese at 2 407 metres 7 897 ft Other important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast 2 376 m or 7 795 ft Aroania in the north 2 355 m or 7 726 ft Erymanthos 2 224 m or 7 297 ft and Panachaikon in the northwest 1 926 m or 6 319 ft Mainalon in the center 1 981 m or 6 499 ft and Parnon in the southeast 1 935 m or 6 348 ft The entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past The longest river is the Alfeios in the west 110 km or 68 mi followed by the Evrotas in the south 82 km or 51 mi and also the Pineios also in the west 70 km or 43 mi Extensive lowlands are found only in the west except for the Evrotas Valley in the south and the Argolid in the northeast The Peloponnese is home to numerous spectacular beaches which are a major tourist draw Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast the Argo Saronic Islands to the east and the Ionian to the west The island of Kythira off the Epidaurus Limeira peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands The island of Elafonisos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the major quake of 365 AD Since antiquity and continuing to the present day the Peloponnese has been divided into seven major regions Achaea north Corinthia northeast Argolis east Arcadia center Laconia southeast Messenia southwest and Elis west Each of these regions is headed by a city The largest city is Patras pop 170 000 in Achaia followed by Kalamata pop 55 000 in Messenia Climate edit Peloponnese for the most part enjoys a hot summer Mediterranean climate Koppen climate classification Csa while the Gulf of Corinth has a hot semi arid climate Koppen climate classification BSh 1 Rainfall is higher in the west coasts while the east of the peninsula is significantly drier Average annual temperatures can reach up to 20 2 C 68 4 F in Monemvasia while summer highs reach up to 36 0 C 96 8 F in Sparta within the Evrotas Valley Climate data for Araxos Patras 1955 2010 11 m aslMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearMean daily maximum C F 13 8 56 8 14 2 57 6 16 1 61 0 19 3 66 7 24 2 75 6 28 5 83 3 33 3 91 9 33 6 92 5 29 0 84 2 23 5 74 3 18 9 66 0 15 2 59 4 22 1 71 8 Daily mean C F 10 2 50 4 10 5 50 9 12 3 54 1 15 4 59 7 20 0 68 0 24 3 75 7 26 9 80 4 27 0 80 6 23 4 74 1 19 1 66 4 14 8 58 6 11 6 52 9 18 0 64 4 Mean daily minimum C F 6 2 43 2 6 3 43 3 7 6 45 7 9 8 49 6 13 3 55 9 16 8 62 2 19 0 66 2 19 8 67 6 17 2 63 0 14 2 57 6 10 6 51 1 7 8 46 0 12 4 54 3 Average rainfall mm inches 93 2 3 67 78 7 3 10 61 8 2 43 43 6 1 72 20 1 0 79 8 6 0 34 4 1 0 16 5 9 0 23 33 1 1 30 83 8 3 30 129 9 5 11 121 2 4 77 684 0 26 93 Average rainy days 13 7 12 4 11 6 9 1 6 0 2 6 0 9 1 2 5 1 9 4 12 6 15 9 100 5Source Hellenic National Meteorological Service 2 Climate data for Monemvasia 2007 2023 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 22 4 72 3 25 3 77 5 24 6 76 3 30 5 86 9 35 3 95 5 45 2 113 4 42 7 108 9 39 9 103 8 38 3 100 9 33 2 91 8 31 4 88 5 24 9 76 8 45 2 113 4 Mean daily maximum C F 14 9 58 8 15 5 59 9 17 3 63 1 20 5 68 9 25 0 77 0 29 5 85 1 32 1 89 8 32 0 89 6 28 7 83 7 23 9 75 0 20 3 68 5 16 7 62 1 23 0 73 5 Daily mean C F 12 7 54 9 13 2 55 8 14 6 58 3 17 4 63 3 21 5 70 7 25 8 78 4 28 6 83 5 28 8 83 8 25 6 78 1 21 5 70 7 18 1 64 6 14 6 58 3 20 2 68 4 Mean daily minimum C F 10 4 50 7 10 8 51 4 11 9 53 4 14 3 57 7 18 0 64 4 22 2 72 0 25 1 77 2 25 6 78 1 22 5 72 5 19 1 66 4 15 9 60 6 12 5 54 5 17 4 63 2 Record low C F 2 1 35 8 1 6 34 9 4 2 39 6 9 1 48 4 12 1 53 8 15 8 60 4 18 4 65 1 20 5 68 9 16 7 62 1 12 5 54 5 8 9 48 0 4 7 40 5 1 6 34 9 Average rainfall mm inches 111 2 4 38 68 5 2 70 38 9 1 53 20 5 0 81 8 2 0 32 10 2 0 40 2 6 0 10 0 9 0 04 26 0 1 02 59 7 2 35 95 8 3 77 89 7 3 53 532 2 20 95 Source 1 National Observatory of Athens Monthly Bulletins April 2007 Dec 2023 3 Source 2 Monemvasia N O A station 4 Climate data for Sparta 2009 2023 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 23 5 74 3 26 4 79 5 27 2 81 0 34 1 93 4 40 7 105 3 44 4 111 9 44 2 111 6 45 7 114 3 40 3 104 5 36 4 97 5 30 8 87 4 23 5 74 3 45 7 114 3 Mean daily maximum C F 14 3 57 7 15 9 60 6 18 4 65 1 22 8 73 0 27 8 82 0 32 5 90 5 36 0 96 8 35 9 96 6 31 3 88 3 25 3 77 5 20 1 68 2 15 9 60 6 24 7 76 4 Daily mean C F 8 7 47 7 9 9 49 8 12 0 53 6 15 4 59 7 20 0 68 0 24 6 76 3 27 7 81 9 27 7 81 9 23 8 74 8 18 5 65 3 13 9 57 0 10 1 50 2 17 7 63 9 Mean daily minimum C F 3 0 37 4 3 9 39 0 5 6 42 1 8 0 46 4 12 2 54 0 16 7 62 1 19 5 67 1 19 6 67 3 16 4 61 5 11 8 53 2 7 8 46 0 4 4 39 9 10 7 51 3 Record low C F 5 3 22 5 4 2 24 4 4 6 23 7 0 7 30 7 6 2 43 2 9 4 48 9 14 2 57 6 13 1 55 6 9 1 48 4 1 5 34 7 1 7 28 9 5 2 22 6 5 3 22 5 Average rainfall mm inches 124 0 4 88 81 4 3 20 62 4 2 46 33 1 1 30 24 8 0 98 35 3 1 39 11 9 0 47 19 0 0 75 52 2 2 06 61 5 2 42 84 4 3 32 93 8 3 69 683 8 26 92 Source National Observatory of Athens Feb 2009 Oct 2023 5 6 Sparta N O A station 7 World Meteorological Organization 8 History edit nbsp A map of the regions of the Peloponnese of classical antiquityMythology and early history edit nbsp The Lion Gate in MycenaeThe 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 or Peninsula archaic meaning of the word nesos of Pelops The Mycenaean civilization mainland Greece s and Europe s first major civilization dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from the palaces of Mycenae Pylos and Tiryns among others The Mycenaean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC Archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction The subsequent period known as the Greek Dark Ages is marked by an absence of written records Classical antiquity edit nbsp The Temple of Hera OlympiaIn 776 BC the first Olympic Games were held at Olympia in the western Peloponnese and this date is sometimes used to denote the beginning of the classical period of Greek antiquity During classical antiquity the Peloponnese was at the heart of the affairs of ancient Greece possessed some of its most powerful city states and was the location of some of its bloodiest battles The major cities of Sparta Corinth Argos and Megalopolis were all located on the Peloponnese and it was the homeland of the Peloponnesian League Soldiers from the peninsula fought in the Persian Wars and it was also the scene of the Peloponnesian War of 431 404 BC The entire Peloponnese with the notable exception of Sparta joined Alexander s expedition against the Persian Empire Along with the rest of Greece the Peloponnese fell to the expanding Roman Republic in 146 BC when the Romans razed the city of Corinth and massacred its inhabitants The Romans created the province of Achaea comprising the Peloponnese and central Greece During the Roman period the peninsula remained prosperous but became a provincial backwater relatively cut off from the affairs of the wider Roman world Middle Ages edit nbsp View of the AcrocorinthByzantine rule edit Main articles Byzantine Greece and Morea After the partition of the Empire in 395 the Peloponnese became a part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire The devastation of Alaric s raid in 396 397 led to the construction of the Hexamilion wall across the Isthmus of Corinth 9 Through most of late antiquity the peninsula retained its urbanized character in the 6th century Hierocles counted 26 cities in his Synecdemus By the latter part of that century however building activity seems to have stopped virtually everywhere except Constantinople Thessalonica Corinth and Athens This has traditionally been attributed to calamities such as plague earthquakes and Slavic invasions 10 However more recent analysis suggests that urban decline was closely linked with the collapse of long distance and regional commercial networks that underpinned and supported late antique urbanism in Greece 11 as well as with the generalized withdrawal of imperial troops and administration from the Balkans 12 Slavic invasion settlement and decline edit The scale of the Slavic invasion and settlement in the 7th and 8th centuries remains a matter of dispute although it is nowadays considered much smaller than previously thought 13 The Slavs did occupy most of the peninsula as evidenced by the abundance of Slavic toponyms but these toponyms accumulated over centuries rather than as a result of an initial flood of Slavic invasions and many appear to have been mediated by speakers of Greek or in mixed Slavic Greek compounds 10 14 15 Fewer Slavic toponyms appear on the eastern coast which remained in Byzantine hands and was included in the thema of Hellas established by Justinian II c 690 16 While traditional historiography has dated the arrival of Slavs to southern Greece to the late 6th century according to Florin Curta there is no evidence for a Slavic presence in the Peloponnese until after c 700 AD 17 when Slavs may have been allowed to settle in specific areas that had been depopulated 18 Relations between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from intermittent uprisings 19 There was also a continuity of the Peloponnesian Greek population This is especially true in Mani and Tsakonia where Slavic incursions were minimal or non existent Being agriculturalists the Slavs probably traded with the Greeks who remained in the towns while Greek villages continued to exist in the interior governing themselves possibly paying tribute to the Slavs 20 The first attempt by the Byzantine imperial government to re assert its control over the independent Slavic tribes of the Peloponnese occurred in 783 with the logothete Staurakios overland campaign from Constantinople into Greece and the Peloponnese which according to Theophanes the Confessor made many prisoners and forced the Slavs to pay tribute 21 nbsp A map of Byzantine Greece c 900 AD with the themes and major settlementsFrom the mid 9th century following a Slavic revolt and attack on Patras a determined Hellenization process was carried out According to the Chronicle of Monemvasia in 805 the Byzantine governor of Corinth went to war with the Slavs exterminated them and allowed the original inhabitants to claim their lands They regained control of the city of Patras and the region was re settled with Greeks 22 Many Slavs were transported to Asia Minor and many Asian Sicilian and Calabrian Greeks were resettled in the Peloponnese By the turn of the 9th century the entire Peloponnese was formed into the new thema of Peloponnesos with its capital at Corinth 20 The imposition of Byzantine rule over the Slavic enclaves may have largely been a process of Christianization and accommodation of Slavic chieftains into the Imperial fold as literary epigraphic and sigillographic evidence testify to Slavic archontes participating in Imperial affairs 23 By the end of the 9th century the Peloponnese was culturally and administratively Greek again 24 except for a few small Slavic tribes in the mountains such as the Melingoi and Ezeritai Although they were to remain relatively autonomous until Ottoman times such tribes were the exception rather than the rule 25 Even the Melingoi and Ezeritai however could speak Greek and appear to have been Christian 26 The success of the Hellenization campaign also shows that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks in contrast to areas further north in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century 27 A human genetics study in 2017 showed that the Peloponnesians have little admixture with populations of the Slavic homeland and are much closer to Sicilians and southern Italians 28 Apart from the troubled relations with the Slavs the coastal regions of the Peloponnese suffered greatly from repeated Arab raids following the Arab capture of Crete in the 820s and the establishment of a corsair emirate there 29 30 After the island was recovered by Byzantium in 961 however the region entered a period of renewed prosperity where agriculture commerce and urban industry flourished 29 Frankish rule and Byzantine reconquest edit Main articles Frankokratia Principality of Achaea and Despotate of Morea nbsp The Frankish castle of Clairmont Chlemoutsi nbsp The court of the Byzantine despots in Mystras now a UNESCO World Heritage SiteIn 1205 following the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the forces of the Fourth Crusade the Crusaders under William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin marched south through mainland Greece and conquered the Peloponnese against sporadic local Greek resistance The Franks then founded the Principality of Achaea nominally a vassal of the Latin Empire while the Venetians occupied several strategically important ports around the coast such as Navarino and Coron which they retained into the 15th century 31 The Franks popularized the name Morea for the peninsula which first appears as the name of a small bishopric in Elis during the 10th century Its etymology is disputed but it is most commonly held to be derived from the mulberry tree morea whose leaves are similar in shape to the peninsula 32 In 1208 William I founded a commission at Andravida consisted of Latin bishops two bannerets and five Greek magnates and chaired by himself to assess the land and divide it according to Latin practice in fiefs The result was divide the country into twelve baronies mostly centred around a newly constructed castle a testament to the fact that the Franks were a military elite amidst a potentially hostile Greek population 33 34 The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords headed by the Latin Archbishop of Patras Each of the latter was granted a number of estates as knightly fiefs with the Archbishop receiving eight the other bishops four each and likewise four granted to each of the military orders the Templars Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights 35 Shortly after 1260 a thirteenth barony that of Arcadia modern Kyparissia was established which was also a personal fief of the Villehardouins 36 The barons retained considerable powers and privileges so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign but rather a first among equals among them Thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Prince s permission or to decree capital punishment Since Salic Law was not adopted in Achaea women could also inherit the fiefs 37 Despotate of Morea and Ottoman incursions edit Frankish supremacy in the peninsula however received a critical blow after the Battle of Pelagonia when William II of Villehardouin was forced to cede the newly constructed fortress and palace at Mystras near ancient Sparta to a resurgent Byzantium At this point the emperor concluded an agreement with the captive prince William and his men would be set free in exchange for an oath of fealty and for the cession of Monemvasia Grand Magne and Mystras 38 The handover was effected in 1262 and henceforth Mystras was the seat of the governor of the Byzantine territories in the Morea Initially this governor kephale was changed every year but after 1308 they started being appointed for longer terms 39 Almost immediately on his return to the Morea William of Villehardouin renounced his oath to the emperor and warfare broke out between Byzantines and Franks The first Byzantine attempts to subdue the Principality of Achaea were beaten back in the battles of Prinitsa and Makryplagi but the Byzantines were firmly ensconced in Laconia Warfare became endemic and the Byzantines slowly pushed the Franks back 40 The insecurity engendered by the raids and counter raids caused the inhabitants of Lacedaemon to abandon their exposed city and settle at Mystras in a new town built under the shadow of the fortress While Mystras served as the provincial capital from this time it became a royal capital in 1349 when the first despot was appointed to rule over the Morea The Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos reorganized the territory in 1349 to establish it as an appanage for his son the Despot Manuel Kantakouzenos Around that time the Ottoman Turks began raiding the Peloponnese but their raids intensified only after 1387 when the energetic Evrenos Bey took control Exploiting the quarrels between Byzantines and Franks he plundered across the peninsula and forced both the Byzantine despots and the remaining Frankish rulers to acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty and pay tribute This situation lasted until the Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 after which Ottoman power was for a time checked 41 From 1349 until its surrender to the Ottoman Turks on 31 May 1460 Mystras was the residence of a Despot who ruled over the Byzantine Morea known as the Despotate of the Morea For the larger portion of his reign Manuel maintained peaceful relations with his Latin neighbors and secured a long period of prosperity for the area Greco Latin cooperation included an alliance to contain the raids of the Ottoman Sultan Murad I into Morea in the 1360s The rival Palaiologos dynasty seized the Morea after Manuel s death in 1380 with Theodore I Palaiologos becoming despot in 1383 Theodore I ruled until 1407 consolidating Byzantine rule and coming to terms with his more powerful neighbours particularly the expansionist Ottoman Empire whose suzerainty he recognised 42 Subsequent despots were the sons of the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos brother of the despot Theodore Theodore II Constantine Demetrios and Thomas As Latin power in the Peloponnese waned during the 15th century the Despotate of the Morea expanded to incorporate the entire peninsula in 1430 with territory being acquired by dowry settlements and the conquest of Patras by Constantine However in 1446 the Ottoman Sultan Murad II destroyed the Byzantine defences the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth 43 His attack opened the peninsula to invasion though Murad died before he could exploit this His successor Mehmed II the Conqueror captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453 The despots Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos brothers of the last emperor failed to send him any aid as Morea was recovering from a recent Ottoman attack Their own incompetence resulted in the Morea revolt of 1453 1454 led by Manuel Kantakouzenos against them during which they invited in Ottoman troops to help them put down the revolt At this time the Greek archons made peace with Mehmed 44 After more years of incompetent rule by the despots their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule Mehmed came into the Morea in May 1460 Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled By the end of the summer the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities possessed by the Greeks Ottoman incursions into the Morea resumed under Turahan Bey after 1423 Despite the reconstruction of the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth the Ottomans under Murad II breached it in 1446 forcing the Despots of the Morea to re acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty and again under Turahan in 1452 and 1456 Following the occupation of the Duchy of Athens in 1456 the Ottomans occupied a third of the Peloponnese in 1458 and Sultan Mehmed II extinguished the remnants of the Despotate in 1460 A few holdouts remained for a time The rocky peninsula of Monemvasia refused to surrender and it was first ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair When the population drove him out they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Pope s protection before the end of 1460 The Mani Peninsula at the south end of the Morea resisted under a loose coalition of the local clans and that area then came under Venice s rule The last holdout was Salmeniko in the Morea s northwest Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there stationed at Salmeniko Castle While the town eventually surrendered Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461 when they escaped and reached Venetian territory 41 Only the Venetian fortresses of Modon Coron Navarino Monemvasia Argos and Nauplion escaped Ottoman control 41 Albanian migration settlement and relocations to Italy edit nbsp Ethnographic map of the Peloponnese 1890The same period was also marked by the migration and settlement of Christian Albanians to parts of Central Greece and the Peloponnese a group that eventually became known as the Arvanites 45 46 The Albanians settled in successive waves often invited by the local rulers They start appearing more frequently in the historical record from during the second part of the 14th century when they were being offered arable land pasture and favorable taxation in exchange for military service 47 One of the larger groups of Albanian settlers amounting to 10 000 settled the Peloponnese during the reign of Theodore I Palaiologos first in Arcadia and subsequently in other regions around Messenia Argolis Elis and Achaia Around 1418 a second large group arrived possibly fleeing Aetolia Acarnania and Arta where Albanian political power had been defeated The settling Albanians lived in tribes spread out into small villages practicing nomadic lifestyles based on pastoralism and animal husbandry By the mid 15th century they formed a substantial part of the population of the Peloponnesus 48 Military sources of the era 1425 report about 30 000 Albanian men who could carry arms in the Peloponnese 49 The Greeks tended to live in large villages and cities while Albanians in small villages 50 Following Ottoman conquest many Albanians fled to Italy settling primarily in nowadays Arbereshe villages of Calabria and Sicily On the other hand in an effort to control the remaining Albanians during the second half of the 15th century the Ottomans adopted favorable tax policies towards them likely in continuation of similar Byzantine practices This policy had been discontinued by the early 16th century 51 Throughout the Ottoman Venetian wars many Albanians died or were captured in service to the Venetians at Nafpaktos Nafplio Argos Methoni Koroni and Pylos Furthermore 8 000 Albanian stratioti most of them along with their families left the Peloponnese to continue their military service under the Republic of Venice or the Kingdom of Naples At the end of the Ottoman Venetian wars a large number of Albanians had fled from the Peloponnese to Sicily 52 A demographic census by Alfred Philippson based on fieldwork between 1887 and 1889 found that out of the approximately 730 000 inhabitants of the Peloponnese and the three neighboring islands of Poros Hydra and Spetses Arvanites numbered 90 253 or 12 3 of the total population 53 54 Ottoman conquest Venetian interlude and Ottoman reconquest edit See also Ottoman Greece Morea Eyalet Morean War and Kingdom of the Morea The Venetian fortresses were conquered in a series of Ottoman Venetian Wars the first war lasting from 1463 to 1479 saw much fighting in the Peloponnese resulting in the loss of Argos while Modon and Coron fell in 1500 during the second war Coron and Patras were captured in a crusading expedition in 1532 led by the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria but this provoked another war in which the last Venetian possessions on the Greek mainland were lost 55 nbsp The Venetian Lion of Saint Mark and halberds from the time of the Kingdom of the Morea in the National Historical Museum Athens nbsp Commander Panagiotis Kephalas plants the flag of liberty upon the walls of Tripolizza Siege of Tripolitsa by Peter von Hess nbsp The flag of the revolutionaries in the Peloponnese raised by the Kolokotronis family during 1821 and commonly though unofficially associated with the Peloponnese regionFollowing the Ottoman conquest the peninsula was made into a province sanjak with 109 ziamets and 342 timars During the first period of Ottoman rule 1460 1687 the capital was first in Corinth Turk Gordes later in Leontari Londari Mystras Misistire and finally in Nauplion Tr Anaboli Sometime in the mid 17th century the Morea became the centre of a separate eyalet with Patras Ballibadra as its capital 56 57 Until the death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1570 the Christian population counted at some 42 000 families c 1550 55 managed to retain some privileges and Islamization was slow mostly among the Albanians or the estate owners who were integrated into the Ottoman feudal system Although they quickly came to control most of the fertile lands Muslims remained a distinct minority Christian communities retained a large measure of self government but the entire Ottoman period was marked by a flight of the Christian population from the plains to the mountains This occasioned the rise of the klephts armed brigands and rebels in the mountains as well as the corresponding institution of the government funded armatoloi to check the klephts activities 56 With the outbreak of the Great Turkish War in 1683 the Venetians under Francesco Morosini occupied the entire peninsula by 1687 and received recognition by the Ottomans in the Treaty of Karlowitz 1699 58 The Venetians established their province as the Kingdom of the Morea It Regno di Morea but their rule proved unpopular and when the Ottomans invaded the peninsula in 1715 most local Greeks welcomed them The Ottoman reconquest was easy and swift and was recognized by Venice in the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718 59 The Peloponnese now became the core of the Morea Eyalet headed by the Mora valesi who until 1780 was a pasha of the first rank with three horsetails and held the title of vizier After 1780 and until the Greek War of Independence the province was headed by a muhassil The pasha of the Morea was aided by several subordinate officials including a Christian translator dragoman who was the senior Christian official of the province 59 As during the first Ottoman period the Morea was divided into 22 districts or beyliks 59 The capital was first at Nauplion but after 1786 at Tripolitza Tr Trablice 56 The Greeks of the Peloponnese rose against the Ottomans with Russian aid during the so called Orlov Revolt of 1770 but it was swiftly and brutally suppressed by bands of Muslim Albanian mercenaries hired by the Ottomans Referred to by the local Greek populace as Turk Albanians those forces had also destroyed many cities and towns in Epirus during the 1769 70 revolt there 60 The Peloponnese suffered more than any other Greek inhabited area by irregular Albanian gangs during the decades following 61 In Patras nearly no one was left alive after the Turkish Albanian invasion 62 The city of Mystras was left in ruins and the metropolitan bishop Ananias was executed despite having saved the life of several Turks during the uprising A great number of local Greeks were killed by the Albanian groups while children were sold to slavery 63 It is estimated that 20 000 local Greeks were captured during those nine years of devastation by those Albanian mercenaries and sold to slave markets Also an additional of 50 000 Greeks left Peloponesse around one sixth of the pre 1770 population 64 The Ottoman government was unable to pay the wages the Albanian mercenaries demanded for their service causing the latter to ravage the region even after revolt had been put down 65 1770 1779 was a prolonged period of devastation and atrocities committed by Albanian irregulars in the Peloponnese 66 In 1774 the Russo Turkish War ended with the Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca which granted general amnesty to the population Nevertheless attacks by Muslim Albanian mercenaries in the region continued not only against the Greek population but also against Turks 67 The extensive destruction and lack of control in the Peloponnese forced the central Ottoman government to send a regular Turkish military force to suppress those Albanian troops in 1779 68 and eventually drive them out from Peloponnese 69 As a result of the invasion by those mercenary groups the local population had to found refuge in the mountains of Peloponnese to avoid persecution The total population decreased during this time while the Muslim element in it increased 59 As such Greek resistance in the peninsula was reinforced and powerful groups of klephts were formed under the clans of Zacharias Melios Petmezas and Kolokotronis Klephtic songs of that era describe the resistance activities 70 Nevertheless through the privileges granted with the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji especially the right for the Christians to trade under the Russian flag led to a considerable economic flowering of the local Greeks which coupled with the increased cultural contacts with Western Europe Modern Greek Enlightenment and the inspiring ideals of the French Revolution laid the groundwork for the Greek War of Independence 59 Modern Greece edit See also Greek War of Independence nbsp The Battle of Navarino in October 1827 marked the effective end of Ottoman rule in Greece nbsp Panoramic view of Nafplion the first capital of modern Greece nbsp The Rio Antirrio bridge completed in 2004 links the western Peloponnese with mainland Greece nbsp The rock of MonemvasiaThe Peloponnesians played a major role in the Greek War of Independence the war began in the Peloponnese when rebels took control of Kalamata on March 23 1821 After the arrival of Ypsilantis s emissaries local people rose under the leadership of Mavromichalis Greek and Albanian insurgents organised in units of armed civilians took control of most of the fortresses 71 The Greek insurgents made rapid progress and the entire peninsula was under Greek control within a few months except for a few coastal forts and the main Turkish garrison at Tripolitsa 72 The fighting was fierce and marked by atrocities on both sides eventually the entire Muslim population was either massacred or fled to the forts The capture of Tripolitsa in September 1821 marked a turning point Rivalries among the insurgents eventually erupted into civil war in 1824 which enabled the Ottoman Egyptian vassal Ibrahim Pasha to land in the peninsula in 1825 72 The Peloponnese peninsula was the scene of fierce fighting and extensive devastation following the arrival of Ibrahim s Egyptian troops Partly as a result of the atrocities committed by Ibrahim the UK France and the Russian Empire decided to intervene in favor of the Greeks The decisive naval Battle of Navarino was fought in 1827 off Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese where a combined British French and Russian fleet decisively defeated the Turko Egyptian fleet 72 Subsequently a French expeditionary corps cleared the last Turko Egyptian forces from the peninsula in 1828 The city of Nafplion on the east coast of the peninsula became the first capital of the independent Greek state By the conclusion of the war the entire Muslim population of the newly independent Greek state including the Peloponnese had been exterminated or had fled 73 During the 19th and early 20th centuries the region became relatively poor and economically isolated 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 improved dramatically throughout Greece after the country accedes to the European Union in 1981 The Corinth Canal was completed in the late 19th century linking the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian In 2001 the Rio Antirio Bridge was completed linking the western Peloponnese to western Greece In late August 2007 large parts of Peloponnese suffered from wildfires which caused severe damage in villages and forests and the death of 77 people The impact of the fires to the environment and economy of the region are still unknown It is thought to be one of the largest environmental disasters in modern Greek history Regional units edit nbsp The Peloponnese within Greece nbsp The Peloponnese from ISS 2014Arcadia 100 611 inhabitants Argolis 108 636 inhabitants Corinthia 144 527 inhabitants except municipalities of Agioi Theodoroi and most of Loutraki Perachora which lie east of the Corinth Canal Laconia 100 871 inhabitants Messenia 180 264 inhabitants Achaea 331 316 inhabitants Elis 198 763 inhabitants Islands only the municipality Troizinia and part of Poros Cities edit nbsp View of Patras from the Patras Castle nbsp The Saint Peter s square is the central square of Argos The principal modern cities of the Peloponnese are 2011 census Patras 170 896 inhabitants Kalamata 62 409 inhabitants Corinth 38 132 inhabitants Tripoli 30 912 inhabitants Aigio 26 523 inhabitants Pyrgos 25 180 inhabitants Argos 24 700 inhabitants Sparta 19 854 inhabitants Nafplio 18 910 inhabitants Amaliada 18 303 inhabitantsArchaeological sites edit nbsp The ancient theatre of Epidaurus nbsp View of the ancient Asclepeion in MesseneThe 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 and Greece s first UNESCO World Heritage Site Corinth ancient city Diros caves 4000 3000 BC Epidaurus ancient religious and healing centre Koroni medieval seaside fortress and city walls Kalamata Acropolis medieval acropolis and fortress located within the modern city Messene ancient city Methoni medieval seaside fortress and city walls Mystras medieval Byzantine fortress town near Sparta Monemvasia medieval Byzantine fortress town Mycenae fortress town of the eponymous civilization Olympia site of the Ancient Olympic Games Pylos the Palace of Nestor and a well preserved medieval early modern fortress Pavlopetri the oldest underwater city in the world located in Vatika Bay dating from the early Bronze Age 3500 BC Sparta Tegea ancient religious centre Tiryns ancient fortified settlement UNESCO World Heritage SiteCuisine editSpecialities of the region Goges Goglies type of pasta Giosa lamb or goat meat Gournopoula or Bouziopoula pork Hilopites Kalamata olive Kolokythopita pumpkin pie Chortopita Piperopita Kagianas Trahanas Kokoras krasatos Katsikaki me patates Melitzanes Tsakonias Tsakonia Syglino pork meat Mani Peninsula Regali lamb soup Mani Diples dessert Galatopita dessert Tentura drink Patras area Several notable Peloponnese wines have Protected Designation of Origin PDO status The Mantineia region makes a white wine made from Moschofilero the Nemea wine region makes renowned red wines from the Agiorgitiko grape and fortified red wine is made in the region around the city of Patras from Mavrodafni grapes See also editGeography of Greece List of Greek place namesFootnotes edit Monthly Bulletins www meteo gr Climate of Patras Hellenic National Meteorological Service Archived from the original on 25 May 2023 Retrieved 28 February 2013 Cite error The named reference Meteo Greece was invoked but never defined see the help page Metewrologikos sta8mos Monembasias Meteorological station of Monemvasia Meteo in Greek and English 2023 Archived from the original on 4 February 2023 Retrieved 6 March 2023 Climate in Greek National Observatory of Athens Archived from the original on 27 September 2022 N O A Monthly Bulletins Latest Conditions in Sparta World Meteorological Organization Retrieved 14 July 2023 Kazhdan 1991 p 927 a b Kazhdan 1991 p 1620 Curta 2011 p 65 Curta 2011 p 63 Gregory TE 2010 A History of Byzantium Wiley Blackwell p 169 It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic invasions were probably for the most part the same as those who had lived there earlier although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors including the Byzantines Curta 2011 pp 283 285 Obolensky 1971 pp 54 55 75 Kazhdan 1991 pp 911 1620 1621 Curta 2011 pp 279 281 Curta 2011 p 254 Fine 1983 p 63 a b Fine 1983 p 61 Curta 2011 p 126 Fine 1983 pp 80 82 Curta 2011 p 134 Fine 1983 p 79 Fine 1983 p 83 Curta 2011 p 285 Fine 1983 p 64 Stamatoyannopoulos George et al Genetics of the Peloponnesian populations and the theory of extinction of the medieval Peloponnesian Greeks European Journal of Human Genetics 25 5 2017 pp 637 645 a b Kazhdan 1991 p 1621 Bees amp Savvides 1993 p 236 Kazhdan 1991 pp 11 1621 2158 Kazhdan 1991 p 1409 Setton 1976 p 30 Miller 1921 p 71 Miller 1921 pp 72 73 Setton 1976 p 31 Miller 1921 p 74 Bon 1969 pp 122 125 Gregory amp Sevcenko 1991 p 1382 Bon 1969 pp 129ff a b c Bees amp Savvides 1993 p 237 Runciman 2009 Rosser 2011 p 335 Contemporary Copy of the Letter of Mehmet II to the Greek Archons 26 December 1454 ASV Documenti Turchi B 1 11 Archived 27 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine Carl Waldman Catherine Mason 2006 Encyclopedia of European Peoples Infobase Publishing p 39 ISBN 978 1 4381 2918 1 OCLC 466183733 Obolensky 1971 p 8 Liakopoulos Georgios 2019 The Early Ottoman Peloponnese a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10 1 14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre ca 1460 1463 Ginko p 213 During the rule of Manuel Cantacuzenus in Mystras 1348 1380 Albanians were mentioned in the Veligosti area in the late 1370s and the early 1380s Neri Acciamoli the lord of Corinth in his confrontation with the Navarrese recruited 800 Albanian mercenaries By 1391 there was an influx of Albanians that could be hired as mercenaries The Venetians were in need of colonists and soldiers in their depopulated areas and hence offered plots of arable land pastures and tax exemptions to the wandering Albanians in southern Greece Liakopoulos Georgios 2019 The Early Ottoman Peloponnese a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10 1 14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre ca 1460 1463 Ginko p 214 Albanian nomadic clans who formed populous groups consisting of families or tribes They came to the Peloponnese carrying their animals and movable goods and offered military service in return for being allowed to settle and enjoy free movement and tax exemption Sasse Hans Jurgen 1974 Arvanitika the long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety International Journal of the Sociology of Language 132 134 61 Military reports give us fairly accurate data for the time of the colonization sources report 30 000 Albanian men fit for military service on the Peloponnese around 1425 Liakopoulos 2015 p 114 Liakopoulos Georgios 2019 The Early Ottoman Peloponnese a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10 1 14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre ca 1460 1463 Ginko p 214 the main reason for placing them in a different category in the cadastre is the 20 reduction on the ispence encumbrance 20 akces instead of the 25 the Greeks paid This most probably mirrors a late Byzantine and Venetian practice that the Ottomans adopted to control the intractable Albanians Within half a century the favorable taxation terms granted to the Albanians had ceased to exist Biris 1998 p 340 Sasse Hans Jurgen 1998 Arvanitika The long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety International Journal of the Sociology of Language 134 61 doi 10 1515 ijsl 1998 134 39 ISSN 1613 3668 Philippson Alfred 1890 Supan Alexander Georg ed Zur ethnographie des Peloponnes Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen in German Justus Perthes 36 33 34 ISSN 0031 6229 a b Bees amp Savvides 1993 p 239 a b c Bees amp Savvides 1993 p 238 Birken 1976 pp 57 61 64 Bees amp Savvides 1993 pp 239 240 a b c d e Bees amp Savvides 1993 p 240 Ioannis Kaphetzopoulos Charalambos Flokas Angeliki Dima Dimitriou 2000 The struggle for Northern Epirus Hellenic Army General Staff Army History Directorate pp 12 32 ISBN 978 960 7897 40 4 Anscombe Frederick F 17 February 2014 State Faith and Nation in Ottoman and Post Ottoman Lands Cambridge University Press p 67 ISBN 978 1 107 72967 4 No area suffered more than the Morea which was pillaged regularly by Albanian gangs over the decades after 1770 despite Istanbul s repeated strictures against Albanians setting foot on the peninsula Constantine David 2011 In the Footsteps of the Gods Travellers to Greece and the Quest for the Hellenic Ideal Tauris Parke Paperbacks p 169 ISBN 9780857719478 when the Turks and Albanians reasserted themselves they were merciless recapturing Patras they left scarcely anyone alive Steven Runciman 2009 Lost Capital of Byzantium The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese Tauris Parke Paperbacks p 118 ISBN 9780857718105 Brewer David 16 April 2012 Greece the Hidden Centuries Turkish Rule from the Fall of Constantinople to Greek Independence Bloomsbury Publishing p 192 ISBN 978 0 85772 167 9 Steven Runciman 2009 Lost Capital of Byzantium The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese Tauris Parke Paperbacks p 119 ISBN 9780857718105 Kostantaras Dean J 2006 Infamy and Revolt The Rise of the National Problem in Early Modern Greek Thought East European Monographs p 28 ISBN 978 0 88033 581 2 The 1770 revolution ended not only in failure but a prolonged period of devastation and atrocity in the Peloponnesus committed by Albanian irregulars Kaligas Haris 2009 Monemvasia A Byzantine City State Tauris Parke Paperbacks p 92 ISBN 9781134536030 Jelavich 1983 p 78 Stavrianos 2000 p 189 Nikolaou Georgios 1997 Islamisations et Christianisations dans le Peloponnese 1715 1832 Didaktorika gr Thesis Universite des Sciences Humaines Strasbourg II p 192 doi 10 12681 eadd 8139 hdl 10442 hedi 8139 Isabella Maurizio 2023 Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions Princeton University Press p 129 a b c Richard Clogg 20 June 2002 A Concise History of Greece Cambridge University Press pp 35 42 ISBN 978 0 521 00479 4 William St Clair That Greece Might Still Be Free Open Book Publishers 2008 p 104 107 ebookReferences editBiris Kostas 1998 Arbanites oi Dwrieis toy Newteroy Ellhnismoy in Greek Melissa ISBN 978 960 204 031 7 Bon Antoine 1969 La Moree franque Recherches historiques topographiques et archeologiques sur la principaute d Achaie in French Paris De Boccard Jelavich Barbara 1983 History of the Balkans Vol 1 Cambridge University Press pp 69 78 ISBN 9780521252492 Koryllos Christos 1890 H E8nografia ths Peloponnhsoy Apanthsis eis ta ypo toy k A Philippson grafenta in Greek Liakopoulos Georgios C 2015 A Study of the Early Ottoman Peloponnese in the Light of an Annotated editio princeps of the TT10 1 14662 Ottoman Taxation Cadastre c 1460 1463 Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin 1 doi 10 25592 uhhfdm 407 ISSN 2410 0951 Rosser John H 2011 Historical Dictionary of Byzantium Second ed Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0810874770 Runciman Steven 2009 1980 Lost Capital of Byzantium The History of Mistra and the Peloponnese Tauris Parke Paperbacks ISBN 978 1 84511 895 2 Stavrianos Leften Stavros 2000 The Balkans Since 1453 C Hurst amp Co Publishers pp 187 190 195 ISBN 978 1 85065 551 0 Further reading editBees N A amp Savvides A 1993 Mora In Bosworth C E van Donzel E Heinrichs W P amp Pellat Ch eds Encyclopaedia of Islam Volume VII Mif Naz 2nd ed Leiden E J Brill pp 236 241 ISBN 978 90 04 09419 2 Birken Andreas 1976 Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches Beihefte zum Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients in German Vol 13 Reichert ISBN 9783920153568 Fine John V A Jr 1991 1983 The Early Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press ISBN 0 472 08149 7 Kazhdan Alexander ed 1991 The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium Oxford and New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 504652 8 Miller W 1964 The Latins in the Levant A history of Frankish Greece 1204 1566 Cambridge Speculum Historiale Obolensky Dimitri 1971 The Byzantine Commonwealth Eastern Europe 500 1453 Praeger Publishers Florin Curta 2011 The Edinburgh History of the Greeks C 500 to 1050 The Early Middle Ages Edinburgh University Press ISBN 9780748638093 Setton Kenneth 1976 The Papacy and the Levant 1204 1571 Philadelphia American Philosophical Society ISBN 0 87169 114 0 OCLC 2698253 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peloponnese nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Peloponnese Britannica com Official Regional Government Website Greek Fire Survivors Mourn Amid Devastation in Peloponnese Stewart Daniel 2013 Storing up Problems Labour Storage and the Rural Peloponnese Internet Archaeology 34 doi 10 11141 ia 34 4 37 20 59 N 22 21 08 E 37 34972 N 22 35222 E 37 34972 22 35222 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peloponnese amp oldid 1193773876, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.