
Peloponnese, traffic lines 2007
The
Peloponnese or Peloponnesus ( ;
see also List of Greek place
names) is a large peninsula and
region in southern Greece
, forming the
part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth
. The peninsula is divided among three distinct
peripheries of modern Greece:
most of the Peloponnese
and parts of the West
Greece and Attica
peripheries.
Prefectures

Early summer seen from space
Geography
The Peloponnese covers an area of some 21,549 km² (8,320
square miles) and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland
Greece.
While technically it may be considered an
island since the construction of the Corinth Canal
in 1893 - like other peninsulas that have been
separated from their mainland by man-made bodies of waters - it is
rarely, if ever, referred to as an "island". It has two land
connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of
Corinth
and an artificial one in the shape of the Rio-Antirio
bridge
(completed 2004).
The
peninsula has a mountainous interior and deeply indented coasts,
with Mount Taygetus
its highest point. It possesses four
south-pointing peninsulas, Messenia
, the Mani Peninsula,
Cape
Malea
(also known as Epidaurus Limera), and the Argolid
in the far northeast of the
Peloponnese.
Two
groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesan coast: the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east and
the Ionian
Islands
to the west. The island of Kythira
, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of
the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian
Islands.
History
The peninsula has been inhabited since
prehistoric times. Its modern name derives from
ancient
Greek mythology,
specifically the legend of the hero
Pelops
who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name
Peloponnesos means "Island of Pelops". During the
Middle Ages, the peninsula was known as the
Morea. According to folk etymology,
this is because the
Crusaders found it
densely planted with
mulberry trees (Greek:
moreai) used by the flourishing
silk
industry.
Mainland
Greece's (and Europe's) first major civilization, the Aegean civilization, dominated the
Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from the
stronghold at Mycenae
in the north-east of the peninsula. During
classical antiquity, the
Peloponnese was at the heart of the affairs of
ancient Greece, possessed some of its most
powerful city-states and saw some of its bloodiest battles.
It was
the site of the cities of Sparta
, Corinth
, Argos
and Megalopolis
, and was the homeland of the Peloponnesian League. The
peninsula was involved in the
Persian
Wars and was the scene of the
Peloponnesian War of 431 BC-404 BC. It
fell to the expanding
Roman Republic
in 146 BC and became the province of
Achaea.
The
Peloponnese was subsequently ruled by the Byzantine Empire (but some areas were under
Slavic rule between 618-805), until the
Fourth Crusade in 1204, when it was
lost to the Venetians
and Franks.
The
Franks founded the Principality
of Achaea in the northern half of the peninsula in 1205, while
the Venetians occupied a number of ports around the coast such as
Monemvasia
(Benefşe for Ottomans), Pylos
and Koroni
, which they
retained into the 15th century. The Byzantines
regained control of the southeastern part of the peninsula, centred
at the fortified hill town of Mystras
near Sparta. From there, the Greek
Despotate of Morea staged a revival from
the mid-13th century through to the mid-15th century, until the
Ottoman Turks overran the Peloponnese
between 1458–1460. The Venetians occupied the peninsula between
1685–1715, after the successful
Morean
War (1684-1699) but Ottoman control was reestablished in 1715.
Morea was
a sanjak of Rumelia Province and her center was Gördes
between
1458–1687. Morea was divided to 4 provinces: Romania
(Centre: Anaboli
), Laconia (Centre: Malvazya
), Mezonia
(Centre: Navarin
) and Akhaia (Centre: Balyabarda
) during Venetian rule. Ottoman established
Province of Morea in 1715.
The province divided to sanjaks of Gördes,
Mizistre
, Ayamavra
, Karliili (Centre was
Preveze
and bounded to the province between 1715–1717 and
1800-1821), İnebahtı
, Balyabarda and Manya.
Centre of
the Province at first Gördes, after Lontari and Anaboli, at last
Trabliçe
. Throughout the 18th century, Ottoman
authority remained relatively solid and opposed only by rebellions
in the
Mani Peninsula, the
southernmost part of the Peloponnese, and the activities of the
bands of the
klephts. The Russian-instigated
Orlov Revolt of 1770 temporarily
threatened Ottoman rule, but was quickly and brutally
subdued.
The
Peloponnesians played a major role in the Greek War of Independence – the
war actually began in the Peloponnese, when rebels took control of
Kalamata
on March 23, 1821. The decisive naval
Battle of
Navarino
was fought off Pylos on the west coast of the
Peloponnese, and the city of Napoli di Romania or Nafplion or Mora Yenişehri
on the east coast became the seat of independent
Greece's first parliament.
During the 19th and 20th century, 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 have improved dramatically
throughout Greece since then, especially after the country's
accession to the
European Union in
1981.
The
rural Peloponnese is renowned for being amongst the most
traditionalist and conservative regions
of Greece and is a stronghold of the right-wing New Democracy party, while the larger
urban centres like Kalamata
and especially Patra
are bastions
of the centre-left Panhellenic Socialist
Movement. Villages still continue to see a population
decline due the lack of economic opportunities, industrial farming,
and the aging population.

The 2007 forest fires as seen from
space; the north Peloponnese was burnt in 2000
In late August 2007, large parts of Peloponnese
suffered from wildfires, which
caused severe damage in villages, 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 the largest
environmental disaster in modern Greek history.
Cities
The principal modern cities of the Peloponnese are (2001
census):
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/449351/Peloponnese
Archaeological sites
The Peloponnese possesses many important archaeological sites
dating from the Bronze Age through to the Middle Ages. Among the
most notable are:
See also
Notes
External links