Misplaced Pages

#272727

85-519: It includes the southern part of the Greek mainland (sans the Peloponnese ), as well as the offshore island of Euboea . Since 1987, its territory has been divided among the administrative regions of Central Greece and Attica , and the regional unit (former prefecture ) of Aetolia-Acarnania in the administrative region of Western Greece . The region has traditionally been known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη),

170-497: 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

255-539: 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. The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by

340-733: A name deriving from the Turkish word Rūm-eli , meaning "the land of the Rūm [the Romans, i.e. the Byzantine Greeks ]" and originally encompassing all of the Ottoman Empire 's European possessions. The official name Stereá Elláda ("Continental" or "Mainland" Greece), derives from the juxtaposition with the Peloponnese peninsula across the Corinthian Gulf , and the fact that these two territories formed

425-566: A personal fief of the Villehardouins. 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. Frankish supremacy in

510-659: 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

595-505: 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. 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

680-501: 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. 37°20′59″N 22°21′08″E  /  37.34972°N 22.35222°E  / 37.34972; 22.35222 Morea Morea ( Greek : Μορέας or Μωριάς ) was the name of

765-726: 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. The peninsula

850-480: Is divided among three administrative regions : most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. 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

935-476: Is first recorded in the 10th century in the Byzantine chronicles. Traditionally, scholars thought the name to have originated from the word morea (μορέα), meaning morus or mulberry , a tree which, though known in the region from the ancient times, gained value after the 6th century, when mulberry-eating silkworms were smuggled from China to Byzantium. The British Byzantinist Steven Runciman suggested that

SECTION 10

#1732856049273

1020-502: Is headed by a city. The largest city is Patras (pop. 170,000) in Achaia, followed by Kalamata (pop. 55,000) in Messenia. 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 ). Rainfall is higher in the west coasts, while the east of

1105-614: 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. Many Slavs were transported to Asia Minor , and many Asian, Sicilian and Calabrian Greeks were resettled in the Peloponnese. By the turn of

1190-661: The Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period . The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea , by the Ottoman Empire for the Morea Eyalet , and later by the Republic of Venice for the short-lived Kingdom of the Morea . There is some uncertainty over the origin of the medieval name "Morea", which

1275-1152: The Acheloos in Aetolia-Acarnania , which is the second longest of the country, the Spercheios in Phthiotis , the Evenus in Aetolia-Acarnania, and the Mornos in Phocis . The principal cities of the region of Central Greece according to the census of 2001 are: Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( / ˌ p ɛ l ə p ə ˈ n iː z , - ˈ n iː s / PEL -ə-pə- NEEZ , -⁠ NEESS ), Peloponnesus ( / ˌ p ɛ l ə p ə ˈ n iː s ə s / PEL -ə-pə- NEE -səs ; Greek : Πελοπόννησος , romanized :  Pelopónnēsos , IPA: [peloˈponisos] ) or Morea ( Medieval Greek : Μωρέας , romanized :  Mōrèas ; Greek: Μωριάς , romanized:  Mōriàs )

1360-698: The Aegean Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the west and the Corinthian Gulf to the south. Its climate is temperate along its coastlines, and dry in the interior. The region is one of the most mountainous in Greece, having some of the highest elevations in the country. Central Greece also has some of the largest lakes in Greece; among the most important is Mornos lake in Phocis , which supplies water to Phocis, parts of Phthiotis , Boeotia , and Athens as well. Some important and well-known rivers of Central Greece are

1445-514: 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, although extensive lowlands are also found in the west, in

1530-747: The Evrotas Valley in the south, and in the Argolid Peninsula in the northeast. 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

1615-482: The Isthmus of Corinth . 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

1700-623: 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 . Shortly after 1260, a thirteenth barony, that of Arcadia (modern Kyparissia ) was established, which was also

1785-626: 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. 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

SECTION 20

#1732856049273

1870-593: 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

1955-628: The Roman period , the peninsula remained prosperous but became a provincial backwater, relatively cut off from the affairs of the wider Roman world . 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. Through most of late antiquity ,

2040-513: The klephts ' activities. 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). 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

2125-669: The klephts emerged, undeterred by the brutal repression of the Orlov revolt . They waged guerrilla war against the Turks, aided both by the decay of Ottoman power and the emergence of Greek national consciousness. Ultimately, the Morea and its inhabitants provided the cradle and backbone of the Greek Revolution . The anonymous 14th century Chronicle of the Morea relates events of the Franks ' establishment of feudalism in mainland Greece following

2210-498: 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. Subsequent despots were the sons of the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos , brother of

2295-520: The 9th century, the entire Peloponnese was formed into the new thema of Peloponnesos , with its capital at Corinth. 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. By

2380-727: The Fourth Crusade. Despite its unreliability about historical events, the Chronicle is famous for its lively portrayal of life in the feudal community. The language in Greek versions is notable as it reflects the rapid transition from Medieval to Modern Greek. The original language of the Chronicle is disputed, but recent scholarship prefers the Greek version in MS Havniensis 57 (14th–15th century, in Copenhagen ). Other manuscripts include

2465-639: 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. 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. Apart from

2550-501: 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

2635-523: 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. The Peloponnese suffered more than any other Greek inhabited area by irregular Albanian gangs during

Central Greece (geographic region) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-602: 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. 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

2805-523: 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

2890-437: 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. The first attempt by the Byzantine imperial government to re-assert its control over

2975-405: 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. 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

3060-405: 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. Subsequently, a French expeditionary corps cleared the last Turko-Egyptian forces from the peninsula in 1828. The city of Nafplion, on

3145-408: 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 , when Slavs may have been allowed to settle in specific areas that had been depopulated. Relations between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from intermittent uprisings. There was also a continuity of

3230-420: The coast such as Navarino and Coron , which they retained into the 15th century. 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. In 1208, William I founded

3315-589: The decades following. In Patras nearly no one was left alive after the Turkish-Albanian invasion. 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. 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

3400-416: 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

3485-441: 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

Central Greece (geographic region) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-406: 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. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region became relatively poor and economically isolated. A significant part of its population emigrated to

3655-580: 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

3740-448: 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. 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 ,

3825-426: The end of the 9th century, the Peloponnese was culturally and administratively Greek again, 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. Even the Melingoi and Ezeritai, however, could speak Greek and appear to have been Christian. The success of

3910-419: 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. From 1349 until its surrender to

3995-422: The entire peninsula failed in the battles of Prinitza and Makryplagi , and the Byzantines and Franks settled to an uneasy coexistence. In the mid-14th century, the later Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos reorganized Morea into the Despotate of the Morea . Sons of the emperor with the rank of despotes were usually sent to rule the province as an appanage . By 1430, the Byzantines eventually recovered

4080-417: 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 klepht s, armed brigands and rebels, in the mountains, as well as the corresponding institution of the government-funded armatoloi to check

4165-455: 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

4250-406: The fortresses. 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 . 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

4335-421: The groundwork for the Greek War of Independence . 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

SECTION 50

#1732856049273

4420-415: The independent First Hellenic Republic after the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829). Central Greece is the most populous geographical region of Greece, with a population of 4,591,568 people, and covers an area of 24,818.3 km (9,582.4 sq mi), making it the second-largest of the country. It is located to the north of the Peloponnese and to the south of Thessaly and Epirus , bordering

4505-422: 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. From the mid-9th century, following a Slavic revolt and attack on Patras , a determined Hellenization process was carried out. According to

4590-430: 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. 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

4675-402: 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

4760-526: 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

4845-405: The last Venetian possessions on the Greek mainland were lost. 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

4930-437: 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

5015-438: The mid-15th century, they formed a substantial part of the population of the Peloponnesus. Military sources of the era (1425) report about 30,000 Albanian men who could carry arms in the Peloponnese. The Greeks tended to live in large villages and cities, while Albanians in small villages. Following Ottoman conquest, many Albanians fled to Italy, settling primarily in nowadays Arbereshe villages of Calabria and Sicily . On

5100-454: The mid-17th century, the Morea became the centre of a separate eyalet , with Patras ( Ballibadra ) as its capital. Until the death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1570, the Christian population (counted at some 42,000 families c. 1550 ) 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

5185-465: The migration and settlement of Christian Albanians to parts of Central Greece and the Peloponnese, a group that eventually became known as the Arvanites 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. One of

SECTION 60

#1732856049273

5270-406: 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. Only the Venetian fortresses of Modon , Coron , Navarino , Monemvasia , Argos and Nauplion escaped Ottoman control. The same period was also marked by

5355-447: The name "Morea". The most important prince in the Morea was Guillaume II de Villehardouin (1246–1278), who fortified Mistra (Mystras) near the site of Sparta in 1249. After losing the Battle of Pelagonia (1259) against the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus , Guillaume was forced to ransom himself by giving up most of the eastern part of Morea and his newly built strongholds. An initial Byzantine drive to reconquer

5440-409: The name comes "from the likeness of its shape to that of a mulberry leaf". After the conquest of Constantinople by the forces of the Fourth Crusade (1204), two groups of Franks undertook the occupation of the Morea. They created the Principality of Achaea , a largely Greek-inhabited statelet ruled by a Latin (Western) autocrat. In referring to the Peloponnese, they followed local practice and used

5525-412: 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

5610-544: 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. 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

5695-426: 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). The Peloponnese, with its indented coasts, 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

5780-418: 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. 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 ,

5865-530: The peninsula is significantly drier. Average annual temperatures can reach up to 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) while summer highs reach over 36.0 °C (96.8 °F) in Sparta , within the Evrotas Valley . On 27 June 2007, Monemvasia registered a staggering minimum temperature of 35.9°C, which is the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in mainland Greece and Continental Europe . The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times . Its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology , specifically

5950-449: 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 in Constantinople, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Athens. This has traditionally been attributed to calamities such as plague, earthquakes and Slavic invasions. However, more recent analysis suggests that urban decline

6035-506: 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. 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 . While traditional historiography has dated

6120-509: 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. The handover

6205-407: The population. Nevertheless, attacks by Muslim Albanian mercenaries in the region continued not only against the Greek population but also against Turks. 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, and eventually drive them out from Peloponnese. As a result of

6290-543: The pre-1770 population. 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. 1770-1779 was a prolonged period of devastation and atrocities committed by Albanian irregulars in the Peloponnese. In 1774 the Russo-Turkish War ended with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca which granted general amnesty to

6375-406: 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. As during the first Ottoman period, the Morea was divided into 22 districts or beyliks . The capital was first at Nauplion, but after 1786 at Tripolitza (Tr. Trabliçe ). The Greeks of

6460-620: The region are still unknown. It is thought to be one of the largest environmental disasters in modern Greek history. The principal modern cities of the Peloponnese are (2011 census): 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 Specialities of the region: Several notable Peloponnese wines have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The Mantineia region makes

6545-468: The remainder of the Frankish part of the Morea, but in 1460 the peninsula was almost completely overrun and conquered by the Ottoman Empire . In these conquests, the coastal and port cities remained in the hands of the Venetians such as Monemvasia , Lepanto , Modon , Koron , but these places were captured during the reigns of Bayezid II and Süleyman I . In July 1461, the last holdout, Salmeniko Castle ,

6630-568: The resistance activities. 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

6715-557: 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

6800-488: The total population. 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

6885-463: 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. 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. In 1205, following

6970-512: Was closely linked with the collapse of long-distance and regional commercial networks that underpinned and supported late antique urbanism in Greece, as well as with the generalized withdrawal of imperial troops and administration from the Balkans. 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. The Slavs did occupy most of

7055-624: 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

7140-440: 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. 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

7225-463: Was taken. The peninsula was captured for the Republic of Venice by Francesco Morosini during the Morean War of 1684–99. Venetian rule proved unpopular, and the Ottomans recaptured the Morea in a lightning campaign in 1714. Under renewed Ottoman rule, centered at Tripolitsa , the region enjoyed relative prosperity. The latter 18th century was marked by renewed dissatisfaction. Armed bands of

#272727