Arcadia prefecture

Arcadia or Arkadía (Greek Αρκαδία) is a region of Greece in Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas.

Modern Arcadia

Arcadia's has its present-day capital at Tripolis. It forms the largest prefecture on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It currently covers about 18% of the entire peninsula, although it once extended to about 20 to 25% of the peninsula.

The prefecture has a skiing resort on Mount Maenalus, the Mainalon, located about 20 km NW of Tripoli. The other mountains include the Parnon in the southeast, the Saita, the Skiathio, the Lykaia and Tsiberou.

The Greece Interstate 7 (E65) freeway, which was extended after 1997 and in 2003, runs through Arcadia on a north-west to south-east axis and nearly forms in the southwest the end of the freeway. A nuclear and coal power station which produces electricity for most of southern Greece, operates to the south of Megalopolis, along with a coal mine.

Arcadia has two tunnels. The Artemisio Tunnel opened first, followed by the tunnel east of Megalopolis; both serve traffic flowing between Messinia prefecture and Athens.

The chief cities and communities in the prefecture include Tripolis, Astros, Vytina, Dimitsana, Langadia, Leonidio, Leontari, Levidi, Megalopolis and Stemnitsa.

In agriculture, potato farms, mixed farming, olive groves, and pasture dominate the plains of Arcadia, especially in the area around Megalopolis and between Tripolis and Levidi.

Persons

Ancient Olympic victors:
- Androsthenes of Maenalus, won gold in 420 and 416 BC
- Euthymenes of Maenalus, won gold in 400 and 392 BC
Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770 - 1843), a general in the Greek War of Independence (1821 - 1832), lived in Arcadia.
Gennaios Kolokotronis, son of Theodoros, was born in Stemnitsa.
Dimitris Plapoutas, revolutionary, was born in Paloumba
Anagnostaras, revolutionary, was born in Agrilos
Patriarch Gregory V was born in Dimitsana
Bishop Germanos of Patra was born in Dimitsana
Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos, Olympic athlete, was born in Gortynia
Kostas Karyotakis (October 30, 1896 – July 20, 1928 in Preveza)
Alexandros Papanastasiou, politician and PM, was born in Levidi
Georgios Stanotas, general, was born in Kastanitsa
Nikos Ploumbidis, communist official, was born in Langadia
Konstantinos Georgakopoulos, Prime Minister, was born in Tripolis
Mimis Fotopoulos, actor, (April 1913 in Zatouna Gortynias - 1986 in Athens)
Grigoris Lambrakis, athlete/politician, was born in Tegea
Babis Tsertos, singer, was born in Tropea

Climate

Its climate has hot summers and mild winters in the eastern part, the southern part, the low lying areas and the central part ald area lower than 1,000 m. The area mainly receives rain during summer and winter months for most of the time in the rest of Arcadia. Winter [snow?] occurs commonly in the mountainous areas for much of the west and the northern part, the Taygetus area, the Mainalon.

History

In the 20th century, Arcadia experienced extensive population loss through emigration, mostly to the Americas. Many Arcadian villages lost almost half their inhabitants, and fears arose that they would turn into ghost towns. Arcadia now has a smaller population than Corinthia. Demographers expected that its population would halve between 1951 and the early 21st century.

In the mid to late 20th century a power plant began operating.

Population

1951: 154,361 (density: 34.93/km²)
1961: 134,950
1971: 111,263 (density: 23.5/km²)
1991: 103,840
2001: 102,025

Transportation

Communications

Television

Arkadiki Radiophonio Teleorassi - ART

Provinces

Arcadia has 4 provinces:

Municipalities

Municipality	YPES code	Seat	Postal code
Dimitsana	0506	Dimitsana	220 07
Falanthos	0523	Davia	221 00
Falaisia	0522	Leontari	220 21
Gortynia	0505	Karytaina	220 22
Irea	0507	Paloumpa	220 28
Klitoros	0508	Amygdala	220 14
Kontovazena	0509	Kontovazena	220 15
Korynthos	0510	Korynthos	221 00
Lagadia	0512	Langadia	220 03
Leonidio	0514	Leonidio	223 00
Levidi	0513	Levidi	220 02
Mantineia	0515	Nestani	220 05
Megalopolis	0516	Megalopolis	222 00
Skyritida	0517	Vlachokerasea	220 16
Tegea	0518	Stadio	220 12
Trikolones	0519	Stemnitsa	220 24
Tripolis	0520	Tripolis	221 00
Tyros (formerly Apollonas)	0501	Tyros	220 29
Tropaia	0521	Tropaia	220 08
Valtesi	0502	Kato Asea	220 27
North Kynouria	0503	Astros	220 01
Vytina	0504	Vytina	220 10

This exludes the independent commune of Kosmas (municipal code: 0511, postal code: 230 58) where the seat is Geraki.

For more communities, see Communities of Arcadia

External links