Sellasia ( el, Σελλασία, before 1929: Βρουλιά - ''Vroulia''Name changes of settlements in Greece
/ref>) is a village in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word '' laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. It was the seat of the former municipality

Oinountas Oinountas ( el, Οινούντας) is a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sparti, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 301. ...

. Since 2011, it is part of the municipality of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

. Sellasia is situated on the edge of the

Eurotas In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρώτας) was a king of Laconia. Family Eurotas was the son of King Myles of Laconia and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. The '' Bibliotheca'' gave a slight variant of ...

valley, 10 km north of Sparta. The

Greek National Road 39 Greek National Road 39 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 39, EO39) is a national highway of Greece. It connects Tripoli with Gytheio via Sparti. It is connected with the Greek National Road 7 (Corinth - Kalamata) in Tripoli, with the Moreas Motorway (Co ...

(Sparta - Tripoli) passes east of the village. Sellasia is known for the cultivation of olives.

History

Sellasia was named after the ancient town ''Vroulia'', which controlled the entrance to Sparta from the north. It was the site of the 222 BC

Battle of Sellasia A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

between the

ns under

Cleomenes III Cleomenes III ( grc, Κλεομένης) was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state. From 229 to ...

and the

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...

ian/ Achaean coalition under

Antigonus III Doson Antigonus III Doson ( el, Ἀντίγονος Γ΄ Δώσων, 263–221 BC) was king of Macedon from 229 BC to 221 BC. He was a member of the Antigonid dynasty. Family background Antigonus III Doson was a half-cousin of his predecessor, Demetr ...

. Afterwards, Sellasia was destroyed and the population was sold as slaves.

People

Sellasia is the birthplace of

Pavlos Pavlos () or Pávlos () is a masculine given name. It is a Greek form of Paul. It may refer to: * Pavlos Bakoyannis (1935–1989), a liberal Greek politician *Pavlos Carrer (1829–1896), a Greek composer * Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece ( ...

and Thanasis Giannakopoulos, owners of pharmaceutical company Vianex and former owners of Panathinaikos A.O. sports club. It is the ancestral place of origin for both the families of tennis player

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

and professional wrestler Elias Markopoulos.

Historical population

References

{{Peloponnese-geo-stub Populated places in Laconia Geography of ancient Laconia