Voies ( el, Βοιές , feminine plural) is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in Laconia, Peloponnese,

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 ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Monemvasia Monemvasia ( el, Μονεμβασιά, Μονεμβασία, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected t ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 215.527 km². It is on the southern tip of

Cape Malea Cape Maleas (also ''Cape Malea''; el, Ακρωτήριον Μαλέας, colloquially Καβομαλιάς, ''Cavomaliás''), anciently Malea ( grc, Μαλέα) and Maleae or Maleai (Μαλέαι), is a peninsula and cape in the southeast of the ...

. It is a predominantly agricultural region with a few minor

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and one dominant town. ''Vatika'' is the common term for the area, but ''Voies'' is used in a more official context, particularly for postal situations. ''Voion'', the genitive, is used for description: for example, to differentiate the village of Agios Nikolaos in Voies from other villages and towns of the same name, one would use ''Agios Nikolaos Voion''. Neapoli is the administrative capital of the municipality, and is also the urban center to the numerous villages that surround the hinterland. In the Kato Kastania village of Voies is found the large and colorful Kastania Cave."Kastania Cave, Kato Kastania, Greece", ''Atlas Obscura''
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Geography

There is a single mountain range that runs through the center of the municipality dividing it into two parts, both an east and west section. Adjacent to the west coast of the region lies the island of Elafonisos. The island contains some of the oldest evidence of human inhabitance in the whole of the Peloponnese.

Historical population

History

The name of the region derives from the initial name of the town of ''Neapoli'', ''Boiai'' ( grc, Βοιαί), which is thought to have been founded in the second century BC. The feminine plural ending has evolved from -αί to -ες. The ancient writer

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

wrote that Boiai was founded "...by

Boios Boios (Βοῖος), Latinized Boeus, was a Greek grammarian and mythographer, remembered chiefly as the author of a lost work on the transformations of mythic figures into birds, his ''Ornithogonia'', which was translated into Latin by Aemilius M ...

, one of the

Heraclidae The Heracleidae (; grc, Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also ...

, who is supposed to have gathered the people from three cities: ''Etis'', ''

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small ancient Greek Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from the ...

'' and ''Side''".

Neapoli

Neapoli ( el, Νεάπολη meaning "new city") () is the largest town of the former municipality. It was initially an agricultural center, but now has seen a rise in the numbers of tourists (particularly visitors to the neighbouring island of Elafonisos). The commercial center of the town is located on the water front, facing Vatika Bay. There are ferries to the islands

Kythira Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...

and Elafonisos. The town is surrounded by the villages of Faraklo, Paradisi and Lachi in its hinterland, and Kambos located on the same plain as Neapoli. Neapoli has a kindergarten school, a school, a church and a square.

Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos ( el, Άγιος Νικολάος) () is a small village, south-east of Neapoli. It has a largely agricultural population; however, many inhabitants are employed in the shipping industries.

Places of interest

* Neapoli Villages: * Velanidia (Βελανίδια), a Byzantine village about 17 km from Neapoli, it includes several Byzantine churches. * Faraklo (Φάρακλο) * Lachi (Λάχι) - Site of the Ancient city named Itis. * Mesochori (Μεσοχώρι) - A village with Byzantine origins. * Agios Nikolaos (Άγιος Νικόλαος) - The Agricultural center for the Municipality. The original name of the village dating back in the 17th century was "Panagia" from a homonymous temple of Virgin Mary. Most of the inhabitants trace their ancestry from the Western parts of Crete that was occupied by the Ottomans in 1669 resulting to a wide refugee influx in the Vatica area. Moreover, people from the island of Kythera started populating the village from the early 19th century and onwards. Known families include "Nychas" family presumably indigenous since the 17th century, "Pavlakis" Cretan ancestry and "Michaletos" Venetian ancestry coming from Crete as well. The village has a strong diaspora concentrated in Australia and Pretoria -South Africa. * Paradeisi (Παραδέισι) * Ano Kastania (Ανό Καστανία) - The location of many Byzantine Churches and Monasteries. * Kato Kastania (Κάτο Καστανία) * Viglafia (Βιγκλάφια) * Elafonisos - A small island just 500 m of the coast of Vatika near Viglafia. * Pantanassa

References

External links

VisitVatika,gr, Complete guide of Vatika regionAgios Nikolaos Official WebsiteVelanidiaVatika (Greek, English)Photos from Vatika and Elafonissos
{{Authority control Populated places in Laconia Monemvasia