Avia ( el, Αβία, grc, ἡ Ἀβία) is a village and 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 ...

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

, 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

West Mani West Mani ( el, Δυτική Μάνη - ''Dytiki Mani'') is a municipality in the Messenia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Kardamyli Kardamili ( el, Καρδαμύλη, variously transliterated as ' ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 179.828 km². In 2011 its population was 281 for the village, 611 for the community and 2,246 for the municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was in Kampos. Avia is a popular tourist destination. It also has a large olive production. Avia is situated on the east coast of the Messenian Gulf, southeast of

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

, southwest 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 referre ...

and northwest of

Kardamyli Kardamili ( el, Καρδαμύλη, variously transliterated as ''Kardamyle'', ''Cardamyle'', ''Kardhamili'', and ''Kardamyli'', and sometimes called "Skardamoula", especially on old maps) is a town by the sea thirty-five kilometers southeast of ...

History

Ancient Abia

In the location where Paliochora is located today, the Homeric city of Ire (Ιρή) is supposed to have stood (''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' I 150 and I 292). The 2nd century traveller

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 ...

mentioned in his ''Description of Greece'' that the city Ire was renamed Abia by

Cresphontes In Greek mythology, Cresphontes (; grc, Κρεσφόντης) was a son of Aristomachus, husband of Merope, father of Aepytus and brother of Temenus and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and fin ...

, king of

Messene Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese. It is best known for the ...

, after

Abia Abia or ABIA may refer to: ABIA * Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Austin, Texas, United States * Australian Book Industry Awards, national literary and industry awards People * Abia (name) * Abia (mythology), the nursemaid of Glenus ...

, the nursemaid of his great-grandfather

Hyllus In Greek mythology, Hyllus (; Ancient Greek: Ὕλλος) or Hyllas (Ὕλᾱς) was son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia. Mythology Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Mes ...

, son of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

. Abia was disputed between the Messenians and the

ns. Abia became a member of the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

in 181 BCE. In the city was a temple of

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represe ...

. It continued to be a place of some importance down to the reign of Hadrian, as we learn from an extant inscription of that period. After Pausanias' time, Abia was not mentioned in sources. It was probably destroyed during barbarian invasions.

Later period

In the early 15th century, the Venetians built the castle of

Mantineia Mantineia (also Mantinea ; el, Μαντίνεια; also Koine Greek ''Antigoneia'') was a city in ancient Arcadia, Greece, which was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history. In modern times it is a former municipality in ...

at the location of the ancient city. It was the seat of the barony with the same name. Mantineia was abandoned by its inhabitants to escape pirate raids, and they settled in the inland village of

Megali Mantineia Megali Mantineia ( el, Μεγάλη Μαντίνεια) is a mountain settlement in the municipal unit of Avia, Messenia, Greece. In 2011, it had a population of 191. It sits at 200 m above sea level, 2 km southeast of Avia, 3 km south of Mikri M ...

. The ruined castle town received the name ''Palaiochora''. In 1775, the Church of the Dormition was built at the site of the temple of Asclepius. From the mid-19th century, the inhabitants of Megali Mantineia began to settle in the beach area again, in the settlements ''Palaiochora'', ''Archontiko'' and ''Kopanoi'' (the modern ''Akrogiali''). Palaiochora became the seat of the community of Megali Mantineia in 1924. In 1926 both the settlement Palaiochora and the community were renamed to Avia. In 1998, the community Avia merged with 7 other communities to form the new municipality Avia, with its seat in Kampos.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Avia is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *Avia (Avia, Akrogiali,

) * Altomira * Doloi (Ano Doloi, Kato Doloi, Kalianaiika, Kitries) * Kampos (Kampos, Orovas, Platoma, Toumpia) * Kentro (Kentro, Anatoliko, Chora Gaitson, Voreio) * Pigadia (Pigadia, Dendra, Krya Vrysi, Rizana) * Stavropigi (Stavropigi, Malta) * Sotirianika (Sotirianika, Charavgi, Drosopigi, Kouris)

Population

Points of interests

*Saint George Monastery on a panoramic location *Santava Cape *Beaches: Archontiko, Koukkinos, Lykotropia (Λυκοτροπία), Paliochora, Portela, Patsourou (Πατσούρου), Poliana (Πολιάνα), Akrogiali and Santava or Sandova (Σάντοβα)

People

* Alexandros Koumoundouros, Prime Minister of Greece

Sources

*Stavrou Kapetanaki ''I Mandinies tis Manis'' (''Οι Μαντίνειες της Μάνης'' = ''The Mantineies of Mani'') *

Theodoros Belitsos Theodoros or Theodorus ( el, Θεόδωρος) is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek ...

''Mantineia in 1700, Economy, Demographics and Onomatological Origins'' *Theodoros Belitsos ''The Marriage Book of Megali Mantineias near Avia (1869-1891)''

External links

Avia at the GTP Travel Pages

References

{{Avia Populated places in Messenia