Stemnitsa ( el, Στεμνίτσα) is a mountain village in the municipal unit of

Trikolonoi Trikolonoi ( el, Τρικόλωνοι) is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 10 ...

, Arcadia,

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

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 Trikolonoi. Stemnitsa is a traditional settlement and is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Arcadia, due to its picturesque location and its historical churches and mansions.Description of Stemnitsa
It is situated at the western edge of the

Mainalo Mainalo ( el, Μαίναλο, grc, Μαίναλος or Μαίναλον, Mainalos or Mainalon; la, Maenalus) is the tallest mountain in the Menalon highlands of the Peloponnese, and is located in Arcadia, Greece. In antiquity, the mountain w ...

mountains, above the left bank of the river Lousios, at about 1050 m elevation. Stemnitsa is 6 km southeast of

Dimitsana Dimitsana ( el, Δημητσάνα) is a mountain village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The ...

, 9 km northeast of

Karytaina Karytaina or Karitaina ( el, Καρύταινα or Καρίταινα) is a village and a community in Arcadia, Greece. Karytaina is situated on a hill on the right bank of the river Alpheios, near its confluence with the Lousios. The village da ...

, 18 km northwest of Megalopoli and 26 km west of Tripoli. In 2011 Stemnitsa had a population of 191.

History and myths

Stemnitsa has been identified with the ancient Arcadian city Hypsous (). It was already ruined in the 2nd century AD, when it was visited by Pausanias. It was near

Thyraion Thyraeum or Thyraion ( grc, Θυραῖον) was a city in ancient Arcadia, Greece, in the district Cynuria. According to Greek mythology, Thyraeum was founded by Thyraeus, a son of Lycaon. It was already ruined in the 2nd century, when it was vis ...

(present

Pavlia Pavlia ( el, Παύλια) is a mountain village in the municipal unit of Trikolonoi, Arcadia, Greece. It is located at 700 m elevation on a mountain slope, overlooking the plain of Megalopoli. It is 2 km east of Palamari, 2 km west of Paliomiri, ...

Zoetia Zoetia or Zoitia ( grc, Ζοιτία), or Zoetea or Zoitea (Ζοιτέα), also known as Zoeteium or Zoiteion (Ζοίτειον), was a town of ancient Arcadia, Greece, in the region of Eutresia. According to Greek mythology, the settlement was fou ...

and Paroria. Hypsous was founded by a son of Lycaon. Pausanias ''Description of Greece'' 8.35 In the 7th and 8th century

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

settled in the Peloponnese. The name ''Stemnitsa'' has Slavic roots and means "woodland". After the fall of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in 1453 the Peloponnese was occupied by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. Due to its remote location Stemnitsa served as a relatively safe haven from the Ottomans, and it became a centre of Greek culture and religion. Many old churches from this period have been preserved. The church of Bafero was built in 1185 and the Zoodochos in 1433. The two larger churches are Ai-Giorgis and Agia Paraskevi. The first mention, some say, of the word Stemnitsa, was found in Ottoman taxation documents dated 1512-1515 where the number of families appeared to be about 120. This information was published by professor John Alexandropoulos. In the Grimani Venetian Census report Stemnitsa was shown as the most populous village in Gortynia with 925 people. Stemnitsa was a shelter for the Kolokotronis clan and other fighters of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

. After the revolution of March 25, 1821, from the end of May to mid of June 1821, it served as the first seat of the "Peloponissiaki Gerousia", the temporary government of the liberated Peloponnese. The Gerousia met at the monastery of Zoodochos Pigi. Stemnitsa was known for its gold- and silversmiths, as well as other crafts. Since the 1970s, there is a public funded gold and silver smithery school in Stemnista.

Sights

Stemnitsa has a folklore museum. It includes various exhibitions regarding the traditional way of Stemnitsa life in the past including how candles were made, a jeweler's workshop, a shoe repair shop and a copper tinning representation. It also houses an extensive selection of Byzantine icons, old costumes, copper- ware, guns and jewelry. An organization which is responsible for the beautification of Stemnitsa is the Cultural and Beautification Organization "Politistikos kai Exoraistikos Syllogos Stemnitsioton Ypsountas". This organization is also in charge of the local cultural center "The Nikoletopouleion" and of organizing a number of other events which take place during the year, mainly during the months of July and August. Seven kilometers from Stemnitsa, down by the ravine of the river Lousios one can find the monastery of St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

(Prodromos) built, according to some sources, around 1167, on the side of a rock face. It served as a center of faith and education for the enslaved Greeks during the Ottoman rule. About 200 yards below the monastery, is the river Lousios. Near the monastery are the excavations of an ancient hospital built in honor of the ancient Greek god of medicine,

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 represen ...

. The library of Stemnitsa used to have around 5,000 volumes until the

of 1821. It is now a monument and is located next to the square.

Population history

People

* Elias Gyftopoulos, Ford Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, MIT. *

Gennaios Kolokotronis Ioannis Kolokotronis ( el, Ιωάννης Κολοκοτρώνης; 1805–1868), or Gennaios Kolokotronis ( el, Γενναίος Κολοκοτρώνης) as he was nicknamed, was a Greek warrior of the Greek War of Independence, General and Prime ...

(1803-1868), Prime Minister of Greece. * Georgios Roilos (1867-1928), famous painter, among the first to introduce impressionism into Greek painting, Professor at the University of Athens (a teacher and mentor of

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly infl ...

). *

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras ( el, Αντώνης Σαμαράς, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as 14th Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras ...

, Prime Minister of Greece; President of the political party "New Democracy;" former minister of foreign affairs. * Dimitrios Thanopoulos, silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1984 Olympics.

References

External links