Akovos () is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Falaisia, southwestern Arcadia,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is situated in the foothills of the

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus () is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet Elias" (Elijah). The name is o ...

mountains. Its nearest villages are

Dyrrachio Dyrrachio () is a mountain village in the municipal unit of Falaisia, southwestern Arcadia, Greece. It is considered a traditional settlement and is situated at an altitude of in the Taygetos mountains of the Peloponnese. It is 3 km west ...

and Leptini. It is west of Dyrrachio, 4 km northeast of Poliani (

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) 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 prefecture (''nomos' ...

), south of Leontari and south of

Megalopoli Megalopoli () is a town in the southwestern part of the regional unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis ( literally ''large/great city''). When it was founded in 371 BCE, it was the first large urba ...

. The community includes the village Goupata.

History

Peytier - Kololotronis and his personal escort

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

married and settled for several years in Akovos. In 1825, he fought a battle nearby in the village of Drampala against

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt Ibrahim Pasha ( ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Egyptian general and politician; he was the commander of both the Egyptian and Ottoman armies and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman Wāli and unrecognized Khedi ...

. While waiting in Akovos for Ibrahim's forces, Kolokotronis vowed with the villagers that he would build a larger church, and he carved his initials into a stone of the Agia Sotira church. The anniversary of the battle is celebrated by the town on the day of the

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

. , his home is the village's Cultural Centre.

Overview

In keeping with its name for water, the village has a number of water fountains, one of which is named "Neraidovrysi".

Population

Goupata

Part of the Akovos community, Goupata is a small settlement of less than 50 people near the village of Kamara and the Kato Gianei settlement. It is about north of the center of Akovos.

Religion

One of the churches in Akovos is Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, a

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

church. There are many chapels in the village and they hold celebrations throughout the years. A festival is held on St. George's Day, due to the historic tradition of Kourbani. It was started in the village by Kolokotroni's father-in-law, who offered a calf each year to St. George. Now, only visitors have right to the food from a donated calf. There are also festivals on the day of the Pentecost in an Agia Triada. Festivals are also held at the church of Virgin Mary and Agia Paraskevi. Another chapel is Agia Solomoni.

People from Akovos

Maria Menounos Maria Menounos ( ; ; born June 8, 1978) is an American and Greek television host. She has hosted ''Extra'' and ''E! News''; she was a TV correspondent for '' Today'', ''Access Hollywood'', and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athen ...

' father, Costas Menounos * Sotirios Christopoulos

References

External links

Akovos
(official site - Greek)

(Greek)

(Greek) {{Falaisia Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese Megalopolis, Greece Falaisia