Alifeira () is a mountain village and a former

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

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

West Greece Western Greece Region (, ) is one of the thirteen Modern regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of Central Greece (geographic region), continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese pen ...

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 ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andritsaina-Krestena, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 96.678 km². The seat of the municipality was in the village of

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek language, Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a suburb in Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration and a municipality in South Athens (regional unit), south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth larges ...

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Alifeira is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *Alifeira (Alifeira, Pefki) * Amygdalies (Amygdalies, Kato Amygdalies, Keramidi, Krana) *

(Kallithea, Barakitika) * Livadaki (Livadaki, Ptelea, Raptis) * Myronia (Myronia, Sylimna, Agios Vlasis, Klima, Rama) * Vresto (Vresto, Longo)

Geography

Alifeira is situated in a mountainous and forested area, with many deep river valleys. The river

Alfeios The Alpheios (, , Latin Alpheus), sometimes spelled Alfeiós, is the main stream of the Alpheios Valley drainage system, a dendritic type, originating on the north slopes of Mount Taygetus, located in the center of the Peloponnesus of Greece, a ...

forms the northern border of the municipal unit. It is about 10 km northwest of Andritsaina, 20 km southeast of

Krestena Krestena () is a town and a community in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andritsaina-Krestena, of which it is the seat of administration. Krestena is situated in the low hills betwe ...

, 40 km southeast of Pyrgos and 50 km west of Tripoli. The Greek National Road 76 (Krestena -

Karytaina Karytaina or Karitaina () 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 dates back to the Middle Ages, but its history ...

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 ...

) runs through the municipal unit.

History

The ancient Arcadian town Aliphera was located in the

Parrhasia In rhetoric, parrhesia () is candid speech, speaking freely. It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk. Etymology The earliest recorded use of the term ''parrhesia'' i ...

country, 40 stadia (about 8 km) from ancient Heraea. It took part in the colonization of

Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

in 371 BC and was member of the

Arcadian League The Arcadian League () was a league of city-states in ancient Greece. It combined the various cities of Arcadia, in the Peloponnese, into a single state. The league was founded in 370 BC, taking advantage of the decreased power of Sparta, which ...

. The name originates from ''Alipheros'', son of Lycaon. In the city there were sanctuaries of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

and

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

.'' Pausanias'' ''Description of Greece'' 8.26 In 224 BC Lydiades, tyrant of Megalopolis, gave the town to the Eleans. It was taken by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

in 219 BC after a long siege, and later it joined the

Achaean League The Achaean League () was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era confederation of polis, Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea (ancient region), Achaea in the northwestern Pelopon ...

and minted its own currency.Αρχαίες πόλεις πέριξ της Ολυμπίας = ''Ancient Cities Other Than Olympia'', Vasilis Taktikos, Athanasios Kourmatzi, Vasiliki Taktikou, Anadrasi

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

2002 Later, the city was subject to the Romans. The first excavations were done by Anastasios Orlandos in 1932. In the ancient city the temples of Athena and Asclepius, the acropolis, the cemetery wall and some buildings have been found.

Historical population

References

{{Andritsaina-Krestena div Populated places in Elis Andritsaina-Krestena

Subdivisions

Geography

History

Historical population

See also

References