Palairos () is an ancient city and a modern town in

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania (, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Central Greece (geographic region), Central Greece and the administrative regions of Greece, ...

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 ...

. The modern village is also known locally by the name of Zaverda (Ζαβέρδα), in official use till 1928. Since the 2011 local government reform Palairos is part of the municipality

Aktio-Vonitsa Aktio–Vonitsa () is a municipality in the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of the West Greece region of Greece. Its seat is the town of Vonitsa Vonitsa () is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipali ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 205.843 km². The municipal unit was formed as the independent municipality ''Kekropia'' in 1994 from the former communities Palairos and Pogonia, and was expanded with the former communities Vatos, Plagia and Peratia as a part of the 1997

Kapodistrias reform Kapodistrias reform (, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman (Ioannis Kapodistrias), passed the Hellenic Parliamen ...

. The name of the municipal unit was changed to Palairos in 2004.

History

Palairos (, ) was a city of ancient Greece, situated in the southern part of the region of

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. The city, ruinous for centuries, is thought to have existed during the Mycenean period, since parts of the city walls appear to date back to 2000 B.C. The construction of the walls interchanges between the square-shaped and the polygonal system and the parts belong to different periods. It lies high in the mountains overlooking the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

and Lake Vourkaria. The city is thought to have had a population of over 10,000 people. During antiquity it was part of

Acarnania Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...

, according to the ''Theodorokoi'', situated on the west coast, on the

, which is placed by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

between

Leucas ''Leucas'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, first described by Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), Robert Brown in 1810. It contains over 200 species, widespread over much of Africa, and southern and eastern Asia (Iran, ...

and

Alyzia Alyzia () is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located on the central west coast of Aetolia-Acar ...

. In the first year of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

(431 BCE) Palairos was in alliance with the

Athenians 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 ...

; and when the latter people took the neighbouring town of Sollium, which was a Corinthian colony, they gave both it and its territory to the inhabitants of Palaerus.

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

, II, 30. At nearby

Actium Actium or Aktion () was a town on a promontory in ancient Acarnania at the entrance of the Ambraciot Gulf, off which Octavian gained his celebrated victory, the Battle of Actium, over Antony and Cleopatra, on September 2, 31 BC. History ...

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

were defeated in the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

by Octavius. According to tradition, the salt lake was the saviour of Cleopatra, who hid her ships there. The

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

on the eastern part of the yard is separated by a partition and is considered to be the most ancient part of the wall, probably from the Mycenean period. The ruins are close to the present-day town of Palairos.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania Aktio-Vonitsa

History

See also

References