Prastos (, Tsakonian: Πραστέ) is a settlement in 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 ...

. Formerly, Prastos was the premier town of the Tsakonian region, but declined in importance after its devastation by

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 ...

during 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. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

and a general economic migration to urban areas that occurred in the following decades. It is considered a traditional settlement.

History

During the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, Prastos was the leading city of Tsakonia, and one of the richest in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. The inhabitants had special trading rights granted by the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

, which contributed to the town's economic success. It was the seat of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, that of "Rheoi and Prastos." During the

, the town was sacked by

and its olive groves burned, making the settlement unsuitable for habitation for decades hence. Much of the surviving population fled to

Leonidio Leonidio (, Katharevousa: Λεωνίδιον, Tsakonian: Αγιελήδι) is a town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Kynouria, of which it i ...

and the

Argolid The regions of ancient Greece were sub-divisions of the Hellenic world as conceived by the ancient Greeks, shown by their presence in the works of ancient historians and geographers or in surviving legends and myths. Conceptually, there is no cl ...

and could not be persuaded to return to the relatively less fertile mountains even after the olive groves had recovered.Costakis, p. 16

Notes

Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese North Kynouria Tsakonia {{Peloponnese-geo-stub

History

See also

Notes