Prastos ( el, Πραστός,
Tsakonian: Πραστέ) is a settlement in
Arcadia,
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 wit ...
. Formerly, Prastos was the premier town of the
Tsakonian region, but declined in importance after its devastation by
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha ( tr, Kavalalı İbrahim Paşa; ar, إبراهيم باشا ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Ottoman Albanian general in the Egyptian army and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised K ...
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. The Greeks were later 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, Prastos was the leading city of Tsakonia, and one of the richest in the
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 whi ...
. The inhabitants had special trading rights granted by the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The nam ...
, 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
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 ...
, the town was sacked by
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha ( tr, Kavalalı İbrahim Paşa; ar, إبراهيم باشا ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Ottoman Albanian general in the Egyptian army and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised K ...
and its olive groves burned, making the settlement unsuitable for habitation for decades hence. Much of the surviving population fled to
Leonidio and the
Argolid and could not be persuaded to return to the relatively less fertile mountains even after the olive groves had recovered.
[Costakis, p. 16]
See also
*
List of settlements in Arcadia
*
List of traditional settlements of Greece
Notes
Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese
Tsakonia
{{Peloponnese-geo-stub