Selianitika ( el, Σελιανίτικα) is a coastal village in northern

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. T ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of

Sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' ( gr, συμπολιτεία, , joint citizenship), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, ...

. It is located 6 km northwest of

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipali ...

and 26 km east of Patras, at about 30m above sea level. The villages Selianitika and Longos (adjacent to the northwest) share a fine gravel beach on the

Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Ist ...

which is approximately 1.5 km long. Both villages are among the most popular summer destinations of

. The village had a population of 902 in 2011. The village is crossed by the

Greek National Road 8 Greek National Road 8 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 8, abbreviated as EO8, common name: old Athens-Patras national road) is a single carriageway with at-grade intersections in the Attica, Peloponnese and West Greece regions. It connects Athens with ...

and has an interchange to Athens-Corinth-Patras motorway. In the new (under construction) railway line Athens-Kiato-Patras there will be a railway stop south of the village.

Population

History

The name Selianitika is derived from the name of the village of

Seliana Seliana ( el, Σελιάνα) also known as Phelloe ( el, Φελλόη) is a village in the municipal unit of Aigeira, in the eastern part of Achaea, north Peloponnese, Greece. The village had a population of 52 in 2011. Aigeira is 10 km to ...

. According to historian A. Fotopoulos, the descent of inhabitants of Seliana from the mountains to the coastal region of "Kryovrysi" near

(where the village of Selianitika lies today) started to happen during the Ottoman period. Initially, the residents of Seliana were spending the winter in Selianitika and the summer in their village of

but later they settled permanently. The residents of Seliana carried with them the parish of Saint Basil (the oldest of Seliana's churches) and today

Saint Basil Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...

is the patron Saint of the village of Selianitika. The French historian, explorer and diplomat

François Pouqueville François Charles Hugues Laurent Pouqueville (; 4 November 1770 – 20 December 1838) was a French diplomat, writer, explorer, physician and historian, member of the Institut de France. First as the Turkish Sultan's hostage, then as Napoleon Bon ...

, who travelled through the area in 1816 does not mention Selianitika but mentions the small neighbouring village of Longos as the only being inhabited after he crossed the river of Phoenix (tholopotamos): "Une humble chapelle et le hameau de Longos sont les seuls lieux habités qu'on ait en vue du côté des montagnes". So probably the village was not yet built. In 1874 the researcher and chronicler

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria ( it, Luigi Salvatore Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Dominico Raineri Ferdinando Carlo Zenobio Antonino, german: Ludwig Salvator Maria Joseph Johann Baptist Dominicus Rainerius Ferdinand Carl Zenobius Antonin) ...

did a research trip by boat in the

and he wrote a detailed book with his observations for the landscape and the populated places of north Peloponnese. When he visited Selianitika he found two houses built beside the coast and around 50 stone-built houses with double-pitched roofs lying few meters away from the sea (where still lies still today the center of the village). He describes the church of

as having an unfinished roof and he mentions the roughly shaped plaster

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed ...

and the "stasidia" (church stalls of the greek orthodox church) inside the church. The village is described as having

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

s and plane trees. He also describes the existence of three water wells. In the population census of 1879 (one of the earliest official documents mentioning the village), it had a population of 110 residents.

Tourism

The village is one of the oldest tourist destinations in the region of Achaia. It was officially designated as a tourist site (τουριστικός τόπος) first by Royal decree 146/1961 in 1961 and later by Presidential decree 899/1976 in 1976. Selianitika has also mineral

springs Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

and a very small

balneological Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic eff ...

bath spa. The spring was officially designated as a healing spring by the Greek Government in 1923. These sulphurous baths are recommended for diseases like arthritis and rheumatisms.Thermal Mineral waters of Western Greece , page 36
(''Stratikopoulos K. - Master Thesis - Department of Geology - University of Patras - 2007'' (in Greek)) As of 2013 the mineral springs are not accessible to the public.

Gallery

File:Hagios Vasileios church Selianitika.jpg, The stone-built church of

in Selianitika (Summer 2018). File:Selianitika square beside the sea.jpg, Square beside the sea at the coastal front of Selianitika (Spring 2018) File:Medicinal_sulphurous_baths_of_Selianitika.JPG, Medicinal sulphurous baths of Selianitika File:Selianitika_beach_1.jpg, View of the fine gravel beach in the summer File:Selianitika_Longos_Panorama.jpg, Panoramic view of Selianitika and Longos from the nearby hills File:Selianitika_Iterchange_Olympia_Odos.jpg, Selianitika-Longos interchange, Motorway 8, Olympia Odos File:Ανω διαβαση σελιανιτίκων.jpg, Rail overpass in Selianitika. Part of the new (under construction) Railway line Athens-Patras (April 2018) File:Old railway stop selianitika.jpg, The former Selianitika railway station.(April 2018)

References

External links

Cultural association of Selianitika "Helios"
(In Greek)
Selianitika on GTP Travel Pages

Official website of the municipality of Sympoliteia
(in Greek)

Sources

*Αθ. Φωτόπουλος, "Ιστορικά και Λαογραφικά της Ανατολικής Αιγιάλειας και Καλαβρύτων", Αθήνα 1982 (In Greek) *K. Baedeker, "Griechenland - Handbuch fuer Reisende", Leipzig, 1893 (In German)