Vytina
Encyclopedia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
, Peloponnese, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia
Gortynia
Gortynia is a municipality in the Arcadia peripheral unit, Peloponnese Periphery, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Dimitsana.-Municipality:...
, of which it is a municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was the village Vytina. Its inhabitants are known as Vytiniots. Greek National Road 74
Greek National Road 74
Greek National Road 74 is a highway linking Pyrgos, Olympia, Tripoli and GR-7/E65. The west to east highway runs in the western and the central part of the Peloponnese. The highway begins in Pyrgos and into the hills and Olympia and used to ran through narrow roads which now bypasses Pyrgos and...
(Tripoli - Pyrgos) passes through Vytina. It is located E of Pyrgos, approx. 145 km SE of Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
, NE of Megalopoli
Megalopolis, Greece
Megalópoli is a town in the western part of the peripheral unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis . "Megalopolis" is a Greek word for Great city. When it was founded, in 371 BC, it was the first urbanization in rustic and primitive Arcadia. In...
and Dimitsana
Dimitsana
Dimitsana is a village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is built on the ruins of the ancient town Teuthis...
and W of Levidi
Levidi
Levidi is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The village sits on the eastern part of the slope of the Mainalo mountains. The pine forests are...
and NW of Tripoli
Tripoli, Greece
Tripoli is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in the central part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. It is the capital of the prefecture of Arcadia and the centre of the municipality of Tripolis, pop...
.
The village is located on the slopes of the mountain range Mainalo
Mainalo
The Mainalo , is a mountain range that spans about 15 to 20 from north to south and from east to west from 5 to 10 km...
. Another mountain range is founded in the west and another to the north across the valley. Much of the municipal unit is forested. The area produces marble, a variation called the Black of Vytina.
Subdivisions
The municipal unit Vytina is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):- Elati
- Kamenitsa (Kamenitsa, Karvouni)
- Lasta (Lasta, Agridaki)
- MagoulianaMagoulianaMagouliana is a settlement and an ancient city in the municipal unit of Vytina, Arcadia, Greece. As of 2001, it had a population of 238 for the village and 256 for the municipal district. It sits at 1,365 m above sea level.-Settlements:...
(Magouliana, Pan) - Nymfasia
- Pyrgaki (Pyrgaki, MethydrioMethydrioMethydrio is a settlement and an ancient city in the municipality of Vytina, Arcadia, Greece. As of 2001, it had a population of 14 for the settlement and sits at 1,060 m above sea level...
) - Vytina (Vytina, Moni Panagias Kernitsis)
Population history
| Year | Village | Municipal district | Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 876 | - | - |
| 1991 | 824 | - | 1,993 |
| 2001 | 885 | 999 | 2,012 |
History
Vytina was founded in the ancient times as Methydrion (Μεθύδριο Methydrio, Methidrio and Methidrion). In the area featured DemeterDemeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, the rubbles of the temple in which survives by the entrance to Magouliana
Magouliana
Magouliana is a settlement and an ancient city in the municipal unit of Vytina, Arcadia, Greece. As of 2001, it had a population of 238 for the village and 256 for the municipal district. It sits at 1,365 m above sea level.-Settlements:...
near Petrovouni. Methydrio was under the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and later the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
rule. It later became Vytina and fell into Frankish
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
rule, it was later became a part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the mid-15th century with a short Venetian rule in the early years and from the 1680s to the early-18th century. Vytina did not became Greek until the Greek Revolution
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
in 1821, Vytina had a supply, the city played a great role during the middle of the war and fought many times against Ibrahim.
Vytina's population remained stable and its residents were poor, it had a great agricultural economy until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
The village used to have a large population before the beginning of the 20th century. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
, the population began to decline as residents moved to larger towns and cities and outside of Greece. One exception was that the population remained steady between 1981 and 2001.
Persons
The father of the historian Constantine Paparrigopoulos, Dimitrios Paparrigopoulos was born in Vytina. Other important Vitiniots include the jurist Vasileios Oikonomidis, the provost marshal Ioannis Dimakopoulos and Kollias Vytiniotis.External links
| North: Kleitor Kleitor Kleitor is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 2,584 as of 2001... |
||
| West: Lagkadia Lagkadia, Arcadia Lagkadia , is a village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The village is connected by GR-74... |
Vytina | East: Levidi Levidi Levidi is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The village sits on the eastern part of the slope of the Mainalo mountains. The pine forests are... |
| South: Dimitsana Dimitsana Dimitsana is a village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is built on the ruins of the ancient town Teuthis... |