Place:Elis, West Greece, Greece

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NameElis
Alt namesEliasource: Wikipedia
Elissource: Wikipedia
Ileiassource: Family History Library Catalog
Ileíasource: Wikipedia
Iliasource: Wikipedia
Ilíasource: Cambridge World Gazetteer (1990) p 241; NIMA, GEOnet Names Server (1996-1998)
Ilía departmentsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Ilíassource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypePrefecture
Coordinates37.75°N 21.583°E
Located inWest Greece, Greece
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Elis or Ilia (Ileia) is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was Elis Prefecture, covering the same territory.

The modern regional unit is nearly coterminous with the ancient Elis of the classical period. Here lie the ancient ruins of cities of Elis, Epitalion and Olympia, known for the ancient Olympic Games which started in 776 BC.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In classical antiquity, Elis was an independent state, centred on the town Elis and included the sanctuary at Olympia, where the Ancient Olympic Games were held between 776 BC and 394 AD. After 146 BC, Elis was part of the province Achaea within the Roman Empire. In the Migration Period (3rd - 4th century AD) Vandals and Visigoths rampaged through the region. After the final partition of the Roman Empire in 395 Elis was ruled by the Byzantine Empire.

In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, crusaders from Western Europe (traditionally referred to as Franks in southeastern Europe) established the principality of Achaea in territory of the defeated Byzantine Empire, including Elis. They built castles like Chlemoutsi. The principality lasted from 1204 until 1460, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire ruled most of Greece until the Greek War of Independence of 1821. The Venetian Republic controlled a few coastal towns in the 1490s, early 16th century and from 1686 until 1715. Battlegrounds of the Greek War of Independence in Elis include Chlemoutsi, Gastouni, Lala, Lampeia, Pyrgos and Andritsaina.

As a part of independent Greece, Elis experienced an economic and agricultural upswing in the first decennia after the war of independence. Houses were built, and Pyrgos became a regional centre. Like most of the Peloponnese, the area was unaffected during World War I. As a result of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Greek refugees from Asia Minor settled into a.o. the area around Amaliada.

World War II struck parts of Elis, houses were damaged, leaving people homeless, and afterwards the Greek Civil War caused more destruction and economic decline. The return to democracy after the Greek military junta of 1967–1974, and Greece joining the European Communities in 1981 stimulated economic development and improvement of infrastructure.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Elis Prefecture. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.