Place:Messinias, Peloponnese, Greece

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NameMessinias
Alt namesMessinia
Messenesource: Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (1979) p 573-574
Messeniasource: Wikipedia
Messiniassource: Family History Library Catalog
Messiníasource: Cambridge World Gazetteer (1990) p 241; NIMA, GEOnet Names Server (1996-1998)
Messinía departmentsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Messiníassource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypePrefecture
Coordinates37.25°N 21.833°E
Located inPeloponnese, Greece
Contained Places
Deserted settlement
Nichoria
Inhabited place
Aëtós
Dhiavolítsi
Filiatra
Gargalianoi
Kalamarás
Kalamata ( 800 - )
Kardhamíli
Khóra
Kiparissía
Koróni
Kyparissia
Meligalá
Messene
Methóni
Modon
Monastiráki
Petalidi
Psári
Pylos
Unknown
Aulon
Sklaveika
Troukaki
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


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

Messenia or Messinia is a regional unit (perifereiaki enotita) in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (nomos) covering the same territory. The capital and largest city of Messenia is Kalamata.

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History

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

Messenia is mentioned in the oldest work of European literature, the Iliad. The name undoubtedly goes back to at least the Bronze Age, but its origins are lost in the world of mythology. The region was one of the largest that was conquered and enslaved as helots by ancient Sparta.

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Medieval period

In the Middle Ages, Messinia shared the fortunes of the rest of the Peloponnese. Striking reminders of these conflicts are afforded by the extant ruins of the medieval strongholds of Kalamata, Coron (anc. Asine, mod. Korone), Modon (Methone) and Pylos. Messenia was a part of the Byzantine Empire.

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Ottoman and Venetian period

Much of Messenia fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks, a part of the area remained with the Venetian Republic. In 1534 a group of families, known as the 'Coroni', settled in Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily. They were Arvanites and Greeks from Koroni.

During the 1680s, the whole of Messenia was regained by the Venetian Republic in the Morean War, and formed part of the "Kingdom of the Morea" until recovered by the Ottomans in 1715. The Mani Peninsula, a part of modern Messenia, was autonomous from Turkish rule due to the fact that it had no harbors.

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Modern period

Messenia became part of independent Greece as a result of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832). The famous naval Battle of Navarino took place near present Pylos in 1827, and was a decisive victory for Greece and its allies. The population in the area of Kalamata and Messene increased from 30,000 before World War II up to nearly 80,000 in the present day.. Messenia suffered damage from the 2007 Greek forest fires.

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Research Tips

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