Arna ( el, Άρνα) is a village on the eastern slopes of the Taygetus mountain range, at an altitude of . Located in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

, in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

, it used to form part of the municipal unit of Faris until 31 December 2010. Since 1 January 2011, as part of the Kallikratis reform, it is one of the local communities of the municipality of Sparta. The nearest major towns are Gytheio, to the southeast, and

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, approximately 40 km to the north. The area has a rich history. Near the village, at the

Arkina Arkina ( hy, Արկինա) was a small village in Medieval Armenia within the Shirak district and near the city of Ani. Arkina is best known for being the temporary seat of the Catholicosate after Ananias I of Armenia moved it from Vaspurakan ...

site, two Mycenaean-era chamber tombs have been found. Artefacts from many periods have also been found at Arna and Arkina, mostly ceramic containers. These findings support the conclusion that the site has been since ancient times a stop on the road connecting

and Messenia. The residents of Arna featured prominently in 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 by ...

(1821-1829). A close-by reminder of that struggle is the "Kolokotronis Cave", on the north slope of Mt. Annina. Folk tradition has it that Constantine Kolokotronis (father of famed hero

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...

) had sought refuge in this cave after being wounded defending the tower of the nearby village of Kastania, at the side of fellow revolutionary Panagiotaros Venetsanakos, a Maniot from

Mesa Mani A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

. He was discovered there the next day and killed; his body was thrown into the cave. Today, Arna's population is on the decline, as is the population of the Greek countryside nationwide. The 1971 census counted 324 residents in the village; today, fewer than 150 remain. There are, however, positive signs of increased activity: the number of visits from emigrant Arniotes is on the rise, year round.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20180331160948/http://www.arna.gr/ {{Sparti div Populated places in Laconia Populated places in the Mani Peninsula Mycenaean sites in the Peloponnese (region)