Anavryti or Anavriti (Αναβρυτή) is a small village 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 ...

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 with ...

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus ( el, Ταΰγετος, Taygetos) is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet ...

mountain, altitude 850m. Above the

Evrotas The Eurotas ( grc, Εὐρώτας) or Evrotas (modern Greek: ) is the main river of Laconia and one of the major rivers of the Peloponnese, in Greece. The river's springs are located just northwest of the border between Laconia and Arcadia, at ...

valley, Anavryti is traversed by

European walking route E4 The E4 European long distance path or E4 path is one of the European long-distance paths. Starting at Tarifa Andalusia, located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, across the Strait of Gibraltar facing Morocco, it continues throug ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of

Mystras Mystras or Mistras ( el, Μυστρᾶς/Μιστρᾶς), also known in the ''Chronicle of the Morea'' as Myzithras (Μυζηθρᾶς), is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Situated on Mt. Taygetus, nea ...

. The road to Anavryti was built in the 1950s by the men who gave their time and labor for the immense project. Donations sent by the Anavryti

Hometown society Hometown associations (HTAs), also known as hometown societies, are social alliances that are formed among immigrants from the same city or region of origin. Their purpose is to maintain connections with and provide mutual aid to immigrants from a s ...

in Astoria,

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

helped pay for road. Until that time, the village could only be accessed on foot or by donkey. In the 1980s the road was paved with donations from the Society. During World War II Nazi occupation, forces made the steep climb up to the village to destroy the houses of suspected partisans. Over the years the village has been established as an eco-tourism destination. The many walking paths combined with its landscape makes the area popular with photographer. The village has a simple hotel and restaurants. In Anavryti's Geological Museum, a variety of elements and pictures related to the fauna and flora of the village and its surroundings are exhibited. There is also an exhibit about Mount

. There is a tradition that when the Jewish community of

was expelled by the Venetians, they sought refuge in Anavryti and were the ancestors of some of today's inhabitants.Patrick Leigh-Fermor, ''Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese''. London, Penguin Books, 1984

Notable people from Anavryti

Peter Karter Peter Karter (1922–2010) was an American nuclear engineer and one of the pioneers of the modern recycling industry. He lived in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Karter was one of the leading innovators in materials recycling and the first to engineer ...

References

{{Sparti div Populated places in Laconia