Ermioni (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

Hermione ) is a small port town and a former municipality in

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the ...

, Peloponnese,

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 ...

on the

Argolid Peninsula The Argolid Peninsula is a peninsula situated in Greece in the Peloponnese, much of which is contained in the modern region of Argolis. One of the first major Greek settlements, Mycenae, is situated on this peninsula. During the Classical G ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Ermionida Ermionida ( el, Ερμιονίδα) is a municipality in the Argolis regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Kranidi. The municipality has an area of 421 km2. Municipality The municipality Ermionida was formed ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 168.180 km². It is a popular tourist resort.

Geography

The port town Ermioni is situated in the southeastern part of

, on the coast of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. It faces the islands of Hydra and

Dokos Dokos ( el, Δοκός) is a small Greek island of the Argo-Saronic Gulf, adjacent to Hydra, and separated from the Peloponnese by a narrow strait called, on some maps, "the Hydra Gulf." It is part of the municipality of Ýdra (Hydra) in Isla ...

. The municipal unit Ermioni also contains the communities Iliokastro (7 km north of Ermioni) and Thermisia (7 km east of Ermioni). It is 10 km east of

Kranidi Kranidi ( el, , Katharevousa: ) is a town and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ermionida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal u ...

,17,27 km southwest of

Porto Cheli Porto Heli ( el, Πόρτο Χέλι, also ''Porto Cheli'') is a summer resort town in the municipality of Ermionida in the southeastern part of Argolis, Greece. It is situated on a bay of the Argolic Gulf, 6 km south of Kranidi and 40 k ...

22 km southwest of Galatas and 44 km southeast of

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

. Ermioni is connected to

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

by ferry.

History

The place has been continuously inhabited, at least since the times of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

. Long before classical times ancient Hermione was settled by

Dryopia Dryopes (; grc, Δρύοπες) or Dryopians () were one of the aboriginal tribes of ancient Greece. According to Herodotus, their earliest abode is said to have been on Mount Oeta and its adjacent valleys, in the district called after them, Dryopi ...

ns. During the classic era it was well known for its shipbuilders and also for the production of

porphyra ''Porphyra'' is a genus of coldwater seaweeds that grow in cold, shallow seawater. More specifically, it belongs to red algae phylum of laver species (from which comes laverbread), comprising approximately 70 species.Brodie, J.A. and Irvine, ...

, a very important red dye. This dye was used for the colouring of the uniforms of many armies including that of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. It controlled a wider region named Hermionis.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

described the major temples and buildings, various festivities and sport games of the town. According to Pausanias, Ermioni was also the home of a temple of the goddess

Hestia In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia (; grc-gre, Ἑστία, meaning "hearth" or "fireside") is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. In myth, she is the firstborn ...

: :" t Hermione in Argolis :Passing into the sanctuary of Hestia, we see no image, but only an altar, and they sacrifice to Hestia upon it."Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 35. 1 This was exceptional, as Hestia normally did not have temples but was worshipped in the prytaneum of each city, and a sanctuary of the goddess was therefore something highly unusual—Pausanias himself mentions only two (the other one in Sparta). During the Ottoman Era it was still known for ship building and its naval abilities, which played a significant role in the Greek revolution of 1821.

Historical population

Persons

Lasus of Hermione Lasus of Hermione ( el, Λάσος ὁ Ἑρμιονεύς) was a Greek lyric poet of the 6th century BC from the city of Hermione in the Argolid. He is known to have been active at Athens under the reign of the Peisistratids. Pseudo-Plutarch's ...

, a Greek poet from the 6th century BC * Xenon of Hermione, a tyrant before 229 BC *

Spyridon Merkouris Spyridon Mercouris ( el, Σπυρίδων Μερκούρης) (1856-1939) was a Greeks, Greek politician and long-serving mayor of Athens in the early 20th century. He was born in Ermioni, Argolida, in 1856 to a prominent and wealthy family tha ...

, former mayor of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

References

External links