Kastania ( Greek: Καστάνια) is a village in

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 ...

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 ...

. An independent community since 1912, it became part of the municipality

Sminos Sminos ( el, Σμήνος, before 2001: Σμύνος - ''Smynos'') is a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality East Mani, of which it is a municipal unit. The ...

in 1997, which in turn became part of the municipality

East Mani East Mani ( el, Ανατολική Μάνη - ''Anatolikí Máni'') is a municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Its seat of administration is the town Gytheio (before 2011 the small town Kotronas). The municipality covers the southeastern ...

in 2010.EETAA local government changes
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Geography

Kastania is 28 km northwestern of Gytheio at the southeastern slopes of mount Taygetos. The village is also named locally Kastanitza (Greek: Καστανίτζα) or Mikri Kastania (Greek: Μικρή Καστάνια).Castle of Venetsenakis
in www.kastra.eu Within the village is the historic Church of the Metamorphosis. At the village entrance is an impressive war memorial. A short distance below the village is the early Christian chapel of Ayios Stratiyas. Overlooking the village from its mountainous perch is the impressive

Monastery of Panayia Yiatrissa The Monastery of Panayia Yiatrissa is an Orthodox Christian monastery located in the southern Peloponnese of Greece. The monastery was erected on the site of the ruins of an ancient temple of Athena. The conversion of the temple from pagan ...

History

In 1770, after the Orlov Revolt failed, the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

wanted to punish the

Klepht Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were know ...

s for their support of it. In

siege of Kastania The siege of Kastania was fought in July 1780 between the Maniots and the klephts under Konstantinos Kolokotronis and Panagiotaros Venetsakis and the Ottoman Empire under Ali Bey. Prelude The Orlov Revolt of 1770 was a disaster for the Greek ...

, the Ottoman commander Ali Bey sieged the two Maniot pyrgoi (fighting towers) which belonged to the Venetsanakis clan. With them was the father of the hero of 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 ...

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 ...

Konstantinos Kolokotronis Konstantinos Kolokotronis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Κολοκοτρώνης, c. 1745-1780) was a notable Greek klepht leader in the third quarter of the 18th century in the Peloponnese, and the father of Theodoros Kolokotronis, one of the le ...

and his wife who was pregnant with his son. Ali Bey laid siege to the pyrgoi. After holding out for three days the defenders burst out of the pyrgoi's doors and charged the Ottomans. Only a few cut through the Ottoman lines. Amongst them was Kolokotronis' wife dressed as a man.

References

Populated places in Laconia Populated places in the Mani Peninsula East Mani {{Peloponnese-geo-stub