Kapsas ( el, Κάψας, also Κάψια ''Kapsia'') is a community in the municipal unit of
Mantineia
Mantineia (also Mantinea ; el, Μαντίνεια; also Koine Greek ''Antigoneia'') was a city in ancient Arcadia, Greece, which was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history.
In modern times it is a former municipality in ...
in
Arcadia on the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...
peninsula in southern
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 wi ...
. It is situated in a valley east of the
Mainalo
Mainalo ( el, Μαίναλο, grc, Μαίναλος or Μαίναλον, Mainalos or Mainalon; la, Maenalus) is the tallest mountain in the Menalon highlands of the Peloponnese, and is located in Arcadia, Greece. In antiquity, the mountain w ...
mountains, at 700 m elevation. It is 9 km southeast of
Levidi
Levidi ( el, Λεβίδι) is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area o ...
, 11 km west of
Nestani
Nestani ( el, Νεστάνη, before 1927: Τσιπιανά ''Tsipiana'') is a village and a community in the municipal unit Mantineia, Arcadia, Greece.
Geography
It is situated at the foot of the mountain Artemisio, at about 700 m elevation ...
and 12 km north of
Tripoli. The
Greek National Road 74
National Road 74 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 74, abbreviated as EO74) is a single carriageway road in southern Greece. It connects Pyrgos with Tripoli, via Olympia and Vytina. Its length is . It runs through the western and central part of the ...
(
Pyrgos - Tripoli) passes through the village.
Historical population
History
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and after the
capitulation of Italy
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Briga ...
, Greece was
occupied by Nazi Germany. Villagers of Kapsas helped an Italian soldier named Salvatore hide from the Germans and return to his native Italy. Statues of the school teacher Ioannis Orfanos, his wife and his brother have been erected near the village church in memory of their aid.
Attractions
The village church of Saint Nicholas possesses a precious icon, donated by the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Cave of Kapsia is situated 1 kilometer from the village Kapsia, at the southwest edge of the plain of ancient Mantineia. It is part of a system of active and inactive
sinks (ponors) (Greek: katavothra "Καταβόθρα"). In front of the entrance are three ponors. Inside the cave human bone material has been found, according to some researchers from people who drowned during floods in the cave. The cave was used by man during the Neolithic, Hellenistic period and the fourth to sixth century AD.
odysseus.culture.gr
Presentation of the cave by the Ministry of Culture
See also
*List of settlements in Arcadia
This is a list of settlements in Arcadia, Greece.
* Aetorrachi
* Agia Sofia
* Agia Varvara
* Agiorgitika
* Agios Andreas
* Agios Georgios
* Agios Ioannis
* Agios Konstantinos
* Agios Petros
* Agios Vasileios, Leonidio
* Agios Vasileio ...
References
External links
GTP - KapsasKapsia History : History of the village Kapsia of Arkadia
{{Mantineia
Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese