Kopanaki ( el, Κοπανάκι) is a town in northwestern

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

, Peloponnese, Greece. It was the seat of the former municipality of Aetos and now it belongs to the municipality of

Trifylia Trifylia ( el, Τριφυλία) is a municipality in the Messenia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Kyparissia. The municipality has an area of 616.019 km2. It was named after the ancient Triphylia regi ...

. Agriculture, specifically olive farming, is the main economic activity in the village. The community Kopanaki also includes the small villages Agios Dimitrios and Rizochori. Being the geographical and economic center of upper Trifylia, Kopanaki is well known for "pazari" (bazaar) or "agora", that takes place in the central square every Sunday since 1900 and attracts further population. The messenian tradition of baking "gournopoula" (pork) and selling it on the edge of the street started from this location, initially only on Sundays, for the visitors from far away, so they could have a hearty meal and the power to do the return trip. Today in many places of the region lying on main road someone can find (no matter the day) grilled gournopoula.

Population

Geography

Kopanaki is situated in the valley of a tributary of the small river

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipality of Greece by ...

, between Tetrazio and Kyparissia mountains. It is 12 km east of Kalonero (on the Ionian Sea coast) and 39 km northwest of

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

. It is situated on the main road from Pyrgos and

Kyparissia Kyparissia ( el, Κυπαρισσία) is a town and a former municipality in northwestern Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit ...

to Kalamata and on the metre gauge railway from Kalonero to Zevgolateio.

History

The ruins of a very ancient agricultural settlement near Kopanaki have been excavated in 1980.

People and Culture

* Panagiotis Meltemis, (1918–1978) (born Panagiotis K. Papadopoulos), poet and a newspaper editor. * Panagiotis (Potis) Stratikis, (1926–2019), Greek Resistance member, writer, editor. * Thanassis Spyropoulos, (1926–), puppet player (

Karagiozis Karagiozis or Karaghiozis ( ell, Καραγκιόζης , tr, Karagöz ) is a shadow puppet and fictional character of Greek folklore, originating in the Turkish shadow play Karagöz and Hacivat. He is the main character of the tales narrated ...

' shadow theatre) *The town is home to a soccer team (see

Messenia Football Clubs Association The Messinia Football Clubs Association is part of the Greek Football Federation that includes football (soccer) teams in the Messenia regional unit. History Its first attempt to run their own football (soccer) union in Messinia happened with th ...

) known as Diagoras.

References

External links