Lampeia ( Greek: Λάμπεια, before 1928: Δίβρη - ''Divri'', between 1928 and 1929: Πρινόφυτον - ''Prinofyton'') is a mountain village, a community and a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archaia Olympia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 72.447 km². In 2011 the population of the village was 468, and of the community, which includes the village Amygdali, 529. Lampeia is situated south of Mount Erymanthos, in the valley of a tributary of the river Erymanthos. Its elevation is about 800 m above sea level. The Greek National Road 33 (

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

) passes through it. Lampeia is 4 km west of Oreini, 9 km northeast of

Koumanis Koumanis ( el, Κούμανης, also Κούμανι - ''Koumani'') is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Foloi, Elis (regional unit), Elis, Greece. Its population in 2011 was 498 for the village and 506 for the community, ...

, 28 km northeast of Olympia and 45 km south of Patras.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Lampeia is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *

Astras Astras (Greek: Αστράς) is a mountainous village of the Elis region in West Greece. It became part of the municipal unit of Lampeia on January 1, 2011. Lampeia belongs to the municipality of Ancient Olympia. A local government plan, Kapodistr ...

(Astras, Kalyvia Astra) *Lampeia (Lampeia, Amygdali) * Oreini (Oreini, Paliofytia)

Population

History

The name ''Lampeia'' was taken from the mountain ''Lampeia'', which is part of the Erymanthos range. According to Pausanias the river Erymanthos has its source on the mountain ''Lampeia'', which is sacred to Pan. The area was part of

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

. Due to its inaccessibility, Lampeia saw few invaders. Also 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, ...

stayed in the lower areas for strategic reasons. The Zoodochos Pigi monastery in Lampeia was a centre of Greek culture and education. Several inhabitants fought in 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 ...

, and some well known families of politicians (Petralias, Panagoulis,

Stefanopoulos Stephanopoulos () is a Greek surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andreas Stephanopoulos (1860–1938), Greek politician * Christos Stephanopoulos (1853–1918), Greek politician * Costis Stephanopoulos (1926-2016), Greek politici ...

, Zafeiropoulos) came from Divri/Lampeia. Lampeia was created as one of the eight municipalities of the Elis prefecture in the 1830s, and was disbanded in 1913. This municipality was larger than the present municipal unit, and included several villages now in adjacent municipal units (among others

Antroni Antroni ( el, Αντρώνι) is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Lasiona, Elis, Lasiona, Elis (regional unit), Elis, Greece. The community consists of the villages Antroni, Panopoulo, Zachareika and Chania Spartoulia. An ...

and Klindia). The municipality was recreated under the

Capodistrian Plan Kapodistrias reform ( el, Σχέδιο Καποδίστριας, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman Ioannis Kapod ...

in the late-1990s, and became a subdivision of the municipality of Archaia Olympia in 2011.

Notable people

Pavlos Matesis Pavlos Matesis (12 January 1933 – 20 January 2013) was a Greek novelist, playwright and translator. He was born in Divri, a village in the Peloponnese and had a peripatetic youth. He studied acting, music and languages, and taught drama at the ...

,Επίτομο Γεωγραφικό Λεξικό της Ελλάδος (Geographical Dictionary of Greece), Μιχαήλ Σταματελάτος, Φωτεινή Βάμβα-Σταματελάτου, εκδ. Ερμής, ΑΘήνα 2001 writer

References

External links