Lefktra ( el, Λεύκτρα, Léfktra, ) is a village in the regional unit of
Boeotia, Greece, and a part of the municipality of
Thebes. Before 1915, its name was ''Parapoungia'' ( el, Παραπούγγια).
[EETAA local government changes]
Lefktra Lefktra is located in the foothills of
Mount Kithairon at 353 meters average elevation.
The population of Lefktra is 1,091 people (2011 census).
Thebes is sixteen kilometers away and Athens 70 km away, via the old national road. There are bus lines from Thebes to Lefktra and vice versa daily, and from Athens to Lefktra at the weekends. Residents' main occupations are agriculture and stockbreeding. Livadostra and Koromili beaches are ten minutes away by car.
Between 1912 and 1997 Lefktra was an independent community (an independent municipality after 1989).
[ In 1997, at the ]Kapodistrias reform 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 ...
, it was merged into the municipality Plataies
Plataies ( el, Πλαταιές), anciently Kokhla, is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern ti ...
, along with the communities Melissochori, Loutoufi and Kaparelli. In 2010, at the Kallikratis reform
The Kallikratis Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Καλλικράτης, Prógramma Kallikrátis) is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the count ...
, Plataies was merged into the municipality of Thebes.[EETAA local government changes]
Plataies
Lefktra is named after the ancient village of Leuctra
Leuctra or Leuktra ( grc, τὰ Λεῦκτρα, tà Leûktra, grc, τὸ Λεῦκτρον, tò Leûktron, label=none ) was a village of ancient Boeotia, situated on the road from Thespiae to Plataea, and in the territory of the former city. I ...
( grc, Λεῦκτρα, Leûktra, ) in ancient Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...
, seven miles southwest of Thebes. The Battle of Leuctra
The Battle of Leuctra ( grc-gre, Λεῦκτρα, ) was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vicin ...
(371 BC) was fought in the vicinity of ancient Leuctra, in which the Thebans under Epaminondas
Epaminondas (; grc-gre, Ἐπαμεινώνδας; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greek general of Thebes and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a pre-eminent posit ...
defeated the Spartans
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...
, ending the Spartan hegemony
The polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Lat ...
. Following their victory, the Thebans became a new power within the Hellenic world, until the rise of Macedonia.
References
Populated places in Boeotia
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