Megali Mantineia ( el, Μεγάλη Μαντίνεια) is a mountain settlement in the municipal unit of

Avia Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ...

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 ...

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 ...

. In 2011, it had a population of 191. It sits at 200 m above sea level, 2 km southeast of Avia, 3 km south of

Mikri Mantineia Mikri Mantineia ( el, Μικρή Μαντίνεια) is a seaside village in the municipality of Kalamata, Messenia, Greece. In 2011, it had a population of 705. It is situated at 20 m above sea level, on the northeastern shore of the Gulf of Mess ...

and 10 km southeast 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 reg ...

. Many of its residents only stay there during the summer months.

Population

History

Ano Mantineia ("Upper Mantineia") or Ano Chora was first mentioned in 1463, as opposed to the older Mantineia on the coast. In the mid 18th century, it was an important settlement in the area of Zarnata (Ζαρνάτα). It had 59 families (around 277 people) in 1704. In the late 18th century the smaller settlement

was founded, and the older Ano Mantineia was renamed to Megali Mantineia ("Great Mantineia"). The village joined the municipality of Avia in 1835. From the mid 19th century, a part of the population moved into the seaside areas including ''Palaiochora'' (now Avia), ''Archontiko'' and ''Akrogiali''. Still Megali Mantineia kept a large population: 413 in 1851, 469 in 1879 and 424 in 1907. In 1914 Megali Mantineia became an independent community which included the new settlements. In 1924 the seat of the community moved to the seaside village Palaiochora. In 1926 both the settlement Palaiochora and the community were renamed to Avia.

Points of interests

*Koskaras/Sandava cave *''Katafygi'', an inaccessible cave *The deserted settlement ''Koka'' *The old school, built in 1743-53

Sources

Theodoros Belitsos Theodoros or Theodorus ( el, Θεόδωρος) is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek s ...

''Ta Altomira tis Exo Manis'' (''Τα Αλτομιρά της Έξω Μάνης (Ιστορία-Οικογένειες-Τοπωνύμια)'' = ''Altomira in Outer Mani (History-Family-Toponyms)'', 1999

References

External links