Palairos ( el, Πάλαιρος) is an ancient city and a modern town in

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

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 ...

. The modern village is also known locally by the name of Zaverda (Ζαβέρδα), in official use till 1928. Since the 2011 local government reform Palairos is part of the municipality

Aktio-Vonitsa Aktio–Vonitsa ( el, Άκτιο-Βόνιτσα) is a municipality in the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of the West Greece region of Greece. Its seat is the town of Vonitsa. The municipality has an area of 660.172 km2. Municipality The mun ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 205.843 km². The municipal unit was formed as the independent municipality ''Kekropia'' in 1994 from the former communities Palairos and Pogonia, and was expanded with the former communities Vatos, Plagia and Peratia as a part of the 1997

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 ...

. The name of the municipal unit was changed to Palairos in 2004.

History

Palairos ( grc, Παλαιρός, la, Palaerus) was a city of ancient Greece, situated in the southern part of the region of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. The city, ruinous for centuries, is thought to have existed during the Mycenean period, since parts of the city walls appear to date back to 2000 B.C. The construction of the walls interchanges between the square-shaped and the polygonal system and the parts belong to different periods. It lies high in the mountains overlooking the

Ionian sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

and Lake Vourkaria. The city is thought to have had a population of over 10,000 people. During antiquity it was part of

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

, according to the ''Theodorokoi'', situated on the west coast, on the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

, which is placed by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

between

Leucas ''Leucas'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, first described by Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), Robert Brown in 1810. It contains over 200 species, widespread over much of Africa, and southern and eastern Asia (Iran, ...

and

Alyzia Alyzia ( el, Αλυζία) is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located on the central west coas ...

. In the first year of the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

(431 BCE) Palairos was in alliance with the

Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

; and when the latter people took the neighbouring town of

Sollium Sollium or Sollion ( grc, Σόλλιον), was a town on the coast of ancient Acarnania, on the Ionian Sea. It was in the neighbourhood of Palaerus, which lay between Leucas and Alyzia. William Martin Leake, however, placed it south of Alyzia, at ...

, which was a

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

colony, they gave both it and its territory to the inhabitants of Palaerus.

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

, II, 30. At nearby

Actium Actium or Aktion ( grc, Ἄκτιον) was a town on a promontory in ancient Acarnania at the entrance of the Ambraciot Gulf, off which Octavian gained his celebrated victory, the Battle of Actium, over Antony and Cleopatra, on September 2, 31& ...

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...

and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

were defeated in a

sea battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

by Octavius. According to tradition, the salt lake was the saviour of Cleopatra, who hid her ships there. The

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

on the eastern part of the yard is separated by a partition and is considered to be the most ancient part of the wall, probably from the Mycenean period. The ruins are close to the present-day town of Palairos.

History

References

See also