Palaiopyrgos ( el, Παλαιόπυργος, "Old Tower", before 1957: Μποντιά – ''Bontia'' or ''Bodia'') is a village in the municipal unit

Levidi Levidi ( el, Λεβίδι) is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area 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 ...

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 ...

. Its mediaeval name was Bodia or ''Bodea.'' It is best known as the source of the ''syrtos botiakos'', a popular variety of the ''

syrtos Syrtos ( el, συρτός, ''syrtos'' (also ''sirtos''); plural , ''syrtoi'' (also ''sirtoi''); sometimes called in English using the Greek accusative forms ''syrto'' (also ''sirto''); from the el, links=no, σύρω, ''syro'' (also ''siro''), ...

'' dance.

History

The village's mediaeval name ''Bodia'' is thought to be derived from the Slavic word ''boda'',University of Patras: The Arcadia Website. «Παλαιόπυργος, Ιστορία». 1999–2002. Retrieved 14-04-2010. meaning "winter quarters" (usually for sheep).Pring, J.T. ''The Pocket Oxford Greek Dictionary.'' (New York: 1965 & 1982; 2000 ed.), p.206 (The

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

was invaded by Slavic nomads who ruled some areas from the seventh to ninth centuries CE; even after the restoration of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

rule, some of these tribes retained their Slavic identity into Byzantine times). Even today, the neighbourhood of Palaiopyrgos contains

Slavic toponyms Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slavi ...

. The first written reference to the village appears in a

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

chronicle dated 1704, in which it is called "Bodea". An earlier reference in a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

chronicle dated 1205 refers to a "Pyrgos, on Mount Trachy," which may be Palaiopyrgos. The village, protected by its eponymous tower and local militia, fell to the Turks in 1715, during the last Turkish-Venetian War. The first reference to the village in the Greek language is a document concerning the governor of the area, Rigas Palamides, and his rights ''vis-à-vis'' ''Bodia''. The names of numerous villagers are recorded as having fought, many with distinction, 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 ...

, the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

Notes

Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese {{Peloponnese-geo-stub