![Dormition of the Theotokos church in Seliana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Dormition_of_the_Theotokos_church_in_Seliana.jpg)
Seliana ( el, Σελιάνα) also known as Phelloe ( el, Φελλόη) is a village in the municipal unit of
Aigeira
Aigeira ( el, Αιγείρα) (, grc, Αἰγείρα or Αἴγειρα, la, Aegeira) is a town and a former municipality in northeastern Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been a municipal unit of the ...
, in the eastern part of
Achaea, north
Peloponnese,
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 ...
. The village had a population of 52 in 2011.
Aigeira is 10 km to the north, and
Kalavryta
Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and ...
is 21 km to the west. Seliana is connected by a 19 km road that leads to the town of Aegeira and the
Greek National Road 8A
Greek National Road 8a ( el, Εθνική Οδός 8a, abbreviated as EO8a) was a toll road in the Attica, Peloponnese and West Greece regions. It connected Athens with the cities of Corinth and Patras. It was built in the 1960s as a replacemen ...
,
Athens
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 ...
- Corinth - Aigeira - Patras.
Geography
The village is built at an altitude of ~750 m on the foothills of the fir forest of Sarantapikho and on the eastern slope of the valley of river Krios. The forest lies between the villages of Seliana, Perithori, Sarantapikho and Zarouchla and it is the largest forest of
Achaea consisting mainly of
black pine trees, firs and chestnuts. Seliana is surrounded by lush vegetation, old
Platanus
''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae.
All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except ...
trees, walnuts, hazelnuts, plums, peaches, and many springs and you can hear the rushes of the running water all year round. The few inhabitants are mainly engaged in livestock farming and farming and in the cultivation of Apple, Plum and vegetables (mainly bean cultivation, which is the traditional food of Seliana).
History
The village of Seliana coincides with ancient Phelloe a small town of ancient Greece described in
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
book "Description of Greece - Achaea". Excavations in the broader area of Seliana have been conducted by the
Austrian Archaeological Institute at Athens
The Austrian Archaeological Institute at Athens (german: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut (ÖAI) Athen; el, Αυστριακό Αρχαιολογικό Ινστιτούτο Αθηνών) is one of the 19 foreign archaeological institut ...
, the
Italian School of Archaeology at Athens
The Italian School of Archaeology at Athens ( it, Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene (SAIA); el, Ἰταλικὴ Ἀρχαιολογικὴ Σχολὴ Ἀθηνῶν) is one of the 19 foreign archaeological institutes headquartered in Athen ...
, the
University of Salerno
The University of Salerno ( it, Università degli Studi di Salerno, UNISA) is a university located in Fisciano and in Baronissi, Italy. Its main campus is located in Fisciano while the Faculty of Medicine is located in Baronissi. It is organize ...
and the Greek Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. In the village there are few remnants of ancient Phelloe in different places but the most notable are those beside the old chapel of St. Basil where there is still an ongoing excavation (University of Salerno report identifies the observable wall beside the chapel as a construction of Hellenistic Period). In the report of the archaeologists we read "Prospection covered the ca. 30ha of the territory of modern Seliana as defined by the Evrostina mountains and to the west by the Krios valley. Oral and written testimonia concerning site location were verified on the ground. Despite poor visibility, exploration revealed occupation from the Late Bronze Age to late antiquity". Seliana was officially designated as an archaeological site by the Greek Ministry of Culture in 1996.
During the
Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) in the broader area around Seliana two battles took place, one in the beginning of the revolution and one in the year 1827. Also four large caves which are located close to the village served as a shelter for women and children when the Turkish general
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha ( tr, Kavalalı İbrahim Paşa; ar, إبراهيم باشا ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Ottoman Albanian general in the Egyptian army and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Kh ...
invaded north Peloponnese in 1827.
There is a strong relation between the village of Seliana and the village of
Selianitika. According to historian A. Fotopoulos the inhabitants of Seliana descended from the mountains to the coastal region of "Kryovrysi" near
Aigio
Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipal ...
(where the village of Selianitika lies today) during the Ottoman period. Initially the residents of Seliana were spending the winter in Selianitika and the summer in their village of Seliana but later they settled permanently. The residents of Seliana carried with them the parish of Saint Basil (the oldest of Seliana's churches) and today
Saint Basil
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...
is the patron saint of the village of Selianitika.
The first population census of Seliana after the liberation of Greece from the Ottomans is made by the French scientists of the
Morea expedition
The Morea expedition (french: link=no, Expédition de Morée) is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the PeloponneseMorea is the name of the Peloponnese region in Greece, which was mainly used from the medieval per ...
in 1832, under the guidance of the naturalist and geographer
Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent
Jean-Baptiste Geneviève Marcellin Bory de Saint-Vincent was a French naturalist, officer and politician. He was born on 6 July 1778 in Agen ( Lot-et-Garonne) and died on 22 December 1846 in Paris. Biologist and geographer, he was particularly i ...
. The population of the village at that time was 414 inhabitants (84 families).
In 1853, Seliana is mentioned as the capital of the municipality of Phelloe and had a population of 590 (the whole municipality had 2883 and it included 7 villages of the area). In the 1879 population census the village's population had increased to 671.
Official document of Greece's population census 1879
Gallery
File:Fountain-seliana.jpg, Fountain in the village of Seliana with the inscription "Κρήνη η Φελλόη" meaning "fountain "Phelloe", the ancient name of the village
File:Saint Vasileios church Seliana.jpg, The small chapel of Saint Basil
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...
in the village of Seliana. It lies besides the remnants of ancient Phelloe.
File:Seliana-entrance-sign.jpg, The sign at the entrance of the village with the inscription "Σελιάνα - Αρχαία Φελλόη" (Seliana - Ancient Phelloe)
File:Seliana school.jpg, The renovated old primary school of Seliana, built in 1904. The construction was funded by the Greek banker and philanthropist Andreas Syngros
Andreas Syggros ( el, Ανδρέας Συγγρός; 12 October 1830 – 13 February 1899) was a Greek banker from Istanbul, at the time known internationally as Constantinople, and a philanthropist.
Born in Istanbul to Chiot parents who left ...
Notes
*Γεώργιος Κανελλόπουλος, ''Ιστορία και Λαογραφία των χωριών και οικισμών της Ανατολικής Αιγιαλείας - Καλαβρύτων'', Αθήνα 1981. (History and Folklore studies of the villages and settlements of Eastern Aigialeia
Aigialeia ( el, Αιγιάλεια, ) is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) in the eastern part of the Achaea regional unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aigio. The municipality has an area of 723.063 km ...
and Kalavryta
Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and ...
regions, Georgios Kanellopoulos, Athens, 1981, in Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
)
*Kolonas L., ''Museum of Aigio'', Ταμείο Αρχαιολογικών Πόρων και Απαλλοτριώσεων, Athens 2004
*Αθ. Φωτόπουλος, ''Ιστορικά και Λαογραφικά της Ανατολικής Αιγιάλειας και Καλαβρύτων'', Αθήνα 1982 (Historic And Demographics Of The Eastern Area of Aigialeia
Aigialeia ( el, Αιγιάλεια, ) is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) in the eastern part of the Achaea regional unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aigio. The municipality has an area of 723.063 km ...
And Kalavryta
Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and ...
, Ath. Fotopoulos, Athens 1982, in Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
)
References
{{coord, 38, 03, N, 22, 21, E, display=title, region:GR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Populated places in Achaea