Neapoli Voion or Neapolis Voion () also named Vatika () is a small town in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

regional unit, southern Greece. It is built near the south end of Malea peninsula, close to the

Cape Maleas Cape Maleas (also ''Cape Malea''; , colloquially Καβομαλιάς, ''Cavomaliás''), anciently Malea () and Maleae or Maleai (Μαλέαι), is a peninsula and cape in the southeast of the Peloponnese in Greece. To distinguish it from the ca ...

. It is 335 km southeast of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and 115 km south of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

. Its port is the gateway for the island of south Peloponnese such as

Kythera Kythira ( ; ), also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, is an Greek islands, island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, altho ...

Antikythera Antikythera ( , ; , ) or Anticythera, known in antiquity as Aigilia (), is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality of Kythira isl ...

and Elafonisos. Neapoli is the part of

Monemvasia Monemvasia (, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located in mainland Greece on a tied island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. Monemvasia is connected to the rest of the mainland by a ...

municipality and Voies municipal unit.

History

Neapoli is built on the same site as the ancient

n city of

Boeae Boeae or Boiai (), also known as Boea or Boia (Βοία), was a town in the south of ancient Laconia, situated between the promontories Malea and Onugnathos, in the bay called after it Boeatic Gulf (Βοιατικὸς κόλπος). The town is ...

, built in the 10th or 9th century BCE by the Heracleid Boeus. The city later became part of the city-state of

. During the early

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

the city belonged to the Koinon of Free Laconians and flourished. The city later declined and was completely destroyed in 365 AD by an earthquake. In the Middle Ages, the name was corrupted to Vatika, which is still used for the local citadel. In modern times in this place there was a village after the name Pezoula. In 1837 the Bavarian architect Birbach designed the street plan of a new town that was named Neapoli ("New Town"). An earthquake occurred on 18 November 2019 between Neapoli Voion and the island of Elafonisos at 03:25 local time, and reached an estimated magnitude of 3,6.

Historical population

Tourism

Offshore from Neapoli is the small island Elafonisos that is known for its big sandy beaches. There are other beaches also around Neapoli. These include the beaches at Neratzionas and Maganos. Near Neapoli, at the village of Kastania, is located the Kastania Cave known also as Cave of Agios Andreas. A village close to Neapolis is Faraklo. It was built by the Venetians and was the most important village of the area during Venetian rule and later Ottoman rule. There are two museums in the village: the Archaeological Museum of Neapolis Voion and the Museum for the Promotion of Maritime Tradition.

Notes

* The reference writes wrongly 375, but "the massive earthquake" only can refer to the

365 Crete earthquake The 365 Crete earthquake occurred at about sunrise on 21 July 365 in the Eastern Mediterranean, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. Geologists today estimate the undersea earthquake to have been a moment magnitude 8.5 or higher. It caused wid ...

References

{{Monemvasia div Populated places in Laconia Monemvasia Populated places established in 1837