'Laconia' (''; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as 'Lacedaemonia', is a prefecture in Greece. Laconia has the legal status of a prefecture, with Sparta its administrative capital. Its main towns and cities are Amyclae, Areopolis, Gytheion, Molaoi, Monemvasia, Mystras, Neapoli and Sellasia. It encompasses Cape Malea and Cape Tainaron and a large part of the Mani Peninsula.

Contents

Boundaries

Provinces

Municipalities and communities

See also

Population history

About Laconia and Information

Climate

History

Laconia before the 1980s

Modern Laconia

Transport

Communications

External links

Boundaries

It is bounded by the Taygetus mountains to the west with Messenia, Arcadia to the north and with the Parnon mountains to the northeast, the Myrtoan Sea to the east and the Gulf of Laconia and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The islands of Cythera and Antikythera lie to the south, but they administratively belong to the prefecture of Piraeus.

Provinces

★ Province of Epidavros Limiras - Molai

★ Province of Gytheio - Gytheio

★ Province of Lacedaemonia - Sparta

★ Province of Oitylo - Areopili

Municipalities and communities

Municipality	Municipal code	Seat (if different)	Postal code
Asopos	3202	Papadianika	230 56
East Mani	3201	Kotronas	230 66
Elos	3207	Vlachiotis	230 55
Faris	3222	Xirokampi	230 54
Geronthres	3204	Geraki	230 58
Gytheio	3205		232 00
Krokees	3211		230 57
Molaoi	3212		230 52
Monemvassia	3213		230 70
Mystras	3214	Magoula	231 00
Niata	3215	Agios Dimitrios	230 60
Oinountas	3216	Sellasia	230 64
Oitylo	3217	Areopoli	230 62
Pellana	3218	Kastoreio	230 59
Skala	3219		230 51
Smynos	3220	Agios Nikolaos	230 61
'Sparta'	3221		231 00
Therapnes	3209	Gkoritsa	231 00
Voies	3203	Neapoli	230 53
Zarakas	3208	Reichea	230 68
Community	Municipal code	Seat (if different)	Postal code
Elafonisos	3206		230 53
Karyes	3210		230 67

See also

★ List of settlements in the Laconia prefecture

Population history

★ 1907: 87,106

★ 1991: 95,696 (+8,590 or +98.62 from 1907)

★ 2001: 94,918 (-778 or -0.81%)

About Laconia and Information

The Evrotas is the longest river in the prefecture. The valley of the Evrotas is predominantly an agricultural region that contains many citrus groves, olive groves and pasture lands and most of all, oranges. It is the location of the largest orange production in the Peloponnese and probably all of Greece. The brand of orange juice named after this prefecture Lakonia is based in Amyclae and sells fresh orange juice entirely from this region.
Taygetus (2,407 m), known as Pentadaktylos (''five-fingers'') throughout the Middle Ages, is west of Sparta and the Evrotas valley. It is the highest mountain in Laconia and the Peloponnese, and mostly covered with pine trees. Two roads connect the adjoining prefectures of Messinia and Laconia: one is a tortuous mountain pass through Taygetus and the other bypasses the mountain via the Mani district to the south. The other major mountain is Parnon (1,961 m) to the east.
A stalactite cave in the southwest of the prefecture is located south of Areopolis. This famous cave is called Dirou and is a major tourist attraction.
The word "laconic" is derived from the name of the region by analogy - to speak in a concise way, as the Spartans were reputed by the Athenians to do.

Climate

The area has hot summers and mild winters in most of the prefecture while in the mountains, especially Taygetus, snow is very common throughout the winter.

History

Laconia before the 1980s

In ancient Greece this was the principal region of the Spartan state. Throughout classical antiquity the Spartan sphere of influence expanded Messenia, whose inhabitants (the helots) were permanently enslaved. Laconia was at war with the Kingdom of Macedonia and saw several battles, while later, from the early-2nd century BC until 395 also a part of the Roman Empire. In the medieval period it formed part of the Byzantine Empire, and following the Crusades it was the home of the Byzantine Despotate of Morea, held by the penultimate Greek ruling dynasty, the Palaiologoi. Laconia fell into the hands of the Ottomans but the Mani peninsula was mainly autonomous. Laconia was finally liberated after the Greek War of Independence of 1821, and after victory in battle, Sparta was selected capital of the modern prefecture ; its economy and agriculture expanded. The country and the prefecture extended beyond the Laconia of ancient times , to Elafonissos in 1864, separating it from the British Empire and dissolvingUnited States of the Ionian Islands. The island never had full Turkish rule; it was part of the Venetian Empire from the 15th century until the Napoleonic Wars. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, its population began to decline somewhat, as people moved from the villages toward the larger cities of Greece and abroad.

Modern Laconia

In 1992, a devastating fire ruined the finest olive crops in the northern part of the prefecture, and affected the area of Sellasia along with Oinountas and its surrounding areas. Firefighters, helicopters and planes battled for days to put out the horrific fire.
The Mani portion along with Gytheio became famous in Greece for filming episodes of ''Vendetta'' , broadcast on Mega Channel throughout Greece and abroad on Mega Cosmos.
Flooding ruined olive and citrus crops along the Evrotas river , as well as properties and villages there in early 2006. In the summer of 2006, a terrible fire devastated a part of the Mani Peninsula, ruining tens of its villages and crops, along with its forests. In recent memory, the fire lasted for several days, turning stone-built houses into a rubble-like area, and occurred again a year later, devastating some properties but was smaller than last year's fire. Another one in the last days of July 2007, in the vicinity of Skourta, once more , in the same peninsula, ruined some groves and forest ; it was a minor fire and lasted for a day only.

Transport

★ Greece Interstate 37, N, Cen., S

★ Molaoi to Leonidi Road, E, NE

★ Greece Interstate 82, W

★ Greece Interstate 86, S, E, SE, Gytheio - Monemvasia

Communications

===Radio===

★ FLY FM 89,7 (Sparta). This is a popular radio station of Lakonia. Its website is www.flyradio.gr

★ Lakonia FM - 91.1 FM (Sparta)

★ Politeia FM - 90.7 FM & 91.5 FM

★ Radiofonias Notias Lakonias (Southern Laconia Radio) - 93.5 (Gytheio)

★ Radio Sparti - 92.7 FM (Sparta)

★ Star FM - 94.7
===Television===

★ Ellada TV - UHF 43, Sparta

★ TV Notias Lakonias - Molaoi

External links

★ Velanidia, Βελανίδια Βοιών Λακωνίας

★ http://lakonia.net

★ http://www.laconia.org

★ Photographs from Laconia , Greece

★ Map of Laconia

★ GTP - Lagkadia

★ GTP - Lagkadia municipality

★ Panoramic photos of Mani Laconia

★ In German:

★
★ http://www.leonidion.de/lakonien.htm

★ in Greek:

★
★ Municipalities of Laconia with communities and settlements

★
★ http://www.molaikos.gr

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