"The land does not have steel rings
to take her on their shoulder and leave, 
neither can they, no matter how thirsty they are,  
sweeten the sea with half a dram of clear water" 
 G. Seferis 
 CYPRUS: Invaded and Occupied   since 1974     DO NOT FORGET 

Tripolis

Arcadia, Greece

Daphnis, I that piped so rarely, 
I that guarded well the fold, 
'Tis my trembling hand that fails me; 
I am weary, I am old. 
Here my well-worn crook I offer 
unto Pan the shepherd's friend; 
Know ye, I am old and weary; 
of my toil I make an end! 
Yet I still can pipe it rarely, 
still my voice is clear and strong; 
Very tremulous in body, 
nothing tremulous in song. 
Only let no envious goatherd 
tell the wolves upon the hill 
That my ancient strength is wasted, 
lest they do me grievous ill.  
Macedonius: 6th century A.D.

The city of Tripolis is in the heart of Arcadia in central Peloponnese, Greece. It belongs to the sub-prefecture of Mantineia and is the capital of the prefecture of Arcadia. Some info on the area is provided here.


 

History

The history of the town can be traced no further back than the fiftenth century, when it was known as Tripolitsa or Dropolitsa. It developed very slowly during the early years of Turkish rule, growing at a more rapid pace during the brief period of Venetian administration (1685-1715), when it became a centre for commerce thanks to its geographical position at the centre of the Arkadian plateau and at the intersection of the road routes across the Peloponnese. Tripolitsa acquired further political, and later economic, importance when in 1718 the Turkish pasha of the Peloponnese moved his headquarters there. In 1785-1790, after the Orloff revolt of 1770, the Turks fortified the city and made it their main military base. Among the important early successes of the Greek War of Independence was the capture of Tripolitsa on 23 September 1821, by a body of revolutionaries under Theodoros Kolokotronis. In June 1825 the town was retaken by Ibrahim?s forces, but it fell to the Greeks again three years later, after a close siege. When the Greeks entered the town, Ibrahim set fire to it; Tripolitsa burned for nine days (7-16 February 1828) and nearly all its buildings apart from the public fountains were destroyed. The only buildings to have survived from before the War of Indipendence are the "Mantzouneion" or "Katholikon", at 41 Yeorgiou A St, which is now the Municipal Library, and the Turkish medresse or seminary, at 6 Ayiou Dimitriou Square, which successive tasteless renovations have rendered more or less unrecognisable.

(Taken without permission  from the "Cultural Map of Arcadia" pamphlet, published by the ETBA Cultural Foundation, 13 Amerikis St, 106 72 Athens Greece, Tel +30-1-3614824. All rights reserved.).

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Acknowledgements

Page accessed times since 7/6/98. 


 

This page is maintained by Georgios K. Theodoropoulos. For comments and contributions, please email gkt@cs.bham.ac.uk
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