Myrsini
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| 'Myrsini or Mirsini ''''' |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Prefecture: | Ilia |
| Province: | Olympia |
| Municipality: | Skillounta |
| Municipal district: | Kallikomo (seat) |
| Location: Latitude: Longitude: |
37.908 (37° 54' 30") N 21.233 (21° 14") E |
| Population: (2001) -Village -Percent of the municipality |
1,196 (+36 or +3.1%) 68% 1.92% |
| Altitude: -lowest: -centre: |
about 2 to 3 m 6 m about 11 to 12 m (southwest) |
| Postal code: | GR-270 52 |
| Car designation: | HA |
Myrsíni or Mirsini (Greek: Μυρσίνη) is a town in the prefecture of Ilia in Greece, to the west of Lechaina but in the same municipality since 1997. It has a population around 1,400. Its inhabitants are known as Myrsiniaios or Mirsiniaios, the older name during the Turkish rule and the division era of 1915 was Souleimaniotis.
Contents |
[edit] Nearest places
- Myrsini Beach, west-northwest (settlement without office)
- Lechaina, east-northeast
- Strousi, south
- Neochori (Myrtounitou), west
[edit] Location
The town has a school and two churches. One is called Ághios Nikoláos to the north and the other is to the east. Myrsíni has no high school, but there is one 3 kilometers to the east in Lechaina. Its main street is 28 Oktovriou (October 28th Street), which is also the longest residential street, at about 2 kilometers long. Andravida is to the east and another to the west. Its distance to the municipal boundary is around 500 m from downtown, and especially from Dimokratias street which is the Andravida portion of Strousion or Strousi. The latitude is . The area including Myrsini Beach is nearly 10 km². Until 1992, the commune of Myrsíni was less than 1 km² Today, it covers around 10 km².
[edit] Statistics
In the mid-20th century, Myrsíni reaches more than 1,000 people. The population after 1990 has been stable, but some think it hovering at or above the 1,500 mark which it happened in the mid-20th century. The population from the late-20th century to 2001 boomed again but slowly at 8.727%.
| Year | population | Change | Percent of the municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1700 | 51 (19 families) | - | not existed at the time |
| 1920 | 1,168 | +1,117 or (+2,190.2%) | N/A |
| 1928 | 1,288 | +120 or +10.27% | N/A |
| 1940 | 1,481 | +193 or +14.98% | N/A |
| 1951 | 1,496 | +15 or +1.01% | N/A |
| 1961 | 1,352 | -143 or -9.56% | - |
| 1971 | 1,180 | -172 or -12.72% | - |
| 1981 | 1,100 | -80 or -6.78% | - |
| 1991 | 1,160 | +60 or +5.45% | - |
| 2001 | 1,196 | +36 or +3.1% |
[edit] Services
| Year | Telephone numbers |
|---|---|
| 1982 | 137 |
| 1996 | 411 |
[edit] Geography
All of the town of Myrsíni lies on a flat plain that stretches from Amalias through the beaches and northeast into Kato Achaia. Most of the land is deforested for more than 90% of the community. Around 1% is filled with residential property. Its westernmost stream represents a municipal and community boundary. There are basketball courts with pavement. The town has a basketball court. Much of the forest (more than 95%) is found within 100 m of Myrsíni Beach, near Andravida creek and the creek in Myrsíni's west side. The rest (less than 5%) of the forest, pine trees and willow and other types of trees and greens are sporadically found. A town park is located 300 m from the center west, neighboring the health center and Myrsíni's only water tower, which supplies water from Peneus Dam to its houses. The park has swings, teeter totter, benches, square, a sandbox, and slides, it also has a square named Ydragogeiou named after a water tower to the west. The location is roads connecting to Myrsíni Beach and Kyllini.
[edit] History
Its origin of the name came from the ancient city of Myrsinus and is named after, the current name was adopted in the 1910s. According to Homer, it took place with the Trojan War together with all of the Eleans[1][2]. Strabo mentioned the city Myrtunitum or Myrtunium (Μυρτούνιον)[3]. The location is uncertain, its ruins are probably located northeast of Lechaina in the area of Robico tomato plant. The village was originally located by the Ionian Sea, raiders moved the village about 3 km south of what is now Myrsini Beach. The village was known as Souleimanaga (Σουλεϊμαναγα, Suleiman Aga) named after Suleiman[4], the former occupiers of much of Greece during the Ottoman rule, it was also a part of the old vilayet of Gastouni, it became a part of Greece after the Greek War of Independence. Famous revolutionary leaders included Christos Apostolopoulos, Antonios Kalogeropoulos, Sofianis Piperintzas and more, its chieftain was Georgios Nikoloutsopoulos which his nickname was Souleimaniotis, he is honored a statue today. They battled in Chlemoutsi, Pyrgos, Gastouni, etc. Souleimanaga became a part of the province of Ilia in 1828 with its capital in Gastouni, shortly when every place in the country had municipality, it became a part of the municipality of Myrtountio with its seat at Lechaina until 1913, which became a separate community until 1997. The old municipality named after this ancient wity included Brati (now Stafidokampos), Kavasila, Kalyvia Myrtountiou, Kardiakafti, Kastro, Kyllini, Lygia, Machos, Markopoulo, Neochori Myrtountiou, Olga, Retouni (Areti), Souleimanaga (now Myrsini), Strousi, Tragano, Troubai or Troube (now Dimitra), Vartholomio, Vlacherna and Vrana.
It adopted its current name in 1915 together with other communitiews, settlements, etc which had Turkish names or renamed during the Turkish period. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, some of its buildings were rebuilt, unlike parts of Greece, almost every building did not suffer severe damage from the war, it only had a few roofs ruined.
[edit] Communications
The length of roads is around 20 km. around 2 km is residential. around 8 km is paved. the rest are surface. There are no transformer lines but they are in Lechaina.
[edit] Features
The only gas station in town is Shell, others are out-of town. The town has two squares or πλατεία plateía. It also has a school which was first opened a few decades ago, the original location was at Scholeio Street a few blocks west of the centre and was like a school house, the government moved its location 700 m east near Kotini, now Ethniki Antistaseos Street in the mid to late 20th century, the first school contained only one storey, another building containing two stories was added in the 1990s. More than half of the houses are newer and safer than those stone-built homes built nearly without electricity, but they are not built against earthquakes (earthquake-proof) since the 1970s in majority. The town's main church is Aghios Nikolaos, with a palm tree in the cemetery. The entrance is a 45 degree angle from a street named from this church with a gate, and beside the entrance, a clock tower with bells. It is founded northwest of the centre. The second church is 200 metres east of the centre, and it was built after 1994. The setting is located next to another city square. There are no supermarket but in Lechaina where Supermarket Ilida is located. There is a well-known bakery that sreves fresh bread, and pastries. It is located next to Polytechneiou Street, and October 28 Street. Myrsíni's main outdoor restaurant is the Akropolis Restaurant. The restaurant has twenty tables, and has grill for its residents and beyond. A night club used to dominate Myrsíni was the Pub. The pub has excellent bushes with nightlights, and a stoned pathway. It was later closed down in 2001, because it was not just being bankrupt, it was no importance. Myrsíni had an arcade shop. Myrsíni's supermarket is small, they are on both sides of the town's main street (facing north and south). The only supermarkets founded in Myrsíni.
There are less than 400 to 500 buildings and units situated around the town, including former Restaurant Ali Baba and L&M Beach units.
There is a local 10-paged newspaper called Myrsíni, the newspaper sells hundreds of copies.
[edit] Streets
- 28 Oktovriou Street
- Mitr. Antoniou Street
- Aristotelous Street (named after Aristotle)
- Athanasios Diakou Street (named after Athanasios Diakos) - Vlachara Street (previous name)
- Dimokratias Street
- Eirinis Street - Bokou Street (previous name)
- Eleftheriou Venizelou Street (named after Eleftherios Venizelos) - Sofianeika Street (previous name)
- Ethnikis Anexartisis Street
- Ethnikis Antistasis (named after the Greek Resistance) - Kordelou Street (previous name)
- Germanou Street
- Grigoriou V Street
- I. Kalliopoulou Street - Kotini Street (previous name)
- Th. Kolokotroni Street (named after Theodoros Kolokotronis)
- Konstantinopoulou Street
- Makrygianni Street
- Nikolopoulou Street
- Polytechneiou Street - Kotini Street (previous name)
- G. Sagia Street
[edit] Myrsíni Beach
On Myrsíni Beach, Restaurant Ali Baba is the nicest restaurant. It stands right next to a perfect view of the Ionian Sea. The town also has a campsite named L&M Beach. Also in the beach, 300 metres of sand can be seen from the abandoned building up to the dead-end road. Types of seaweed and algae are found. One of the features on Myrsíni Beach. The total length of the coastline is around 2.5 km. The area is around 2 km². The setting of the beach is right in front of these beautiful forest.
[edit] References
- Myrsini, History of the village - a book related on the town's history.
[edit] External links
- GTP - Myrsíni
- indexmundi.com - Myrsíni
- Map and aerial photos:
- Street map information from: Mapquest, LiveLocal or Google or Yahoo! Maps
- Satellite images: Google or Microsoft Virtual Earth - image now available
- Coordinates:
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