| Asea Ασέα |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
Asea
|
|
| Coordinates | |
| Government | |
| Country: | Greece |
| Region: | Peloponnese |
| Regional unit: | Arcadia |
| Municipality: | Tripoli |
| Municipal unit: | Valtetsi |
| Population statistics (as of 2001) | |
| Community | |
| - Population: | 223 |
| Other | |
| Time zone: | EET/EEST (UTC+2/3) |
| Postal: | 22027 |
| Telephone: | 2710 |
| Auto: | TP |
Asea (Greek: Ασέα) is a village in Arcadia, Greece, in the middle of the southern Peloponnese peninsula. Asea is about 20 km from both Tripoli and Megalopoli, and 190 km from Athens. Asea was the seat of the municipality of Valtetsi. Although Asea has only about 200 permanent inhabitants, its natural beauty and archeological sites attract weekend and summer visitors.
Contents |
Ancient Asea occupied a hilltop site and is believed to have been settled by the late Early Helladic period. Evidence suggests that this was destroyed by fire and that the site was reoccupied during the Middle Helladic (MH). Remains consist of much Black Minyan pottery of various types and a number of graves. The lack of evidence later than the late MH period could result from abandonment of the site at that time or just from natural erosion.[1]
Asea is situated in a valley area separated from the rest of the villages. The mountains dominate much of the area and it contains plenty of valleys and streams and grasslands along with barren lands to the east, the forests dominate the western and the central portions. Farmlands are within the village area The mountains are also around the area.
| Year | Settlement population | Population municipal district |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 167 | - |
| 1991 | 145 | - |
| 2001 | 167 | 223 |
Asea is said to be named for Aseatas, son of the Spartan king, Lykaon, however it may have been established as early as 6000 BC. Its treasures are kept in archaeological museums in Tripoli, Nafplio, and Athens. The ruins of the ancient city still stand, most notably doric temples dedicated to Poseidon and Athena, and they indicate that Asea was once a prosperous city. According to Pausanias, the two temples were erected by Odysseus after his return to Ithaca. Inhabitants of Asea fought in the historic battles of Plataies (479 BC) and Mantineia (362 BC). City coins have been found dated 196 BC. Asea took part in the founding of the city of Megalopoli.
Under Turkish occupation, the village was called Kandreva. The area battled and joined Greece during the Greek War of Independence but it village still kept its name for the next 100 years. However, Asea took back its ancient name in the 1920s. It is one of the municipal centers of the region. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, many rebuildings were rebuilt but their original architecture remain while many of the houses are modernistic in architecture. The population lost between 1951 and 1991 which made many people to move to larger cities in Greece and abroad. It was one of the few places in the nation that after the population lost in 1991, it definitively recovered to its census where it was in 1981.
The village offers panoramic views of the mountains around the area including the west, the north, the east, Tsiberou to the southeast and to the south.
Asea is the birthplace of Nikos Gatsos, a well-known twentieth-century poet. Nikos Gatsos was born 1911 and died in 1992. He was buried in Asea.
Asea has a school, many churches, and a square (plateia). Its nearest hospital and university are in Tripoli.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||