Arcadia

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This article is about a region of Greece. For other uses, see Arcadia (disambiguation).

Arcadia Prefecture Νομός Αρκαδίας

Periphery	Peloponnese
Capital	Tripoli
Population	100,611 (2005)Ranked 38th
Area	4,419 km² Ranked 5th
Population density	22.8/km²Ranked 52nd
Number of provinces	4
Number of municipalities	22
Number of communities	1
Postal codes	22x xx
Area codes	2710, 275x0, 279x0
Licence plate code	ΤΡ
ISO 3166-2 code	GR-12
Website	www.arcadia.gr/

Arcadia or Arkadía (Greek Αρκαδία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas.

1 Modern Arcadia
2 Persons
3 Climate
4 History
5 Transport
6 Communications
7 Television
8 Provinces
9 Municipalities and communities
10 Sports Teams
11 External links

[edit] Modern Arcadia

Arcadia has its present-day capital at Tripoli. It forms the largest prefecture on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It currently covers about 18% of the entire peninsula, although it once extended to about 20 to 25% of the peninsula.

The prefecture has a skiing resort on Mount Maenalus, the Mainalon, located about 20 km NW of Tripoli. The other mountains include the Parnon in the southeast, the Artemisio, the Saita, the Skiathio, the Lykaia and Tsiberou.

The Greek National Road 7 (E65) highway, which was extended after 1997 and in 2003, runs through Arcadia on a north-west to south-east axis and nearly forms in the southwest the end of the highway. A thermoelectric power station which produces electricity for most of southern Greece, operates to the south of Megalopolis, along with a coal mine.

Arcadia has two tunnels. The Artemisio Tunnel opened first, followed by the tunnel east of Megalopolis; both serve traffic flowing between Messenia and Athens.

The chief cities and communities in the prefecture include Tripoli, Astros, Vytina, Dimitsana, Lagkadia, Leonidio, Leontari, Levidi, Megalopolis Paloumba and Stemnitsa.

In agriculture, potato farms, mixed farming, olive groves, and pasture dominate the plains of Arcadia, especially in the area around Megalopolis and between Tripoli and Levidi.

Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770 - 1843), a general in the Greek War of Independence (1821 - 1832), lived in Arcadia.

[edit] Persons

Ancient Olympic victors:
- Androsthenes of Maenalus, won gold in 420 and 416 BC
- Euthymenes of Maenalus, won gold in 400 and 392 BC
Mimis Fotopoulos (April 1913 in Zatouna Gortynias - 1986 in Athens)
Kostas Karyotakis (October 30, 1896 – July 20, 1928 in Preveza)

[edit] Climate

The climate consists of hot summers and mild winters in the eastern part, the southern part, the low lying areas and the central area at altitudes lower than 1,000 m. The area primarily receives rain during fall and winter months in the rest of Arcadia. Winter snow occurs commonly in the mountainous areas for much of the west and the northern part, the Taygetus area, the Mainalon.

[edit] History

Les Bergers d’Arcadie by Nicolas Poussin.

Due to its remote, mountainous character, Arcadia has always been a classical refuge. So during the Dorian invasion, when Mycenaean Greek was replaced with Doric Greek along the coast of the Peloponnes, it survived in Arcadia, developing into the Arcadocypriot dialect of Classical Antiquity. Arcadocypriot never became a literary dialect, but it is known from inscriptions. Tsan is a letter of the Greek alphabet occurring only in Arcadia, shaped like Cyrillic И; it represents an affricate that developed from labiovelars in context where they became t in other dialects. Tsakonian Greek , still spoken on the coast of the modern prefecture of Arcadia, in the Classical period considered the southern Argolid coast immediately adjoining Arcadia, is a descendant of Doric Greek, and as such is an extraordinary example of a surviving regional dialect of archaic Greek. The capital of Tsakonia is the Arcadian coastal town of Leonidio.

One of the birth-places reported for Zeus is Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia. Lycaon, a cannibalistic Pelasgian king, was transformed into a werewolf by Zeus. Lycaon's daughter was Callisto. It was also said to have been the birthplace of Zeus' son, Hermes.

Arcadia remained a rustic, secluded area, and its inhabitants became proverbial as primitive herdsmen leading simple pastoral unsophisticated yet happy lives, to the point that Arcadia may refer to some imaginary idyllic paradise, immortalized by Virgil's Eclogues, and later by Jacopo Sannazaro in his pastoral masterpiece, Arcadia (1504); see also Arcadia (paradise).

The Latin phrase Et in Arcadia ego which is usually interpreted to mean "I am also in Arcadia" or "I am even in Arcadia" is an example of memento mori, a cautionary reminder of the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death. The phrase is most often associated with a 1647 painting by Nicolas Poussin, also known as "The Arcadian Shepherds". In the painting the phrase appears as an inscription on a tomb discovered by youthful figures in classical garb.

In the 20th century, Arcadia experienced extensive population loss through emigration, mostly to the Americas. Many Arcadian villages lost almost half their inhabitants, and fears arose that they would turn into ghost towns. Arcadia now has a smaller population than Corinthia. Demographers expected that its population would halve between 1951 and the early 21st century.

In the mid to late 20th century a power plant began operating.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Communications

[edit] Television

Arkadiki Radiophonia Teleorassi - ART

[edit] Provinces

Arcadia has 4 provinces:

Gortynia Province - Dimitsana
Kynouria Province - Leonidio
Mantineia Province - Tripolis
Megalopoli Province - Megalopolis

[edit] Municipalities and communities

Municipality	YPES code	Seat (if different)	Postal code
Apollonas	0501	Tyros	220 29
Dimitsana	0506		220 07
Falanthos	0523	Davia	221 00
Falaisia	0522	Leontari	220 21
Gortyna	0505	Karytaina	220 22
Iraia	0507	Paloumba	220 28
Kleitor	0507	Mygdalia	220 28
Kontovazaina	0509		220 15
Korythio	0510	Steno	221 00
Lagkadia	0512		220 03
Leonidio	0514		223 00
Levidi	0513		220 02
Mantineia	0515	Nestani	220 05
Megalopoli	0516		222 00
North Kynouria	0503	Astros	220 01
Skyritida	0517	Vlachokerasia	220 16
Tegea	0518	Stadio	220 12
Trikolonoi	0519	Stemnitsa	220 24
Tripoli	0520		221 00
Tropaia	0521		220 08
Valtetsi	0502	Asea	220 27
Vytina	0504		220 10
Community	YPES code	Seat (if different)	Postal code
Kosmas	0511		230 58