Koroni

Koroni Κορώνη
Location
Koroni
Coordinates	36°47′N 21°57′E / 36.783°N 21.95°E / 36.783; 21.95Coordinates: 36°47′N 21°57′E / 36.783°N 21.95°E / 36.783; 21.95
Location within the peripheral unit
Government
Country:	Greece
Region:	Peloponnese
Regional unit:	Messenia
Municipality:	Pylos-Nestoras
Population statistics (as of 2001)
Municipal unit
- Population:	5,067
- Area:	105.163 km2 (41 sq mi)
- Density:	48 /km2 (125 /sq mi)
Community
- Population:	1,688
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation:	0 m ­(0 ft)
Postal:	24x xx
Telephone:	272x0
Auto:	XA
Website
www.koroni.gr

Koroni or Coroni (Greek: Κορώνη) is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit.^[1] Known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni (pop. 1,668) sits on the southwest peninsula of the Peloponnese on the Gulf of Messinia in southern Greece 45 minutes southwest of Kalamata. The town is nestled on a hill below an impressive Venetian castle and reaches to the edge of the gulf. The town was the seat of the former municipality of Koróni, which has a land area of 105.163 km² and a population of 5,067 (2001 census). The municipal unit's next largest towns are Charokopeió (pop. 743), Chrysokellariá (528), and Vasilítsi (488). It also includes the uninhabited offshore island of Venétiko.

History

Venetian map of Koroni (1686).

The town was founded in ancient times. The Greek geographer Pausanias in his book "Messiniaka" reports the original location of Koroni at today's Petalidi, a town a few kilometers north of Koroni. He also reports many temples of Greek gods and a copper statue of Zeus. Because of reorderings, in the centuries that followed the town of Koroni moved to its current location where the ancient town of Asini had once stood. In the 6th and 7th centuries AD, the Byzantines built a fortress there. In 1206, the Venetians occupied it, turning Koroni into an important stage on their sea routes towards the Eastern Mediterranean.

The fortress and town were captured by the Ottoman troops of Sultan Bayezid II in 1500. Apart from a short period under Habsburg Empire rule in the Siege of Coron in 1532-1534, when the fortress was defended by a few noble families as Baffa Trasci, Stratigò and Marchianò^[2], as well as a short return to Venetian rule (1686-1715) after the Morean War, they remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire until becoming part of the modern Greek state in 1828 when it was liberated by the French General Nicolas Joseph Maison.

Rocket Launch Site

Near Koroni, there was between 1966 and 1989 a facility for launching sounding rockets. The first launches performed from Koroni were done on May 207h, 1966 for investigation a total-annular solar eclipse. These rockets reached an altitude of 114 kilometres. From 1972 to 1989 several Russian meteorological rockets of M-100 type were launched. They reached altitudes up to 95 kilometres. In total 371 rockets were launched. ^[3]

References

1. ^ Kallikratis law Greece Ministry of Interior (Greek)
2. ^ D. Baffa Trasci Amalfitani di Crucoli, I nobili albanesi coronei in Araldica Calabrese VI Ed. MIT Cosenza 2008
3. ^ Koroni at Encyclopedia Astronautica

External links

• Official website (English) (Greek)