Asea, Greece

Asea (pronunciation: a-SEH-ah Greek: Ασέα, also Assea) 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 serves as 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.

History

ubdivision

*Kato Asea, north

Nearest places

*Kato Asea, north
*Paparis, south
*Marmaria, southwest
*Athinaio, west-northwest

Geography

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.

Population

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.

Panorama

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.

Famous residents

Asea is the birthplace of Nikos Gatsos, a well-known twentieth-century poet.

Other

Asea has a school, a lyceum (middle school), a gymnasium (secondary school), a church, and a square ("plateia"). Its nearest hospital and university are in Tripoli.

ee also

*List of settlements in the Arcadia prefecture

External links

* [http://aseavillage.tripod.com A web page for Asea village]
* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=8854 Asea or Assea on the GTP Travel Pages]