Listed 11 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "KALAMATA Town MESSINIA" .
FARES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
Pharai, Phere, Pherai, Eth. Pharates, Pharaiates. An ancient town
of Messenia, situated upon a hill rising from the left bank of the river Nedon,
and at a distance of a mile from the Messenian gulf. Strabo describes it as situated
5 stadia from the sea (viii. p. 361), and Pausanias 6 (iv. 31. § 3); but it is
probable that the earth deposited at the mouth of the river Nedon has, in the
course of centuries, encroached upon the sea. Pherae occupied the site of Kaleamata,
the modern capital of Messenia; and in antiquity also it seems to have been the
chief town in the southern Messenian plain. It was said to have been founded by
Pharis, the son of Hermes. (Paus. iv. 30. § 2.) In the Iliad it is mentioned as
the well-built city of the wealthy Diocles, a vassal of the Atridae (v. 543),
and as one of the seven places offered by Agamemnon to Achilles (ix. 151); in
the Odyssey, Telemachus rests here on his journey from Pylos to Sparta (iii. 490).
After the capture of Messene by the Achaeans in B.C. 182, Pharae, Abia, and Thuria
separated themselves from Messene, and became each a distinct member of the league.
(Polyb. xxv. 1.) Pharae was annexed to Laconia by Augustus (Paus. iv. 30. § 2),
but it was restored to Messenia by Tiberius. Pausanias found at Pharae temples
of Fortune, and of Nicomachus and Gorgasus, grandsons of Asclepius. Outside the
city there was a grove of Apollo Carneius, and in it a fountain of water. (Paus.
iv. 30. § 3, seq., iv. 31. § 1.) Strabo correctly describes Pharae as having an
anchorage, but only for summer (viii. p. 361); and at present, after the month
of September ships retire for safety to Armyro, so called from a river strongly
impregnated with salt flowing into the sea at this place: it is the (hudor halmuron,
mentioned by Pausanias (iv. 30. § 2) as on the road from Abia to Pharae.
There are no ancient remains at Kalamata, which is not surprising,
as the place has always been well occupied and inhabited. The height above the
town is crowned by a ruined castle of the middle ages. It was the residence of
several of the Latin chieftains of the Morea. William Villehardouin II. was born
here. In 1685 it was conquered and enlarged by the Venetians. It was the headquarters
of the insurrection of 1770, and again of the revolution of 1821, which spread
from thence over the whole peninsula.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KALAMES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
Calam, -ae (Kalamai), a village of Messenia near Limnae, and at no
great distance from the frontiers of Laconia, is represented by the modern village
of Kalami, at the distance of three-quarters of an hour NW. of Kalamata: the latter
is the site of the ancient Therae, and must not be confounded with Kalami. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 3; Pol. v. 92; Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 362, Peloponnesiaca, p. 183;
Bollaye, Recherches, p. 105; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 2.)
LIMNES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A place on the frontiers of Messenia and Laconia, containing a temple
of Artemis Limnatis, used jointly by the Messenians and Lacedaemonians. An outrage
offered by the Messenians to some Lacedaemonian virgins at the festival of this
goddess is said to have been the cause of the First Messenian War. (Strab. vi.,
viii.; Paus. iii. 2. § 6, iv. 31. § 3.) The possession of this temple, and of
the Ager Dentheliatis, the district in which it was situated, was a frequent subject
of the dispute between the Lacedaemonians and Messenians down to the time of the
Roman emperors. (Tac. Ann. iv. 43.) The ruins of the temple of Artemis Limnatis
have been discovered by Ross, near the church of Panaghia Volimniatissa, in the
village of Volimnos.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
FARES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A town of Messenia mentioned as early as Homer (Il. v. 543).
LIMNES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A town in Messenia, on the frontiers of Laconia, with a temple of Artemis Limnatis.
KALAMATA (Town) MESSINIA
The capital of the province of Messinia has 44.052 residents and it
is built in the eastern part of the inmost part of the Messinian Gulf, at the
foot of Mount Taygetos.
It extends to a great length and has a Beach of 4 km with crystal
clear waters.
It was founded, according to local tradition, in the mid-2nd century
A.D. during the Homeric years by Fari, the son of Hermes and Filodameas, and was
firstly named Farai while its contemporary name, according to tradition, comes
from an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Kalomata Virgin Mary.
In the years of the Franks Kalamata, the basis of the barony, became
an important centre of medieval civilization, while in its castle, which had been
an acropolis for the ancient Faron and restored by the Franks, the prince and
occcupant (1289-1307) of Moreas, Vileardouinos the 2nd (1246-1278), father of
the princess Izambo, was born.
During the Turkish rule, it became an important financial centre with
Panayiotis Benakis, the most famous of its noblemen, along with the Mavromichalis
family from Mani.
Those become the organisers of the Revolution in 1770, the well-known
Orlofikon. On the 23rd of March in 1821, the Greek Revolution was declared at
the church of St. Apostles against the turkish invader by Petrobeis Mavromichali
the bey of free Mani.
Today, Kalamata is a contemporary city which has been rebuilt after
the disastrous earthquake on the 13th September 1986.
It has recreation facilities, parks and sports facilities where athletes
of individual and team sports prepare in order to take part in international competitions
like the weightlifters and the athletics team who won gold medals in the Olympic
Games of Atlanda.
There are also congress halls, hotels, marinas, campsites and rooms
to rent.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
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