Mezapos, Lakonia

Greece Greece

Administrative Region : Peloponnese
Regional unit : Lakonia

Mezapos (Μέζαπος) Lakonia

Mezapos [1] is a coastal settlement in the municipality of East Mani in the prefecture of Laconia. According to the 2011 census, its population is 31 permanent residents.

General elements

Mezapos is built in the homonymous bay of the Tigani Peninsula south of Areopolis [3], on a rocky site by the sea between two torrents. According to linguist Dikaios Vagiakakos, the name Mezapos comes from the Indo-European word apa (water) and the adjective mesos of the Aeolian dialect [4].

The settlement was visited in 1805 by the English military, topographer and archaeologist William Martin Leek, who states that the port of Mezapou was considered the safest on the west coast of Mani. During the 19th century, Niklian families and other related or allied factions settled in the greater Mezapou area.

An early Christian church dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries has been found near the village. Other attractions of the area are the Byzantine church of Panagia Vlacherna in Fokalotos, which dates between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century [8], the remains of the tower of Maniatis pirate Nikolos Sassari or Katzou, the cave [9] Alatospi and the ruins of Byzantine or Frankish fortifications.

Administratively, Mezapos was subject to the municipality of Messis in the prefecture of Laconia, while from 1899 to 1909 it was temporarily subordinated to the prefecture of Laconia. In December 1909 he returned with a Government Gazette to the prefecture of Laconia, where he still belongs today. With the abolition of the municipality of Messis in 1912, it became a province of Itylos, while in 1994 it was annexed to the municipality of Diros. From 1997 to 2011 it was a settlement of the Kapodistrian municipality of Itylos, while after the new changes brought to the local government, the Kallikratis program was integrated in the municipality of Eastern Mani [11].

Population censuses
Census 1879 1896 1928 1940 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 1991 2001 2011
Population 37 [12] 27 [13] 190 [14] 159 [15] 89 [16] 46 [17] 32 [18] 38 [19] 30 [20] 24 [20] 31 [2]

References

In the past, it was also referred to as Mezapos (see Law of V. Vagiakakou, Ancient and Medieval toponyms from Mani (Contribution first), Ellinika magazine, EMS, volume 15, Thessaloniki 1957, p. 204).
“Mezapos (o) Municipality of East Mani Local Community of Mina. Laconia - Peloponnese ". dhmos.gr. Municipalities, cities and villages of Greece. Retrieved July 22, 2016. [dead link]
Mastropavlos, Nikos G. (May 3, 1998). "Landscapes: Places and landscapes of Greece that are worth having on your travel agenda." tovima.gr. THE STEP. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
Dikaiou V. Vagiakakou, Ancient and medieval toponyms from Mani (Contribution first), Ellinika magazine, EMS, volume 15, Thessaloniki 1957, pp. 204 - 205.
William Martin Leake, Travels in the Morea, Volume I, John Murray, London, 1830, pp. 286 - 287.
Anargyrou G. Koutsilieri, History of Mani, Papadimas, Athens 1993, p. 131.
Eleftherios P. Alexakis, The genera and the family in the traditional society of Mani, Doctoral Thesis, Athens, 1980, p. 17.
Angeliki Mexia, Byzantine church architecture in the Peloponnese: the case of the mid-Byzantine temples of Mesa Mani, Doctoral dissertation, EKPA, 2011, APS, p. 307, BD, p. 144.
"Mina, Agios Georgios, Vamvaka, Mezapos, Aggeiadaki, Agios Georgios ...". mani.org.gr. Mani. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved on August 16, 2017.
Municipality of N. Mexis, Mani and Maniates, Estia Bookstore, Athens 1977, pp. 203 - 204.
"Mezapos N. Laconia". eetaa.gr. Hellenic Society for Local Development and Local Government. Retrieved July 23, 2016. [dead link]
Ministry of Interior, Statistics of Greece, Population 1879, In Athens 1881, Gimeros, p. 112.
Ιω. Emm. Nouchakis, Greek choreography. Geography, history, population and distance statistics, publisher Spyridon Kousoulinos, En Athinais 1901, p. 771.
Contemporary Encyclopedia Eleftheroudaki, volume 17, p. 256.
Ministry of National Economy, General Statistical Service of Greece, Population of Greece during the census of October 16, 1940 Archived 2017-08-13 at Wayback Machine., From the National Printing Office, In Athens, 1950, p. 259.
National Statistical Service of Greece, Population of Greece during the census of April 7, 1951, From the National Printing Office, In Athens, 1955, p. 128
Kingdom of Greece - National Statistical Service of Greece, Results of the population-housing census of March 19, 1961, Athens 1964, volume 1, p. 108.
Kingdom of Greece - National Statistical Service of Greece, Population of Greece during the census of March 14, 1971, Athens 1972, p. 121.
Hellenic Republic - National Statistical Service of Greece, Results of the population-housing census of April 5, 1981, Athens 1994, volume I, p. 250.

"Permanent and Real Population of Greece: All of Greece, Prefectures, Municipalities / Communities, Municipal / Community Apartments and Settlements, Population Censuses 2001 and 1991". Archived from the original on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 13 June 2006.