Palairos, Aitoloakarnania

Palairos (Πάλαιρος) Aitoloakarnania

Palairos is a town in the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa, the seat of the former municipality of Kekropia (Later Palairo) in the former province of Xiromeros in the prefecture of Aitoloakarnania. It has a population of 2,474 according to the 2001 census. It has seen a slight increase in population in recent years, with 1,773 in 1971 and 2,039 in 1981. Palairos is located northwest of Messolonghi at a distance of 100 km, on the east coast of the homonymous bay (Palairos Bay) and at an altitude of 20 meters. Until 1928 it was called Zaverda [1]

Location

The coastal zone is bathed by the Ionian Sea while the hinterland borders the Municipalities: Anaktoriou, Alyzia, Medeon. A short distance from the shores of the Municipality extend the islands: Lefkada, Kalamos, Meganisi etc. The geographical structure of the area of ​​the Municipality of Paleros presents a variety. Includes: coastal zones, salt marshes, lowland areas, forests, mountains, lakes. In the Municipality rises the mountain massif of Serekas (1171m.), Which is one of the three large volumes of the Akarnanian mountains, there are still other large and small mountains. Also of interest is the coastal zone with the rocky shores towards the Ionian Sea, the lagoon located between the Municipality and Lefkada, the salt marshes of Voulkaria.

History

The most important place in the area is the Ancient City of Palairo, which was located in today's Kechropoula in the Southeast of Hersonissos. The city is considered to have existed since the Mycenaean period.
Proof of this are the walls of the city, part of which belongs to the 2nd millennium BC. The construction of the walls alternates between a Bank-shaped and a Polygonal system and all of them belong to different time periods. The oldest part of the wall dates back to the Mycenaean period. The port of Ancient Palairo was located on the site of today's Pogonia, in the southeastern part of Hersonissos, where the remains of the port facilities East of the village have been located.
At about the center of the Peninsula Peninsula at Sterna there was a fortress, which visually controlled the area to the northwest and southeast.
Ancient Paleros, the main gate in the N.D. side.

The fortress was built in the middle of the 5th century and in a sense is identified with the Ancient City of Sollion, a colony of the Corinthians. Today in this place are preserved ruins and the views of historians on the fortress of Sterna if there was a large ancient city and what it was they differ. Others place Sollio, others place Neriko and others settle in Sterna, another ancient city with enormous power. This is supported by the fact that the fortress is located, from which one can control a huge geographical area. Sollion was a naval station in Corinth that was invaded during the Peloponnesian War by the Athenians and according to Thucydides (430 BC) came under the occupation of the Palaearians-Acarnanians. The interests of the Athenians from 454 BC, lead to conflicts, in which the Acarnanian cities are involved in the 5th c. BC. Acarnania in the Peloponnesian War is on the side of the Athenians and towards the end of the 5th c. gains strength.

To the north of the city of Palairo lies Lake Vulkaria, Lake Myrtudion at Strabo. Lake is probably a remnant of the lagoon that enclosed the area of ​​today's plain of Palairo during the Homeric years. According to tradition, this lagoon was the savior of Queen Cleopatra, when during the Battle of Aktio she was chased by her pursuers and easily crossed the shallow groove of Palairo with her ships. A commemoration of the above passage of the Queen of Egypt is the preservation of the Name of the ancient passage as "Molos of Cleopatra".

After the victory of the Romans at Aktio in 31 BC, the traces of ancient Palairo are lost and historically this is attributed to the founding of Nikopolis after the Battle of Aktio. The founding of Nikopolis in 30 BC. is an important event for the distribution of populations and the economy throughout Etoloakarnania. The surrounding cities are losing a significant part of their potential, as a result of which they are turning into small towns of the new Diocese, so Acarnania becomes a territory of this new city.

During the reign of Trajan, the whole of Acarnania belonged to the imperial province of Epirus, which was based in Nikopolis. Later, Nikopolis was declared the seat of the Old Epirus Province by Diocletian, which includes today's Etoloakarnania. Since then, the whole of Etoloakarnania has been following the fate of the Byzantine Empire, to which it belonged. Paleros was among the cities that appear in antiquity, in the Mycenaean period, and in the Roman period.

If we are placed around the 2nd millennium BC. we will notice that the peninsula of today's Plagia was an autonomous island. Plagia is located at the northwestern end of N. Aetolia and is separated from Lefkada by a canal that was originally built by the Corinthians in 600 BC. approximately, in order to improve the communication of the North Ionian Sea with the Gulf of Patras. This canal cut off the current island from Etoloakarnania, with which it was connected by a series of swamps and islets.

The fact of the altitude difference of the plain of Palairos located below the sea surface with sandy soil, where there was a sea that cut off the peninsula in which today's Plagia is located from the rest of Etoloakarnania, is in favor of the claim about the island of Plagia. swamp which extended from the bay of today's Palairos to the bay of Agios Nikolaos Vonitsas. Remnant of the lagoon is Lake Voulkaria, which is still connected to the sea by a moat. The view that Plagia was an island during the Homeric years triggers theories for which the geographical location of Homeric Ithaca was.

The German researcher Dorpfeld, regarding the Peninsula Peninsula, classifies it in the geographical unit of Homeric Ithaca (Homer o 353) and identifies the city of Ancient Palairo with Homeric Niriko, while for the classical niriko in Stiriko he considers that b of Agios Georgios, where there is today the Castle of Agios Georgios.

Scholars differ on the position of Homeric Ithaca and there are many theories that have been developed. According to the German Dorpefld, the peninsula of Plagia, which was originally an island, is considered to be the Homeric country of the Kefalonians, where the city of Nirikos was located, which had been liberated by Laertes and annexed to Ithaca, while the Kefalonians became warriors of Odysseus. In the Peninsula Peninsula, in this respect, which is still used today as in antiquity, Odysseus may have had herds of pigs, sheep, oxen, and goats. The poet informs about Voukolos Philoitios that he lived in the Municipality of Kefallinia. The people of Kefallinia lived during the reign of Odysseus on the opposite mainland, and the herds of Odysseus, as we know them during the reign of Odysseus (x, 100 and y, 210), were located on the peninsula of Sterea and at the same time in the area of ​​Kefallinia.

Monuments

The main monuments that survive today in the area are:

The Castle of Kechropoula. The double enclosure of the Ancient Acarnanian City is preserved as a pillar and the remains of ancient buildings have also been saved.
The Archaeological Site of Sterna, located near Palia Plagia.
Kastelia of Plagia, which was probably part of the fortification complex of Sterna.
Griva Castle in Peratia.
The Venetian Castle of Plagia, named Agios Georgios, was built at the end of the 17th century and has been declared protected since 1998. Dorpfeld places the classic Niriko on the hill where the Castle is built.
Grivas Mansion in Peratia.
Ragos Mansion in Paleros.
Paliochori of Pogonia and the old village of Plagia, where buildings of these old settlements are preserved. There are some caves in the area that are unexplored.

The area has many churches and chapels. The Holy Monastery of Agios Dimitrios stands out and is located in Paleros and was built around the 16th century. The church's katholikon is a single-aisled stone building with a semicircular arch and a gabled tiled roof. Also, the Monastery of Panagia Rompi is located in Vatos, it is a single-aisled and tiled royal basilica. It is believed to have been built 100 years after the Fall of the City.
References

Pandektis, Name Changes