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This article is about the Greek geographical feature and town. For the mythological figure see Pylus (mythology). For board game see Pylos (board game). Pylos, or Pílos (Greek: Πύλος, Italian: Navarino), is a large bay and a town on the west coast of the Peloponnese, in the district of Messenia in southern Greece. It is the capital of Pylia Province. Nearby villages include Gialova, Elaiofyto, Schinolakka, and Palaionero. The town of Pylos has 2,561 inhabitants, the municipality of Pylos 5,402 (2001). Old Pylos and New Pylos are distinct settlements and castles, several kilometers apart. Old Pylos (Navarino Vecchio) is located on the northwest of the bay, while New Pylos is located in the southeast. The bay of Pylos was the site of two naval battles:
[edit] In the Middle Ages, Pylos was named Avarino (Αβαρίνος), probably after a body of Avars who settled there.[citation needed] Hopf's theory that it comes from the Navarrese Company[2] is chronologically unsustainable.[3] It was later called Navarino, with the incorporation of the ν of the article τον. Another theory suggests it is a Slavic name meaning "place of maples".[4] The Venetian name was "Zonklon" (from Greek Ionchion), the Turkish name (1498-1821) "Anavarin" (with another round of epenthesis), and the local Greek name "Neokastron" 'new castle'.[5] Other names recorded for the town and the castles are Avarmus, Abarinus, Albarinos, Albaxinus, Avarinos, Coryphasium, Iverin, Nelea, Port de Jonc, Porto Giunco, and Zunchio. [edit] Geography The soil about Navarino is of a red colour, and is remarkable for the production of an infinite quantity of squills, which are used in medicine. The rocks, which show themselves in every direction through a scanty but rich soil, are limestone, and present a general appearance of unproductiveness round the castle of Navarino; and the absence of trees is ill compensated by the profusion of sage, brooms, cistus, and other shrubs which start from the innumerable cavities of the limestone. The remains of Navarino Vecchio, or ancient Navarino, consist of a fort, covering the summit of a hill sloping quickly to the south, but falling in abrupt precipices to the north and east. The town was built on the southern declivity, and was surrounded by a wall, which, allowing for the natural irregularities of the soil, represented a triangle, with the castle at the summit—a form observable in many of the ancient cities of Greece. [edit] Bay of Pylos Pylos' bay is formed by a deep indenture in the Morea, shut in by a long island, anciently called Sphacteria or Sphagia (modern name Sfaktiria), famous for the defeat and capture of the Spartans, in the Battle of Pylos during the Peloponnesian War, and still showing the ruins of walls which perhaps formed their last refuge. This island has been divided into three or four separate sections by the violence of the waves, and boats could pass from the open sea into the port, in calm weather, using the channels so formed. One such section contains the tomb of a Turkish saint, or santon, called the Delikli Baba. This same section also contains a monument to the French sailors who died at the Battle of Navarino; the monument to the Russian dead of the same battle is on the island of Sphacteria, while the monument to the English dead is on another very small island near the centre of the port. Monuments and tombs from the Greek War of Independence are on the island of Sphacteria, the most important being the monument to the Italian philhellene Santorre di Santa Rosa. [edit] MythologyPylos is the supposed birthplace of the venerable Nestor, its king. [edit] History[edit] Bronze Age PylosBronze Age Pylos was excavated by Carl Blegen between 1939 and 1952. It is located at modern Ano Englianos, about 9 km north-east of the bay 37°01′41″N 21°41′42″E / 37.028°N 21.695°E. Blegen called the remains of a large Mycenean palace found there the "Palace of Nestor", after the character Nestor, who ruled over "Sandy Pylos" in the Homeric poems. Linear B tablets found by Blegen clearly demonstrate that the site itself was called Pylos (Mycenaean Greek Pulos, Linear B Pu-ro) by its Mycenaean inhabitants. This site was abandoned sometime after the 8th century BC. The ruins of a crude stone fortress on nearby Sphacteria Island, apparently of Mycenaean origin, were used by the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War. (Thucydides iv. 31) [edit] Classical PylosThe site of classical Pylos was probably on the rocky promontory now known as Koryphasion at the northern edge of the bay of Pylos. This site is described by the Greek historian Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War. In 425 BC the Athenian politician Cleon sent an expedition to Pylos, to seize and occupy the bay. The Athenians captured a number of Spartan troops on the adjacent island of Sphacteria (see Battle of Sphacteria). Spartan anxiety over the return of the prisoners, who were taken to Athens as hostages, contributed to their acceptance of the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC. [edit][edit]See also: Navarino Massacre   The Venetians built fortresses both at Old Navarino and (much later) at New Navarino. The Ottoman Empire took Navarino from the Venetians in 1499. They rebuilt the Venetian old fortress in 1572, under the name Anavarin-i atik. Administratively, Anavarino was a kaza. In 1668, Evliya Çelebi describes the city in his Seyahatname:
Starting in 1686, the Venetians tried to retake Navarino and the rest of the Morea, but were finally defeated in 1715. The Ottomans started rebuilt the fortress of New Navarino, Anavarin-i Cedid, (which had been heavily damaged) immediately thereafter. There was another round of repairs in 1770. [edit] The Modern TownThe western end of Greek National Road 82 begins in downtown Pylos. The highway runs west to east and links Pylos with Kalamata and Sparta. The area enjoys a famously favorable climate, with especially mild winters. [edit] Communities
[edit] Historical population
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
Categories: Cities, towns and villages in the Messenia Prefecture | Mycenaean archaeological sites in the Peloponnese | Ancient Greek cities | Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece | Messenia | Bronze Age palaces in Greece | Archaeological sites in the Peloponnese | Former settlements in Greece | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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