Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "PELOPONNISOS Region GREECE".
(Peloponnesos). Now the Morea; the southern part of Greece,
or the peninsula, which was connected with Hellas proper by the isthmus of Corinth.
It is said to have derived its name--Peloponnesus, or the "island of Pelops"--
from the mythical Pelops. This name does not occur in Homer. In his time the peninsula
was sometimes called Apia, from Apis, son of Phoroneus, king of Argos, and sometimes
Argos, which names were given to it on account of Argos being the chief power
in Peloponnesus at that period. On the east and south there are three great gulfs--the
Argolic, Laconian, and Messenian. The ancients compared the shape of the country
to the leaf of a plane-tree; and its modern name, the Morea, which first occurs
in the twelfth century of the Christian era, was given to it on account of its
resemblance to a mulberry-leaf. Peloponnesus was divided into various provinces,
all of which were bounded on one side by the sea, with the exception of Arcadia,
which was in the centre of the country. These provinces were Achaia in the north,
Elis in the west, Messenia in the west and south, Laconia in the south and east,
and Corinthia in the east and north. An account of the geography of the peninsula
is given under these names. The area of Peloponnesus is computed to be 7779 English
square miles, and it probably contained a population of upwards of a million in
the flourishing period of Greek history.
The Peloponnesus was originally inhabited by Pelasgians. Subsequently
the Achaeans, who belonged to the Aeolic race, settled in the eastern and southern
parts of the peninsula, in Argolis, Laconia, and Messenia; and the Ionians in
the northern part, in Achaia; while the remains of the original inhabitants of
the country, the Pelasgians, collected chiefly in the central part, in Arcadia.
Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to mythical chronology, the Dorians,
under the conduct of the Heraclidae, invaded and conquered Peloponnesus, and established
Doric States in Argolis, Laconia, and Messenia, whence they extended their power
over Corinth, Sicyon, and Megara. Part of the Achaean population remained in these
provinces as tributary subjects to the Dorians, under the name of Perioeci; while
others of the Achaeans passed over to the north of the Peloponnesus, expelled
the Ionians, and settled in this part of the country, which was called after them
Achaia. The Aetolians, who had invaded the Peloponnesus along with the Dorians,
settled in Elis, and became intermingled with the original inhabitants. The peninsula
remained under Doric influence during the most important period of Greek history,
and opposed to the great Ionic city of Athens. After the conquest of Messenia
by the Spartans it was under the supremacy of Sparta till the overthrow of the
power of the latter by the Thebans at the battle of Leuctra, B.C. 371.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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