Ypati Υπάτη | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Ypati Location within the regional unit  | |
| Coordinates:38°52′N22°14′E / 38.867°N 22.233°E /38.867; 22.233 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Central Greece |
| Regional unit | Phthiotis |
| Municipality | Lamia |
| Area | |
| • Municipal unit | 257.5 km2 (99.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipal unit | 3,537 |
| • Municipal unit density | 14/km2 (36/sq mi) |
| • Community | 440 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Vehicle registration | ΜΙ |
Ypati (Greek:Υπάτη) is a village and a formermunicipality inPhthiotis, central peninsularGreece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality ofLamia, of which it is a municipal unit.[2] The municipal unit has an area of 257.504 km2.[3] In 2021 its population was 3,537 for the municipal unit, and 440 for the settlement of Ypati itself.[1] The town has a long history, being founded at the turn of the 5th/4th century BC as the capital of theAenianes. During theRoman period the town prospered and was regarded as the chief city ofThessaly, as well as a bishopric. It was probably abandoned in the 7th century as a result of theSlavic invasions, but was re-established by the 9th century asNeopatras. The town became prominent as ametropolitan see and was the capital of theGreek principality of Thessaly in 1268–1318 and of theCatalanDuchy of Neopatras from 1319 to 1391. It was conquered by the Ottomans in the early 15th century and remained under Ottoman rule until theGreek War of Independence.
Ypati is around 30 km west ofThermopylae and north of theOiti mountains andXerisa river, it is also 25 km west ofLamia south of theGR-38 (Lamia - Karpenissi - Agrinio), around 230 km NNW ofAthens and about 50 km east ofKarpenissi, it overlooks theSpercheios to the north. The geography includes forests and grasslands to the south in higher elevations.Phocis lies to the south. Around 3 km northwest are the famous springs that date to ancient times. It is around a few kilometres from the mountains.
In Antiquity, the city was known asHypate (Ὑπάτη) orHypata (Ὑπάτα), probably a corruption ofhypo Oita (ὑπὸ Οἴτα, meaning "near theMount Oeta").
The city was founded in the late 5th/early 4th century BC, as the capital of theAenianes tribe and theirkoinon("league, commonwealth").[4][5] In later times it belonged to theAmphictyony ofAmphela.Herodotus records the nearby hot springs (nowLoutra Ypatis), which were visited in Antiquity. It was also apolis (city-state).[6]
In around 344 BC, the city came underMacedonian rule, which continued, except for a brief interruption during theLamian War, until the city became a member of theAetolian Leaguec. 273 BC.[4] As a member of the League, it was ravaged by theRoman generalManius Acilius Glabrio in 191 BC during his advance through Thessaly during theRoman-Seleucid War, and hosted the Aetolian peace negotiations with Roman generalLucius Valerius Flaccus two years later.[7][8] After the conclusion of peace between Roman and the Aetolian League, Hypata remained as the only Aetolian possession north of Oeta.[4] In 168 BC, Rome re-established thekoinon of the Aenianes as an autonomous polity, with its owneponymous magistrates and coins; Hypata became again its capital, and entered a period of renewed prosperity.[4][5]
After theBattle of Pydna, from the year 167 BC, the city was independent for a period of about twenty years, until creation of theAenianian League, a confederation of territories of the Aenianes that was directed by five officials, although in Hypata, the capital, twoarchons also governed.[9] Aenis, including Hypata, was united with theThessalian League in the first century BC. Possibly this was done byAugustus following his victory in theBattle of Actium, foundation ofNicopolis, and reorganisation of theAmphictyonic League in 31 BC,[4] but numismatic evidence suggests that it had already occurred before 44 BC.[10] The city remained part of Thessaly thereafter. Under Augustus, the city received the right to refer to itself as "Hypata Augusta," which it continued to do throughout the Roman Imperial period.[10] By the 2nd century AD, it was counted as the most important Thessalian city.[4] The archaeological remains indicate a substantial city.[11]
A local family, who mostly used the names Cyllus and Eubiotus became the league's most prominent family, with members serving as the League's leading magistrate, the general (strategos), until the office was abolished in the mid-second century AD.[10] They also began to participate in wider provincial politics underDomitian, when a Cyllus was manager of the Amphictyonic League atDelphi and receivedRoman citizenship.[10] In the early second century AD, his son Titus Flavius Eubiotus held the same post, funded thePythian Games, was high priest of theImperial cult in Thessaly, and held the post ofHelladarch.[10] Another Hypatan of this time, Lucius Cassius Petraeus funded the Pythian Games twice. Both Eubiotus and Petraeus appear as interlocutors in the philosophical dialogues ofPlutarch.[10] Hypata joined thePanhellenion, which was established inAthens byHadrian in 131/2 AD, andTitus Flavius Cyllus, a member of the leading family, funded the Great Penhellenic games organised by the Panhellenion and was the archon of the Panhellenion for AD 153-157.[10][12] InThe Golden Ass,Apuleius presents the area of Hypata as being infested with bandits at this time and a poem written at this time byAmmianus, which mocks Cyllus as a "spear-moron", might indicate that he had undertaken unsuccessful expeditions to suppress this problem.[10] A daughter of the family, Flavia Habroea, who may have a cameo at the beginning ofLucian'sLucius or the Ass, marriedMarcus Ulpius Leurus, a fellow Thessalian and a Roman consul.[10] Their sonMarcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus was a consul in the 220s and a major benefactor at Athens around 230. He seems to have been related toEmperor Pupienus in some way.[10]
The city is still mentioned in the 6th century under its ancient name byProcopius, who recorded repairs to its walls by EmperorJustinian I, and in theSynecdemus.[13][14]
The city was probably abandoned after the Slavic invasions of the 7th century, but reappears in the 9th century under the nameNeai Patrai (Νέαι Πάτραι, "New Patras") orPatrai Helladikai (Πάτραι Ἑλλαδικαὶ, "Patras inHellas").[13][14]Nicephorus Gregoras, writing in the 14th century, mentions it as being a strongly fortified place in the 12th century.[15] Otherwise, until the 13th century, the city is mentioned only as an ecclesiastical centre (see below).
Coming briefly underLatin rule after theFourth Crusade, the city was recovered by the ruler ofEpirus,Theodore Komnenos Doukas, in 1218. It remained in Epirote hands thereafter, except for a brief period when it was occupied byNicaean troops after theBattle of Pelagonia in 1259.[13] Afterc. 1268 it became the capital of the independent principality ofThessaly underJohn I Doukas and his successors, until the death ofJohn II Doukas in 1318.[13] TheCatalan Company seized the city in 1319 and made it the centre of the newDuchy of Neopatras, which was joined with the recently conqueredDuchy of Athens to the south. Neopatras was one of the last remaining Catalan possessions in Greece, being captured byNerio Acciaioli in 1391. Three years later it fell to theOttoman Turks underBayezid I.[13][14] The Turks were evicted for a time, in 1402, byTheodore Palaiologos,Despot of the Morea. The Turks recovered it in 1414, the Byzantines again in 1416, until it was definitively conquered by the Ottomans in 1423. UnderOttoman rule, the city became known asPatracık ("Little Patras"), rendered in Greek asPatratziki (Πατρατζίκι).[16]
Early 19th-century sources report that the town was the centre of akaza (district) in theSanjak of Inebahti of theMorea Eyalet.[17]
In theGreek War of Independence, Ypati (Patratziki) was the scene of three battles :
Ypati finally joined Greece in 1830 and revived its ancient name. The municipality of Ypati was founded on January 10, 1834.[citation needed]
The town suffered during theAxis occupation: 15 inhabitants were shot as reprisals for theGorgopotamos sabotage in 1942.[citation needed]
The worst blow came on 17 June 1944, when the Germans surrounded the town as part ofreprisals for attacks byEAM-ELAS partisans based in the region. They executed 28 people, wounded another 30, and burned down 375 out of the town's 400 buildings. A memorial in the town centre commemorates the event and Ypati has been declared a "martyr city" by the Greek state.[18]
The Greekmenologium commemorates, on 28 March,Saint Herodion, traditionally held to be one of 70 disciples mentioned in the Gospel (whom theApostle Paul of Tarsus calls a relative inEpistle to the Romans, ch.16, v.11) as first bishop of Neopatras.[citation needed]
The city is historically attested as an episcopal see from the 3rd century on.[4][13] Initially it was asuffragan of theMetropolis of Larissa, in the sway of thePatriarchate of Constantinople. Its first historically documented bishop was Leo, participant at theCouncil of Costantinople of 879-880 which rehabilitated PatriarchPhotios I of Constantinople.[19]
It was raised to ametropolitan bishopric ca. 900, listed in theNotitia Episcopatuum attributed to the Byzantine emperorLeo VI (r. 886–912), as the penultimate metropolitan see under the Patriarchate of Constantinople with onesuffragan see, theDiocese of Marmaritzana.[19][20] A 10th-century seal holds the name of archbishop Cosmas,[21] while the Metropolitan Nicholas signed a synodal decree from PatriarchSisinius II of Constantinople around 997.[19]
Until the 13th century, the city is most notable as an ecclesiastical centre. In the 12th century it had three suffragans: Marmaritzana (again) plusDiocese of Hagia andDiocese of Bela, but in the 13th century, it was reduced again to Marmaritzana alone, before ceding this too to theArchdiocese of Lamia (Zetounion), probably after 1318.[13] At the turn of the 13th century, its bishop,Euthymios Malakes, was a correspondent of themetropolitan of Athens,Michael Choniates.[13][19]
After theFourth Crusade, the city was made aLatin rite archdiocese, theLatin Archbishopric of Neopatras. The see was suppressed after the Greek reconquest, but restored when theCatalans established theDuchy of Neopatras in 1319, and remained active until the Ottoman conquest at the turn of the 15th century. In 1933, it was restored as a Catholictitular see.[citation needed]
The municipal unit of Ypati is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets) :[2]
| Year | Village | Community | Municipality (after 2011 Mun. Unit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | — | 929 | 6,795 |
| 2001 | 724 | 849 | 6,855 |
| 2011 | 496 | 552 | 4,541 |
| 2021 | - | 440 | 3,537 |
When visited byWilliam Martin Leake in the 19th century, there are still considerable remains of the ancient town. He observed many large quadrangular blocks of stones and foundations of ancient walls on the heights, as well as in the buildings of the town. In the metropolitan church he noticed a handsome shaft of white marble, and on the outside of the wall an inscription in small characters of the best times. He also discovered an inscription on a broken block of white marble, lying under a plane-tree near a fountain in the Jewish cemetery.[22][23]
The town is still dominated by its medieval castle, probably built in its present form in the 13th century, although the large round tower likely dates to the Catalan period. The castle's last military use was during theGreek Civil War.[24][25] The castle was restored in 2011–15 with EU funds under the supervision of the 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and is open to the public from 19 December 2015.[25][26]
TheByzantine Museum of Phthiotis, housed in an old barracks building erected in 1836 and open to the public since 2007,[27] features Byzantine artifacts discovered in archaeological digs across thePhthiotis Prefecture, including mosaics and items of daily use, as well as a significant coin collection.[28] The town features also the Byzantine-era Church of Hagia Sophia, built on the site of an older, early Christian church. The church masonry incorporates many pieces ofspolia from the early and middle Byzantine periods, as well as the post-Byzantine era. At the southern side, archaeologists have discovered remnants of a 5th-centurybaptistery.[24] The town's old cathedral church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, dates to the 18th century, but portions of a mosaic floor and reused architectural elements point to the existence, on the same location, of an early Christian basilica.[29]
Notable sights are also the "Kakogianneio" Astronomical School andplanetarium,[30] the traditionalwater mill at the waterfall near the entrance of the town,[31] and the martyrs' monument at the central town square, dedicated to the people executed by the Germans on 17 June 1944.[18] Due to the proximity of Oeta, Ypati has also become a centre for excursions to the mountain, and is the starting point of severaltrekking paths.[32]
The 15th-centuryAgathonos Monastery is located some 3 km west of the town.[33][34] The monastery also houses the Oiti Natural History Museum, dedicated to the geology, climate, flora and fauna of Mount Oeta and its national park.[35]
{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Hypata".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Places adjacent to Ypati | |
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