TheCorinth CanalLandscape inArcadiaView of the Argolic gulf, with Nafplio visible
The Peloponnese is a peninsula located at the southern tip of the mainland, 21,549.6 square kilometres (8,320.3 sq mi) in area, and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It is connected to the mainland by theIsthmus of Corinth, where theCorinth Canal was constructed in 1893. However, it is also connected to the mainland by several bridges across the canal, including twosubmersible bridges at the north and the south end. Near the northern tip of the peninsula, there is another bridge, theRio–Antirrio bridge (completed 2004). The peninsula has a mountainous interior, although extensive lowlands are also found in the west, in theEvrotas Valley in the south, and in theArgolid Peninsula in the northeast. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas: theMessenian, theMani, theCape Malea, and theArgolid in the far northeast of the Peloponnese. TheMessenian Gulf,Laconian Gulf, andArgolic Gulf separate these peninsulas. Moreover, MountTaygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres (7,897 ft). Οther important mountains includeCyllene in the northeast (2,376 m or 7,795 ft), Aroania in the north (2,355 m or 7,726 ft), Erymanthos (2,224 m or 7,297 ft) and Panachaikon in the northwest (1,926 m or 6,319 ft), Mainalon in the center (1,981 m or 6,499 ft), and Parnon in the southeast (1,935 m or 6,348 ft). The entire peninsula is earthquake-prone and has suffered many earthquakes in the past.
The longest river is theAlfeios in the west (110 km or 68 mi), followed by theEvrotas in the south (82 km or 51 mi), and also thePineios, also in the west (70 km or 43 mi). The Peloponnese, with its indented coasts, is home to numerous spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw.
Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast: theArgo-Saronic Islands to the east, and theIonian to the west. The island ofKythira, to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island ofElafonisos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated in the aftermath of the365 Crete earthquake.
Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven major regions:Achaea (north),Corinthia (northeast),Argolis (east),Arcadia (center),Laconia (southeast),Messenia (southwest), andElis (west). Each of these regions is headed by a city, with the largest beingPatras (pop. 170,000) in Achaia, followed byKalamata (pop. 55,000) in Messenia.
The peninsula has been inhabited sinceprehistoric times. Its modern name derives from ancientGreek mythology, specifically the legend of the heroPelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The namePeloponnesos means Island or Peninsula (archaic meaning of the wordnesos) of Pelops.
TheMycenaean civilization, mainland Greece's (and Europe's) first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in theBronze Age from the palaces ofMycenae,Pylos, andTiryns, among others. The Mycenaean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as theGreek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records.
In 776 BC, the firstOlympic Games were held atOlympia, in the western Peloponnese, and this date is sometimes used to denote the beginning of the classical period of Greek antiquity. Duringclassical antiquity, the Peloponnese was at the heart of the affairs ofancient Greece, possessed some of its most powerful city-states, and was the location of some of its bloodiest battles.
The major cities ofSparta,Corinth,Argos, andMegalopolis were all located on the Peloponnese, and it was the homeland of thePeloponnesian League. Soldiers from the peninsula fought in thePersian Wars, and it was also the scene of thePeloponnesian War of 431–404 BC. The entire Peloponnese, with the notable exception of Sparta, joined Alexander's expedition against thePersian Empire.
Along with the rest of Greece, the Peloponnese fell to the expandingRoman Republic in 146 BC, when the Romansrazed the city of Corinth and massacred its inhabitants. The Romans established the province ofAchaea, comprising the Peloponnese and central Greece. During theRoman period, the peninsula remained prosperous but became a provincial backwater, relatively disengaged from the affairs of the widerRoman world.
After the partition of the Empire in 395, the Peloponnese became a part of theByzantine Empire. The devastation ofAlaric's raid in 396–397 led to the construction of theHexamilion wall across the Isthmus of Corinth.[14] Throughout the major part oflate antiquity, the peninsula retained its urbanized character: in the 6th century,Hierocles counted 26 cities in hisSynecdemus. By the latter part of that century, however, building activity seems to have stopped virtually everywhere except in Constantinople, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Athens. This has traditionally been attributed to calamities such as plague, earthquakes, and Slavic invasions.[15] However, more recent analysis suggests that urban decline was closely linked with the collapse of long-distance and regional commercial networks that underpinned and supported late antique urbanism in Greece,[16] as well as with the generalized withdrawal of imperial troops and administration from the Balkans.[17]
The scale of the Slavic "invasion" and settlement in the 7th and 8th centuries remains a matter of dispute, although it is nowadays considered much smaller than previously thought.[18] The Slavs did occupy most of the peninsula, as evidenced by the abundance of Slavictoponyms, but these toponyms accumulated over centuries rather than as a result of an initial "flood" of Slavic invasions, and many appear to have been mediated by speakers of Greek, or in mixed Slavic-Greek compounds.[15][19][20]
Fewer Slavic toponyms appear on the eastern coast, which remained in Byzantine hands and was included in thethema ofHellas, established by Byzantine emperorJustinian IIc. 690.[21] While traditional historiography has dated the arrival of Slavs to southern Greece to the late 6th century, according to Florin Curta, there is no evidence for a Slavic presence in the Peloponnese until afterc. 700 AD,[22] when Slavs may have been allowed to settle in specific areas that had been depopulated.[23]
Relations between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from intermittent uprisings.[24] There was also a continuity of the Peloponnesian Greek population. This is especially true inMani andTsakonia, where Slavic incursions were minimal or non-existent. Considering their predominantly agricultural economy and rural lifestyle, the Slavs probably traded with the Greeks, who remained in the towns, while Greek villages continued to exist in the interior, governing themselves, possibly paying tribute to the Slavs.[25] The first attempt by the Byzantine imperial government to reassert its control over the independent Slavic tribes of the Peloponnese occurred in 783, with thelogotheteStaurakios' overland campaign from Constantinople into Greece and the Peloponnese, which, according toTheophanes the Confessor, captured many prisoners and forced the Slavs to pay tribute.[26]
From the mid-9th century, in the aftermath of aSlavic revolt and attack onPatras, a process ofHellenization was carried out overwhelmingly and persistently. According to theChronicle of Monemvasia, in 805, the Byzantine governor ofCorinth went to war with the Slavs, exterminated them, and allowed the original inhabitants to claim their lands. They regained control of the city of Patras, and the region was resettled with Greeks.[27] Many Slavs were transported toAsia Minor, and many Asian, Sicilian, and Calabrian Greeks were resettled in the Peloponnese. By the turn of the 9th century, the entire Peloponnese was formed into the newthema ofPeloponnesos, with its capital at Corinth.[25]
The imposition of Byzantine rule over the Slavic enclaves may have largely been a process of Christianization and accommodation of Slavic chieftains into the Imperial fold, considering that literary,epigraphic, andsigillographic evidence corroborate Slavicarchontes participating in Imperial affairs.[28] By the end of the 9th century, the Peloponnese was culturally and administratively Greek again,[29] except for a few small Slavic tribes in the mountains such as theMelingoi andEzeritai. Although they were to remain relatively autonomous untilOttoman times, such tribes were the exception rather than the rule.[30] Even the Melingoi and Ezeritai, however, could speak Greek and appear to have been Christian.[31]
The success of the Hellenization campaign also shows that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks, in contrast to areas further north in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century.[32] A human genetics study in 2017 showed that the Peloponnesians have little admixture with populations of the Slavic homeland and are much closer to Sicilians and southern Italians.[33]
Apart from the troubled relations with the Slavs, the coastal regions of the Peloponnese suffered greatly from repeated Arab raids following the Arab capture ofCrete in the 820s and the establishment of acorsair emirate there.[34][35] After the island was recovered by Byzantium in 961, however, the region entered a period of renewed prosperity, where agriculture, commerce, and urban industry flourished.[34]
In 1205, following the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the forces of theFourth Crusade, the Crusaders underWilliam of Champlitte andGeoffrey of Villehardouin marched south through mainland Greece and conquered the Peloponnese againstsporadic local Greek resistance. TheFranks then founded thePrincipality of Achaea, nominally avassal of theLatin Empire, while theVenetians occupied several strategically important ports around the coast, such asNavarino andCoron, which they retained into the 15th century.[36] The Franks popularized the nameMorea for the peninsula, which first appears as the name of a small bishopric inElis during the 10th century. Its etymology is disputed, but it is most commonly held to be derived from the mulberry tree (morea), whose leaves are similar in shape to the peninsula.[37]
In 1208, William I founded a commission atAndravida, consisting of Latin bishops, twobannerets, five Greek magnates, and chaired by himself, to assess the land and divide it, according to Latin practice, infiefs. As a result, the country was divided into twelvebaronies, mostly centred around a newly constructed castle—a testament to the fact that the Franks were a military elite amidst a potentially hostile Greek population.[38][39] The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by theLatin Archbishop of Patras. Each of the latter was granted several estates asknightly fiefs, with the Archbishop receiving eight, the other bishops four each, and likewise four granted to each of themilitary orders: theTemplars,Hospitallers, and theTeutonic Knights.[40] Shortly after 1260, a thirteenth barony, that ofArcadia (modernKyparissia), was established, which was also a personal fief of theGeoffrey I of Villehardouin.[41] The barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign but rather a "first among equals" among them. Thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Prince's permission, or to decreecapital punishment. SinceSalic Law was not adopted in Achaea, women could also inherit the fiefs.[42]
Frankish supremacy in the peninsula, however, received a critical blow after theBattle of Pelagonia, whenWilliam II of Villehardouin was forced to cede the newly constructed fortress and palace atMystras near ancientSparta to a resurgent Byzantium. At this point, the emperor concluded an agreement with the captive prince: William and his men would be set free in exchange for an oath of fealty, and for the cession of Monemvasia, Grand Magne, and Mystras.[43] The handover was effected in 1262, and henceforth Mystras was the seat of the governor of the Byzantine territories in the Morea. Initially this governor (kephale) was changed every year, but after 1308 they started being appointed for longer terms.[44] Almost immediately on his return to the Morea, William of Villehardouin renounced his oath to the emperor, and warfare broke out between Byzantines and Franks. The first Byzantine attempts to subdue the Principality of Achaea were beaten back in the battles ofPrinitsa andMakryplagi, but the Byzantines were firmly ensconced in Laconia. Warfare became endemic, and the Byzantines slowly pushed the Franks back.[45] The insecurity engendered by the raids and counter-raids caused the inhabitants of Lacedaemon to abandon their exposed city and settle at Mystras, in a new town built under the shadow of the fortress.
While Mystras served as the provincial capital from this time, it became a royal capital in 1349, when the first despot was appointed to rule over the Morea. The Byzantine EmperorJohn VI Kantakouzenos, reorganized the territory in 1349 to establish it as anappanage for his son, theDespotManuel Kantakouzenos. Around that time, theOttoman Turks began raiding the Peloponnese, but their raids intensified only after 1387 when the energeticEvrenos Bey took control. Exploiting the quarrels between Byzantines and Franks, he plundered across the peninsula and forced both the Byzantine despots and the remaining Frankish rulers to acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty and pay tribute. This situation lasted until the Ottoman defeat at theBattle of Ankara in 1402, after which Ottoman power was for a time checked.[46] From 1349 until its surrender to theOttoman Turks on 31 May 1460, Mystras was the residence of aDespot who ruled over the Byzantine Morea, known as the "Despotate of the Morea". For the larger portion of his reign, Manuel maintained peaceful relations with his Latin neighbors and secured a long period of prosperity for the area. Greco-Latin cooperation included an alliance to contain the raids of the Ottoman SultanMurad I into Morea in the 1360s. The rivalPalaiologos dynasty seized the Morea after Manuel's death in 1380, withTheodore I Palaiologos becoming despot in 1383.
Theodore I ruled until 1407, consolidating Byzantine rule and coming to terms with his more powerful neighbours—particularly the expansionistOttoman Empire, whosesuzerainty he recognised.[47] Subsequent despots were the sons of the EmperorManuel II Palaiologos, brother of the despot Theodore: Theodore II, Constantine, Demetrios, and Thomas. As Latin power in the Peloponnese waned during the 15th century, the Despotate of the Morea expanded to incorporate the entire peninsula in 1430 with territory being acquired by dowry settlements, and the conquest ofPatras by Constantine. However, in 1446 the Ottoman SultanMurad II destroyed the Byzantine defences—theHexamilion wall at theIsthmus of Corinth.[48] His attack opened the peninsula to invasion, though Murad died before he could exploit this. His successorMehmed II "the Conqueror"captured the Byzantine capitalConstantinople in 1453. The despots,Demetrios Palaiologos andThomas Palaiologos, brothers of the last emperor, failed to send him any aid, as Morea was recovering from a recent Ottoman attack. Their own incompetence resulted in theMorea revolt of 1453–1454, led byManuel Kantakouzenos against them, during which they invited in Ottoman troops to help them put down the revolt. At this time, theGreekarchons made peace with Mehmed.[49] After several years of incompetent rule by the despots, their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan, and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule, Mehmed came into the Morea in May 1460. Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans, and his younger brother Thomas fled. By the end of the summer, the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities held by theGreeks.
Ottoman incursions into the Morea resumed underTurahan Bey after 1423. Despite the reconstruction of the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth, the Ottomans underMurad II breached it in 1446, forcing the Despots of the Morea to re-acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty, and again under Turahan in 1452 and 1456. Following the occupation of theDuchy of Athens in 1456, the Ottomans occupied a third of the Peloponnese in 1458, and SultanMehmed II extinguished the remnants of the Despotate in 1460. A few holdouts remained for a time. The rocky peninsula ofMonemvasia refused to surrender, and it was first ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair. When the population drove him out, they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Pope's protection before the end of 1460. TheMani Peninsula at the south end of the Morea resisted under a loose coalition of the local clans, and that area then came underVenice's rule. The last holdout wasSalmeniko, in the Morea's northwest.Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there, stationed atSalmeniko Castle. While the town eventually surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461, when they escaped and reached Venetian territory.[46] Only theVenetian fortresses ofModon,Coron,Navarino,Monemvasia,Argos andNauplion escaped Ottoman control.[46]
Albanian migration, settlement and relocations to Italy
The same period was also marked by the migration and settlement ofChristianAlbanians to parts of Central Greece and the Peloponnese, a group that eventually became known as theArvanites[50][51] The Albanians settled in successive waves, often invited by the local rulers. They start appearing more frequently in the historical record from during the second part of the 14th century, when they were being offered arable land, pasture and favorable taxation in exchange for military service.[52] One of the larger groups of Albanian settlers, amounting to 10,000, settled the Peloponnese during the reign ofTheodore I Palaiologos, first inArcadia and subsequently in other regions aroundMessenia,Argolis,Elis andAchaia. Around 1418, a second large group arrived, possibly fleeingAetolia,Acarnania andArta, where Albanian political power had been defeated. The settling Albanians lived in tribes spread out into small villages, practicing nomadic lifestyles based on pastoralism and animal husbandry. By the mid-15th century, they formed a substantial part of the population of the Peloponnesus.[53] In the second half of the 15th century, Albanians constituted at least one-third of the population of the Peloponnese.[54] Military sources of the era (1425) report about 30,000 Albanian men who could carry arms in the Peloponnese.[55] The Greeks tended to live in large villages and cities, while Albanians in small villages.[56]
Following Ottoman conquest, many Albanians fled to Italy, settling primarily in nowadaysArbereshe villages ofCalabria andSicily. On the other hand, in an effort to control the remaining Albanians, during the second half of the 15th century, the Ottomans adopted favorable tax policies towards them, likely in continuation of similar Byzantine practices. This policy had been discontinued by the early 16th century.[57] Throughout theOttoman–Venetian wars, many Albanians died or were captured in service to the Venetians; atNafpaktos,Nafplio,Argos,Methoni,Koroni andPylos. Furthermore, 8,000 Albanianstratioti, most of them along with their families, left the Peloponnese to continue their military service under theRepublic of Venice or theKingdom of Naples. At the end of the Ottoman–Venetian wars, a large number of Albanians had fled from the Peloponnese to Sicily.[58]
A demographic census byAlfred Philippson, based on fieldwork between 1887 and 1889, found that out of the approximately 730,000 inhabitants of the Peloponnese, and the three neighboring islands ofPoros,Hydra andSpetses, Arvanites numbered 90,253, or 12.3% of the total population.[59][60]
Ottoman conquest, Venetian interlude and Ottoman reconquest
The Venetian fortresses were conquered in a series ofOttoman-Venetian Wars: thefirst war, lasting from 1463 to 1479, saw much fighting in the Peloponnese, resulting in the loss ofArgos, whileModon andCoron fell in 1500 during thesecond war.Coron andPatras were captured in a crusading expedition in 1532, led by the Genoese admiralAndrea Doria, but this provokedanother war in which the last Venetian possessions on the Greek mainland were lost.[61]
The VenetianLion of Saint Mark and halberds from the time of theKingdom of the Morea in theNational Historical Museum, Athens"Commander Panagiotis Kephalas plants the flag of liberty upon the walls of Tripolizza",Siege of Tripolitsa, byPeter von Hess.The flag of the revolutionaries in the Peloponnese raised by the Kolokotronis family during 1821, and commonly (though unofficially) associated with the Peloponnese region
Following the Ottoman conquest, the peninsula was made into a province (sanjak), with 109ziamets and 342timars. During the first period of Ottoman rule (1460–1687), the capital was first in Corinth (Turk.Gördes), later inLeontari (Londari),Mystras (Misistire) and finally in Nauplion (Tr.Anaboli). Sometime in the mid-17th century, the Morea became the centre of a separateeyalet, withPatras (Ballibadra) as its capital.[62][63] Until the death ofSuleiman the Magnificent in 1570, the Christian population (counted at some 42,000 families c. 1550[61]) managed to retain some privileges and Islamization was slow, mostly among the Albanians or the estate owners who were integrated into the Ottoman feudal system.
Although they quickly came to control most of the fertile lands, Muslims remained a distinct minority. Christian communities retained a large measure of self-government, but the entire Ottoman period was marked by a flight of the Christian population from the plains to the mountains. This occasioned the rise of theklephts, armed brigands and rebels, in the mountains, as well as the corresponding institution of the government-fundedarmatoloi to check theklephts' activities.[62]
The Peloponnese now became the core of theMorea Eyalet, headed by theMora valesi, who until 1780 was apasha of the first rank (with threehorsetails) and held the title ofvizier. After 1780 and until theGreek War of Independence, the province was headed by amuhassil. The pasha of the Morea was aided by several subordinate officials, including a Christian translator (dragoman), who was the senior Christian official of the province.[65] As during the first Ottoman period, the Morea was divided into 22 districts orbeyliks.[65] The capital was first at Nauplion, but after 1786 atTripolitza (Tr.Trabliçe).[62]
The Greeks of the Peloponnese rose against the Ottomans with Russian aid during the so-called "Orlov Revolt" of 1770, but it was swiftly and brutally suppressed by bands of Muslim Albanian mercenaries hired by the Ottomans. Referred to by the local Greek populace as "Turk-Albanians", those forces had also destroyed many cities and towns inEpirus during the 1769–70 revolt there.[66] The Peloponnese suffered more than any other Greek inhabited area by irregular Albanian gangs during the decades following.[67] InPatras nearly no one was left alive after the Turkish-Albanian invasion.[68] The city ofMystras was left in ruins and the metropolitan bishop Ananias was executed despite having saved the life of several Turks during the uprising. A great number of local Greeks were killed by the Albanian groups, while children were sold to slavery.[69] It is estimated that 20,000 local Greeks were captured during those nine years of devastation by those Albanian mercenaries and sold to slave markets. Also an additional of 50,000 Greeks left Peloponesse: around one-sixth of the pre-1770 population.[70]
The Ottoman government was unable to pay the wages the Albanian mercenaries demanded for their service, causing the latter to ravage the region even after revolt had been put down.[71] 1770-1779 was a prolonged period of devastation and atrocities committed by Albanian irregulars in the Peloponnese.[72] In 1774 theRusso-Turkish War ended with theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca which granted general amnesty to the population. Nevertheless, attacks by Muslim Albanian mercenaries in the region continued not only against the Greek population but also against Turks.[73] The extensive destruction and lack of control in the Peloponnese forced the central Ottoman government to send a regular Turkish military force to suppress those Albanian troops in 1779,[74] and eventually drive them out from Peloponnese.[75] As a result of the invasion by those mercenary groups the local population had to found refuge in the mountains of Peloponnese to avoid persecution. The total population decreased during this time, while the Muslim element in it increased.[65]
As such Greek resistance in the peninsula was reinforced and powerful groups ofklephts were formed under the clans of Zacharias, Melios, Petmezas and Kolokotronis. Klephtic songs of that era describe the resistance activities.[76] Nevertheless, through the privileges granted with theTreaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, especially the right for the Christians to trade under the Russian flag, led to a considerable economic flowering of the local Greeks, which, coupled with the increased cultural contacts with Western Europe (Modern Greek Enlightenment) and the inspiring ideals of theFrench Revolution, laid the groundwork for theGreek War of Independence.[65]
TheBattle of Navarino, in October 1827, marked the effective end of Ottoman rule in Greece.Panoramic view ofNafplion, the first capital of modern GreeceTheRio–Antirrio bridge, completed in 2004, links the western Peloponnese with mainland Greece.The rock ofMonemvasia
The Peloponnesians played a major role in theGreek War of Independence – the war began in the Peloponnese, when rebels took control ofKalamata on March 23, 1821. After the arrival of Ypsilantis's emissaries, local people rose under the leadership ofMavromichalis. Greek andAlbanian insurgents organised in units of armed civilians took control of most of the fortresses.[77] The Greek insurgents made rapid progress and the entire peninsula was under Greek control within a few months, except for a few coastal forts and the main Turkish garrison atTripolitsa.[78] The fighting was fierce and marked by atrocities on both sides; eventually the entire Muslim population was either massacred or fled to the forts. Thecapture of Tripolitsa in September 1821 marked a turning point. Short of men and money, the Ottoman state turned to hiring Albanian tribesmen to fight the Greeks, and by 1823, the bulk of the Ottoman forces in Greece were Albanian mercenaries hired for a campaigning season rather than the Ottoman Army.[79] Rivalries among the insurgents eventually erupted into civil war in 1824, which enabled the Ottoman Egyptian vassalIbrahim Pasha to land in the peninsula in 1825.[78]
The Peloponnese peninsula was the scene of fierce fighting and extensive devastation following the arrival of Ibrahim's Egyptian troops. Partly as a result of the atrocities committed by Ibrahim, the UK, France, and the Russian Empire decided to intervene in favor of the Greeks. The decisive navalBattle of Navarino was fought in 1827 off Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese, where a combined British, French and Russian fleet decisively defeated the Turko-Egyptian fleet.[78] Subsequently, aFrench expeditionary corps cleared the last Turko-Egyptian forces from the peninsula in 1828. The city of Nafplion, on the east coast of the peninsula, became the first capital of theindependent Greek state. By the conclusion of the war, the entire Muslim population of the newly independent Greek state, including the Peloponnese, had been exterminated or had fled.[80]
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region became relatively poor and economically isolated. A significant part of its population emigrated to the larger cities of Greece, especiallyAthens, and other countries such as the United States and Australia. It was badly affected by the Second World War andGreek Civil War, experiencing some of the worst atrocities committed in Greece during those conflicts. Living standards improved dramatically throughout Greece after the country accedes to theEuropean Union in 1981.
TheCorinth Canal was completed in the late 19th century, linking the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian. In 2001, theRio-Antirio Bridge was completed, linking the western Peloponnese to western Greece. In late August 2007, large parts of Peloponnesesuffered from wildfires, which caused severe damage in villages and forests and the death of 77 people. The impact of the fires to the environment and economy of the region are still unknown. It is thought to be one of the largest environmental disasters in modern Greek history.
^Gregory, TE (2010),A History of Byzantium, Wiley-Blackwell, p. 169,It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic "invasions" were probably, for the most part, the same as those who had lived there earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors, including the Byzantines.
^Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019),The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 213,During the rule of Manuel Cantacuzenus in Mystras (1348-1380), Albanians were mentioned in the Veligosti area"... "in the late 1370s and the early 1380s Neri Acciamoli, the lord of Corinth, in his confrontation with the Navarrese recruited [800] Albanian mercenaries"..."By 1391 there was an influx of Albanians that could be hired as mercenaries"... "The Venetians were in need of colonists and soldiers in their depopulated areas and hence offered plots of arable land, pastures and tax exemptions to the wandering Albanians in southern Greece
^Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019),The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 214,...Albanian nomadic clans, who formed populous groups consisting of families, or tribes. They came to the Peloponnese carrying their animals and movable goods and offered military service in return for being allowed to settle, and enjoy free movement and tax exemption.
^Fischer, Bernd J. (2022).A concise history of Albania. Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. p. 38.ISBN9781139084611.
^Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1974)."Arvanitika: the long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety".International Journal of the Sociology of Language (132–134): 61.Military reports give us fairly accurate data for the time of the colonization : sources report 30,000 Albanian men fit for military service on the Peloponnese around 1425 .
^Liakopoulos, Georgios (2019),The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: a study in the light of an annotated edition princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460-1463), Ginko, p. 214,the main reason for placing them in a different category in the cadastre is the 20% reduction on the ispence encumbrance (20 akces instead of the 25 the Greeks paid). This most probably mirrors a late Byzantine and Venetian practice that the Ottomans adopted to control the intractable Albanians"..."Within half a century, the favorable taxation terms granted to the Albanians had ceased to exist
^Anscombe, Frederick F. (17 February 2014).State, Faith, and Nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Lands. Cambridge University Press. p. 67.ISBN978-1-107-72967-4.No area suffered more than the Morea, which was pillaged regularly by Albanian gangs over the decades after 1770, despite Istanbul's repeated strictures against Albanians setting foot on the peninsula.
^Nikolaou, Georgios (1997).Islamisations et Christianisations dans le Peloponnese (1715- 1832).Didaktorika.gr (Thesis). Universite des Sciences Humaines - Strasbourg II. p. 192.doi:10.12681/eadd/8139.hdl:10442/hedi/8139.
^Isabella, Maurizio (2023).Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions. Princeton University Press. p. 129.
^Brewer, David (2003) [2001].The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Overlook Press. p. 188.ISBN1585673951.
Birken, Andreas (1976).Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert.ISBN9783920153568.
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