Laconia Περιφερειακή ενότητα Λακωνίας
Regional unit
Municipalities of Laconia
Laconia Laconia within Greece
Coordinates:37°00′N22°30′E / 37.0°N 22.5°E /37.0; 22.5
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Peloponnese
Seat	Sparta
Area
• Total	3,636 km2 (1,404 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1]
• Total	84,337
• Density	23/km2 (60/sq mi)
Demonym	Laconian(s)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	23x xx
Area code(s)	273x0
Vehicle registration	ΑΚ

Laconia orLakonia (Greek:Λακωνία,Lakonía,[lakoˈni.a]) is a historical andadministrative region ofGreece located on the southeastern part of thePeloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital isSparta. The wordlaconic—to speak in a blunt, concise way—is derived from the name of this region, a reference to the ancientSpartans who were renowned for their verbal austerity and blunt, often pithy remarks.

Laconia is bordered byMessenia to the west andArcadia to the north and is surrounded by theMyrtoan Sea to the east and by theLaconian Gulf and theMediterranean Sea to the south. It encompassesCape Malea andCape Tainaron and a large part of theMani Peninsula. The Mani Peninsula is in the west region of Laconia.^[2] The islands ofKythira andAntikythera lie to the south, but they administratively belong to theAttica regional unit ofislands. The island,Elafonisos, situated between the Laconian mainland and Kythira, is part of Laconia.

TheEvrotas is the longest river in the prefecture. TheEvrotas Valley is predominantly an agricultural region that contains many citrus groves, olive groves, and pasture lands. It is the location of the largest orange production in the Peloponnese and probably in all of Greece.Lakonia, a brand of orange juice, is based inAmykles.

The main mountain ranges are theTaygetus 2,407 m (7,897 ft) in the west and theParnon 1,961 m (6,434 ft) in the northeast. Taygetus, known as Pentadaktylos (five-fingers) throughout the Middle Ages, is west of Sparta and theEvrotas Valley. It is the highest mountain in Laconia and the Peloponnese and is mostly covered with pine trees. Two roads join the Messenia and Laconia prefectures: one is a tortuous mountain pass through Taygetus and the other bypasses the mountain via theMani district to the south.

Thestalactite cave, Dirou, a major tourist attraction, is located south ofAreopolis in the southwest of Laconia.

The city of Sparta enjoys a sunny and warmMediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa). January highs are around 14 °C (57 °F) while July and August highs are around 36 °C (97 °F) in the city proper. Sparta records the highest summer average maximum temperatures in Greece.^[3] In July 2012 the city registered an average maximum temperature of 38.3 °C (100.9 °F), making it Greece's second highest monthly average maximum temperature to date after the 38.6 °C (101.5 °F) recorded inStylida in July 2023.^[4][5] The highest temperature ever recorded in Sparta is 45.7 °C (114.3 °F) in August 2021.^[6] On average, Sparta records 5 days per year with temperatures of over 40.0 °C (104.0 °F).^[7]

Evidence ofNeolithic settlement in southern Laconia has been found during excavations of theAlepotrypa cave site.^[12] Significant archaeological recovery exists at theVaphio-tomb site in Laconia. Found there is advancedBronze Age art as well as evidence of cultural associations with the contemporaneousMinoan culture onCrete.^[13] At the end of the Mycenean period, the population of Laconia sharply declined.^[14] Inclassical Greece, Laconia was Spartan territory but from the 4th century BC onward Sparta lost control of various ports, towns and areas.^[15][16] From the mid-2nd century BC until 395 AD, Laconia was a part of theRoman Empire.

In the medieval period, Laconia formed part of theByzantine Empire. In the 7th century,Slavic tribes settled in the Peloponnese. Two of them, theMelingoi and theEzeritai, who settled in parts of Laconia, survived the subsequent Byzantine reconquest and re-Hellenization of the Peloponnese, and are attested until the late Middle Ages.

Following theFourth Crusade, Laconia was gradually conquered by theFrankishPrincipality of Achaea. In the 1260s, the Byzantines recoveredMystras and other fortresses in the region and managed to evict the Franks from Laconia, which became the nucleus of a new Byzantine province. By the mid-14th century, this evolved into theDespotate of the Morea, held by the lastGreek ruling dynasty, thePalaiologoi. The capital of the Despotate,Mystras, was a major site of thePalaiologan Renaissance, the last flowering ofByzantine culture. With the fall of the Despotate to theOttomans in 1460, Laconia was conquered as well.

With the exception of a30-year interval ofVenetian rule, Laconia remained under Ottoman control until the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence of 1821. Following independence, Sparta was selected as the capital of the modern prefecture, and its economy and agriculture expanded. With the incorporation of the British-ruledIonian Islands into Greece in 1864,Elafonissos became part of the prefecture. AfterWorld War II and theGreek Civil War, its population began to somewhat decline, as people moved from the villages toward the larger cities of Greece and abroad.

In 1992, a devastating fire ruined the finestolive crops in the northern part of the prefecture, and affected the area ofSellasia along withOinountas and its surrounding areas. Firefighters, helicopters and planes battled for days to put out the horrific fire.

In early 2006, flooding ruined olive and citrus crops as well as properties and villages along the Eurotas river. In the summer 2006, a fire devastated a part of the Mani Peninsula, ruining forests, crops, and numerous villages.

The regional unit, Laconia, is subdivided into five municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):^[17]

• East Mani (Anatoliki Mani, 2)
• Elafonisos (3)
• Eurotas (4)
• Monemvasia (5)
• Sparta (1)

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, regional unit Laconia was created out of the formerprefecture Laconia (Greek:Νομός Λακωνίας). The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.^[17]

• Epidavros Limira Province –Molaoi
• Gytheio Province –Gytheio
• Lacedaemonia Province –Sparti
• Oitylo Province –Areopoli

Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status inGreece.

The main cities and towns of Laconia are (ranked by 2021 census population):

• Sparta 16,782
• Gytheio 4,070
• Molaoi 2,850
• Skala 2,813
• Neapoli 2,715

• Greek National Road 39, Tripoli – Sparti – Gytheio
• Greek National Road 82, Pylos – Kalamata – Sparti
• Greek National Road 86, Gytheio –Monemvasia
• Molaoi to Leonidi Road, E, NE

• FLY FM 89,7 (Sparta).
• POLITIA 90,7 – ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ 90.7 (Sparta)
• Radio Sparti – 92.7 FM (Sparta)
• Radiofonias Notias Lakonias (Southern Laconia Radio) – 93.5 (Gytheio)
• Star FM – 94.7

• Ellada TV – UHF 43, Sparta
• TV Notias Lakonias – Molaoi

• Λακωνικός Τύπος
• Ελεύθερη Άποψη
• Νέα Σπάρτη
• Παρατηρητής της Λακωνίας

• List of settlements in Laconia
• List of traditional Greek place names
• Laconic phrase
• Laconian (dog)

• Laconia
• Prefectures of Greece
• 1833 establishments in Greece
• Regional units of Peloponnese (region)

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
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• CS1 uses Greek-language script (el)
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2015
• Coordinates on Wikidata
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• Pages with Greek IPA