Argolis is located in the Eastern Peloponnese and is a regional
unit, former prefecture of Greece and a geographical area that
belongs administratively to the Peloponnese Region and
geographically to the Peloponnese (or Morea). It borders Corinth to
the north, Arcadia to the west and south, and Attica (Troizinia) to
the northeast. It is washed by the Argolic Gulf to the south and the
Saronic Gulf to the east. It is mainly a semi-mountainous prefecture
with a long coastline, however, it includes the very productive and
densely populated lowland area of the Argolic Plain. In the 2021
census, it had a population of 93,216 inhabitants and an area of
2,156 square kilometers.
The capital of the prefecture is
Nafplio (14,203 inhabitants) and its largest city is Argos (22,209
inhabitants). Other important settlements are the towns of Nea Kios,
Lygourio, Ancient Epidaurus, Kranidi, Ermioni, Porto Heli. The
economy of the prefecture is based mostly on the primary sector with
significant citrus fruit production and olive cultivation. Livestock
farming is also developed in the mountainous areas of the
prefecture. Of great importance is the tourism sector, which is
particularly developed around the world heritage monument of
Mycenae, the traditional old town of Nafplio and many summer resorts
such as Tolo and the coastline of Ermionida. Finally, there is also
significant manufacturing activity around the primary sector.
The entire prefecture of Argolida has a special relationship
with Corinth, since it has existed as a modern administrative unit
since 1949. The Prefecture of Argolida and Corinth, was commonly
known as Argolidocorinthia and one of the first prefectures
established in Greece. It was then split from the prefecture of
Argolidocorinthia (where, however, Nafplio was the capital). Until
2010, it was divided into three provinces: Argos, Nafplio and
Ermionida, while since then it has been divided into four
municipalities: Argos, Nafplio, Epidaurus and Ermionida.
Argos is the economic and
industrial center of the Argolic plain. Argos is also an important hub
for traffic. The city also has archaeological sites of the Greeks and
Romans as well as the imposing Larissa castle hill.
Epidaurus, in ancient times the
place was the most important spa and the most popular health resort of
the ancient Greek elite. No wonder, the patients were treated by none
other than Aesculapius himself.
Ermioni
Heraion
Nafplio is a romantic little port city
that impresses with its winding old town with beautiful squares. The
city is dominated by the Palamidi fortress, which offers a wonderful
view over the Argolic Gulf. Nowhere else in the Peloponnese can you find
so many taverns, bars and restaurants.
Mycenae,
the first advanced civilization on the European mainland developed here,
the Lion Gate and the Acropolis became world famous through Schliemann's
excavations.
Tiryns, the historical
site, also belonged to the Mycenaean culture. Today's Tirynthia is a
small suburb of Nafplio.
Tolo
Troizen
Kiveri
Portocheli
Thermisia
The theater of Epidaurus is embedded in a mountain slope on the edge
of the excavation site. The theater, which has 14,000 seats, is the best
preserved in all of Greece and still impresses today with its perfect
acoustics.
The castle of Mycenae, where Agamemnon is said to have
once ruled and where Heinrich Schliemann carried out his first
excavations, is famous above all for the Lion Gate. The treasures (e.g.
Agamemnon's gold mask) are now in the National Museum in Athens, but the
3,000-year-old fortress is impressive even without gold.
The castle
of Tiryns was built in its current form around 1200 BC, after the
previous castle was destroyed by an earthquake.
The Palamidi fortress
in Nafplio offers a fantastic view of the Argolic Gulf and the
hinterland from its high rock above the romantic old town.
Argolida is located at the northeastern tip of the Peloponnese. It
borders the prefectures of Corinthia, Arcadia and Attica (Troizinia). On
the borders with Corinthia and Arcadia it is defined, from north to
south, by Mount Arachnaio, the Dervenakia pass, Mount Farmaka, Mount
Oligyrtos, Mount Lyrkeo, and Mount Ktenias. On the borders with Attica
it is defined by the Aderes mountain range.
The largest part of
the prefecture is occupied by the Argolida peninsula, which extends from
the eastern part of the main Peloponnese to the southeast and is
surrounded by the Argosaronic Gulf to the north, the Gulf of Hydra to
the east and the Argolic Gulf to the south. The peninsula begins
approximately east of the line connecting Mylos, Argos, Mycenae, Athikia
and the Baths of Saint Helen (the latter two in Corinth). Important
mountain ranges are Mount Arachna, Mount Didymo and Mount Aderes. On the
edges of the mountains there are valleys next to or on the sea, such as
in Drepano, Iria, Ancient Epidaurus, Dimaina, Didyma, Trachia,
Iliokastro, Ermionida and elsewhere.
On the other hand, in the
west of the prefecture is the important Argolic Plain where the two most
important cities of the prefecture are located and the majority of the
prefecture's economy is concentrated. This is an alluvial plain formed
by the Inachos River and the torrents that end in the plain. It is one
of the most fertile areas of the Peloponnese and is systematically
cultivated with citrus fruits, olive trees, peach trees, pear trees and
vegetables.
In the far west is the mountainous Argolida region,
which is part of the Municipality of Argos - Mycenae and consists of the
municipal units of Lyrkia, Achladokambos, Alea and Lerni. The most
important mountain ranges of the prefecture are located there, such as
the mountains Artemisio, Farmakas, Ktenias, Zavitsa (Timenio), Lyrkia
and Oligyrtos. In addition, the source of Inachos is located in the
area. This part of the prefecture is the most sparsely populated and
isolated. Important agricultural areas are the plateaus of Achladokambos
and Alea.
The prefecture of Argolida is considered one of the warmest
prefectures of mainland Greece, along with the prefectures of Laconia,
Messinia, the coast of Arcadia and Attica. The climate throughout the
prefecture is warm-dry Mediterranean with warm, dry summers and cold,
wet winters, but there are significant differences within the
prefecture.
Eastern Argolida has a fairly mild climate even in
winter and is the driest area of the country. The Argolic plain is
known for its sweltering heat waves in summer and prolonged frosts in
winter, while hail is a frequent phenomenon. The mountainous Argolida,
on the other hand, is considerably wetter and colder than the rest of
the prefecture and the climate is closer to that of the nearby
mountainous areas of Arcadia and Corinth.
The Vivari Lagoon is a blue-green lagoon with unique beauty and rare biodiversity that makes Vivari, a small traditional fishing village, stand out. It is a closed type with a single water surface. It extends between Drepano and Vivari, has an area of 1.48 kilometers and its greatest width is 528.01 meters and its depth does not exceed 1.5 meters. A characteristic of the Vivari Lagoon is that it has been declared a protected area, due to the great ecological interest it presents. More specifically, the lagoon is home to thousands of fish and many rare species of birds
The Nafplio - Nea Kios Wetland is located 6 kilometers from Nafplio. The beach of Nea Kio in the homonymous settlement of Argolida, hides a natural treasure, the Nafplio-Nea Kio wetland. The wetland is a port for all four municipalities of the prefecture, since it is one of the only remaining rich wetlands in Greece, gathering great ecological interest. One of the ten recorded in the prefecture. The Nafplio-Nea Kio wetland is home to hundreds of beautiful birds which make a strong mark on the fauna in the area, since they migrate to the wetland during the winter months. Aquatic and migratory birds such as flamingos, swans, wild geese, ducks, terns, etc. have been observed from time to time in the wetland.
In Argolida, after the Asia Minor disaster, residents of Asia Minor
refugees brought a different culture and a new temperament to the
region. They were very hardworking and civilized. The refugee areas are:
Nea Kios belongs to the Municipality of Argos - Mycenae, which is
the historical continuation of Kios in Asia Minor, a city of 15,000
inhabitants. The establishment of Nea Kios began in 1926, and after the
actions of a special committee established in 1925, it was recognized as
a settlement in the 1928 census. In Nea Kios, in 1952, the Asia Minor
church was built, dedicated to Panagia Theomana - Hodegetria, who is the
patron saint of Nea Kios, and is celebrated on August 23 during the
celebration of the Assumption. In 1981, due to the marshy area, it took
a lot of effort and sacrifice to become a model town, as it is
characterized.
Refugees from Asia Minor arrived in the city of
Nafplio. As in the entire country at that time, so in Nafplio, the issue
of housing the refugees arose. An area was chosen in the northeastern
part of the city to create refugee housing. The refugee settlement was
called "Neon Byzantium" or simply Synoikismos, as the people of Nafplio
usually call it. In 1929, the construction of the first refugee housing
began, while the project lasted a total of more than seven years. The
building of the Asia Minor 2nd Primary School, which still exists today,
is a building full of history. The refugees from Asia Minor who had
settled in the settlement attached great importance to education, so
they tried to get the area its own school. On October 6, 1957, the
foundation stone was laid, and the construction of the school began.
Which was done with money collected by the Asia Minor Association of Neo
Byzantium, which is why it was named after the second one, which was
completed in 1958. The Asia Minor central church of the Settlement is
dedicated to Saints Constantine and Helen and was inaugurated in 1961.
The economy of the Prefecture of Argolida is based mainly on the
primary and tertiary sectors. The Argolic plain has as its base of
income the cultivation of the land with the main product being citrus
fruits, oranges and tangerines since the entire prefecture of Argolida
is the capital of the orange. The fragrances and aromas that are
released from the orange trees in the spring are perceived by all locals
and visitors. It is particularly fertile due to its alluvial nature and
is the most productive area of the prefecture. Significant areas are
cultivated in the plain with citrus fruits - which constitute the main
production of the prefecture - olives and fruit and vegetables. The
Municipality of Nafplio has the coastal plain of Iria which has mainly
fruit and vegetable crops, with the most famous being the artichoke.
Argos is another region that is famous for its local variety of melons,
the well-known Argeitic melons, but also for other products such as
leeks and apricots. Ermioni and the wider municipality of Ermionis is
known for the pomegranates that are grown in the area. Kranidi is known
for the Kranidi olive oil. It has the characteristic that it consists of
two varieties, Manaki and Koroneiki, the composition of both of these
varieties characterizes it for its high quality characteristics. On the
contrary, in the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of Argolida,
livestock farming, lamb and goat farming, as well as olive cultivation,
have a prominent position.
Tourism is one of the most profitable
and developed sectors of the prefecture - especially in Ermionida and
Nafplio, since they were among the first areas to develop tourism in the
country due to its proximity to Athens, its long coastline and its
historical wealth. Important holiday resorts are Nafplio, Tolo, Porto
Heli, Costa, Ermioni and Agios Emilianos.
The secondary sector is
quite developed and is mostly concerned with the processing of
agricultural production and the covering of agricultural needs in
industrial goods (mainly irrigation systems).
An important place
in the economic history of the prefecture is occupied by the tomato
cannery "Kyknos". In 1928 the Kyknos factory was founded in Nafplio,
providing employment to thousands of workers. In those years, production
was mainly manual and in 1950 the Nafplio factory was upgraded to
designs by the architect Kalliklis. The new industrial building was a
symbol of innovation for the time. In 2002, however, the factory was
moved to Savalia in the prefecture of Ilia, since the Argolic plain had
turned to the more profitable citrus crops.
Argolis was one of the first regions of the country to be connected to the national railway network. The Corinth - Myloni railway line and the Argos - Nafplio branch were built in 1885-1886 as the first section of the Corinth - Kalamata railway line, which became fully operational much later. From then until the 1990s, the railway operated continuously, helping to transport people and goods. No attempt was made to modernize the railway network, except for the reconstruction of the Achladokambos bridge in 1973 and the transfer of the Nafplio Station to the port, resulting in the train being significantly degraded. In the 2000s, the train operated again, but at the end of the same decade it was closed due to the renovation of the network. It reopened in 2009-2010 but eventually stopped permanently along with the rest of the Peloponnese network. Since its closure, various announcements have been made regarding the repair of the line and the resumption of rail services, but nothing has materialized so far (March 2022).
In the 2021 census, the prefecture of Argolida had 93,282 permanent residents, having decreased by 3.9% since the previous census in 2011. In 1856, the prefecture had the smallest registered population (44,212) and in 2001 the highest registered population (102,392). From 1856 to 2001, the population of the prefecture was steadily increasing but after 2001 it has decreased slightly. There are also a few thousand immigrants from abroad in the prefecture.