Ermioni is located on the southeast coast of Argolida, 85 km southeast of Nafplio, at an altitude of 5 meters. It belongs to the Province of Ermionida, as the name suggests. It is a coastal town with 2,505 inhabitants and is the seat of the homonymous Municipality, to which the D.D. Heliokastro and Thermisia. Ermioni belongs to the D.D. Ermioni, as well as the monastery of Agioi Anargyroi and the settlements of Achladitsa (Dardiza), Kouverta and Podari. Its economy is based on tourism mainly due to its island color, but on agricultural crops and fishing. The area of Mandrakia has been recognized as a traditional settlement.
Ancient period
Ermioni was founded by Dryopes who
were displaced from central Greece, after the descent of the first
Greek tribes. Apart from Ermioni, the Dryopes founded the southern
cities of Argolis and the cities of Masis, Iones and Asini.
Hermione, as Homer mentions in the list of the Young, participated
in the Trojan campaign with the army of Argos.
After the
descent of the Dorians, the area of Argolida was dominated by the
Dorians who, with Argos as their center, gradually expanded
throughout Argolida and occupied the city of Ermioni. According to
Pausanias, the Argives ruled in Ermioni without war. At that time,
many old inhabitants, Dryopes, took refuge and settled in the city
of Alies, which was the port of Hermione. In the following years,
Hermione was under the sphere of influence of Argos but maintained
some autonomy. The city controlled an area that corresponded to the
current province of Ermionida. It had two ports, Masitas and
Fishermen.
In the middle of the 7th century the Argives were
defeated by the Spartans and the power of the Argos weakened.
Hermione got rid of the rule of Argos and became an ally of Sparta.
During this period it seems that the Amfiktionia of Kalavria was
founded, of which Ermioni was a member along with seven other
cities. In the Persian wars he contributed to the Greek fleet with
three ships in the naval battle of Salamis and with three hundred
hoplites in the battle of Plataea. Hermione suffered great damage
during the Peloponnesian War from Sparta's rivals Athenians and
Argives, as she remained an ally of Sparta. In the following years
it became part of the Achaean Confederation, until the Roman
conquest in 146 BC.
Roman and Byzantine period
At the
beginning of the Roman period, Hermione received pirate raids from
which she suffered great damage. After the extermination of the
pirates of the Mediterranean by Pompey, the city flourished again.
During the 2nd and 3rd century it was a developed city, as evidenced
by the archaeological findings of the period, the description of
Pausanias who visited it and mentions a remarkable city and the
coins minted by the city during this period.
It is not known
when Christianity spread in the area. The oldest ruins of a
Christian church date back to the 5th century AD. Hermione belonged
at that time to the metropolis of Corinth. During the last centuries
of Byzantium the region declined. The period of Frankish rule begins
in the region in 1210 when Geoffrey Villehardouin conquered
Acrocorinth and then Argolis. The area was initially ceded to the
Duke of Athens Otto de la Ross. In the 14th century it passed to the
de Brienne family and then to the D'Egien family, when in 1388 it
was ceded to Venice. During this period, settlements of Arvanites in
the area of Ermionida took place. Towards the end of the Byzantine
period, Hermione began to be found under the name Kastri, probably
from the ancient fortification that was still preserved. This name
was retained until the first years of liberation.
Modern
Times
The Venetians ruled the area of Ermionida from the castle
of Thermisia. In 1460 they lost Argos which was occupied by the
Ottomans of Mahmut Pasha, but they kept Nafplio and the southern
Argolis and kept control of the area until the third
Venetian-Turkish war. In this war Venice was defeated and the area
of Nafplio came under Ottoman control (1540). The first Ottoman
period was a period of decline for the region of Hermione. In 1669
the Venetians with their victory in the sixth Venetian-Turkish war
gained control of the entire Peloponnese which they maintained for
about forty years, until the next Venetian-Turkish war (1714).
During the last period of Ottoman rule (1714-1821) Ermioni
experienced growth and shortly before the revolution of 1821 its
population reached about 2,000 inhabitants. Hermione took part in
the Revolution of 1821 and many Hermionites strengthened the
revolutionary forces formed in the area led by Arsenios Crestas from
Kranidi. Important fighters from Ermioni were the brothers Giannis
and Stamatis Mitsas who participated in many battles in the
Peloponnese and Attica. In 1827, the Third National Assembly began
its work in Ermioni, which ended in Troizina.
Ancient times
The ancient musician and poet Lasos, who lived
in the 6th century BC, came from Ermioni.
Kikeidis or Kididis
flourished in an unknown time. For Aristotle he is one of the good
poets while reference to his face is also made by the comedian
Kratinos.
The guitarist Epiklis, had a great reputation in Athens
and was invited by the then young and infamous Themistocles to teach
him, as reported by Plutarch.
Kydias Hermioneus was a guitarist
and poet. He held a prominent position among the composers, based on
reports by Plato.