Stemnitsa, during Antiquity known as Ypsos, is a mountain village in the municipality of Gortynia in Arcadia. Built in Mainalo and at a height of 1083 meters, it is characterized as a traditional settlement. The distance from Athens is 220 km and 45 km from Tripoli. Its population according to the 2011 census is 191 inhabitants, while in 2001 it was 412 inhabitants.
Stemnitsa is a popular tourist destination throughout the year. In
Stemnitsa there are several traditional guesthouses and a luxury hotel.
Some of the attractions in the area are:
The holy Church of Ag.
Georgiou in the center of Stemnitsa which contains original frescoes by
Fotis Kontoglou
Panagia Bafero (12th century), a single-aisled
basilica with a semi-cylindrical dome, with a portico on the north side
which is a later addition (1910).
The Folklore Museum of Stemnitsa
The School of Silversmithing
From the square of Stemnitsa starts the
Menalon Trail, the first certified with European specifications (LQT)
path in Greece and the tenth in Europe, it was inaugurated on 31/5/2015
by the European Ramblers' Association, the Pan-European Confederation of
Pedestrians which represents 55 federations from 34 countries and a
total of 3,000,000 hikers. This 75 km long path crosses the ravine of
Lousios, passes by I.M.Prodromos, the old and new I.M.Filosofou,
hydrodynamic museum, Dimitsana, Zygovisti, Elati, Mylaonta gorge,
Vytina, Nymphasia, I.M. Kernitsa, Magouliana, Valtesiniko, Lagadia and
gathers hikers from all over the world.
The gorge of Lousios
The
monasteries of Agios Ioannou Prodromos, one of the most important
monasteries of the Peloponnese, the I.M. Panagia Filosofou and IM
Zoodochos Pigi (15th century).
The 15th century Zoodochos Pigi
Monastery, which is built on a rocky hill. In the two-story cell of the
Monastery, which is preserved to this day, it was the seat of the First
Peloponnesian Senate from May to June 1821. In the monastery, the temple
of Zoodochos Pigis is also preserved, which is cruciform with a dome and
is believed to have been built around 1443.
The fir forest of Mainalo
and its ski resort.
The picturesque villages and traditional
settlements of the area (Elliniko, Sirna, Psari Gortynias, Palamari,
Pavlia etc.
School of Silversmithing
Since 1976, the
well-known School of Silversmithing in Stemnitsa has been operating.
Today the school operates as an afternoon Public IEK and a daytime
Vocational High School (EPAL) of Silver and Goldsmithing. Those who have
already finished high school are accepted. Since 1980 it has been under
the Ministry of Education.
The area has been known as Ypsos since antiquity.
According to mythology, ancient Ypsos was built by Ypsountas, one of
the fifty sons of the king of Arcadia Lycaon. Reference to Ypsounta
is also made by Pausanias in "Arkadika". It is unknown exactly when
it was renamed Stemnitsa but it is speculated that it took place in
the 7th century AD, after the settlement of the areas by Slavs, as
Stemnitsa means wooded and shady place in Slavic. It experienced
great prosperity during the Byzantine period, when the Stemnitsa
bells were known.
In the revolution of '21 he played a
leading role. The Alexandropoulos family of protesters and fighters
came from Stemnitsa. Konstantinos Alexandropoulos, initiated in the
Friendly Society, formed a corps of 175 people from Stemnitsa and on
March 25, 1821 went down to the plain of Karytaina to besiege the
Turks there. On April 25, he was appointed "general" with the name
"Konstantinos Ypsilantis", according to a document where 41
clergymen and laity of the region are sworn in and signed. Fighters
were also his brother, his son John who participated in the battles
while he was still a teenager, his son Alexander who served on the
ship of Kanaris, also his son Vassilios, born in 1809, who followed
his father in the battles. John was killed in the battle of
Trikorfos in the presence of his brother Vassilis. Christos
Alexandropoulos was probably a relative of the previous ones, who
was given as a hostage as a guarantee to the Turkalvans who decided
to leave Ibrahim in 1827. From Stemnitsa also came the fighter
Dimitrios Sfikas who had taken part in the famous Battle of 17
Skoulen 1821), a village in present-day Romania. His book "Memories"
about the events of 1821 in Dacia is of great historical importance.
It served as the seat of Theodoros Kolokotronis who called it
"Moria's space girl". Due to its role in the national liberation
struggle, it was the seat of the first Peloponnesian Senate and the
first informal capital of the revolutionary Greek nation for a
month. It was proclaimed on May 27, 1821 - the date on which an
assembly of the First Peloponnesian Senate took place in I.M.
Chrysopigi in Stemnitsa.
Due to the inaccessible soil of the
area, people turned to trade and silver and goldsmithing. In
Stemnitsa there is also the School of Silver and Goldsmithing of
DIEK Stemnitsa.
Stemnitsa was the seat of the Municipality of
Trikolon that operated in the period 1835-1912 as well as the modern
municipality of Trikolon that operated in the period 1999-2010. In
the period 1912-1995 it was a separate community, while in the short
period 1995-1998 it was the seat of the Municipality of Stemnitsa
which was a continuation of the community. Since 2011 it belongs to
the Municipality of Gortynia.
From Stemnitsa come: the fighters of the Revolution of 1821
Dimitrios, Georgios and Lampros Roilos, Dimitrios Sfikas, Gennaios
Kolokotronis, Rigas Palamidis; the well-known painter and professor at
the University of Athens Georgios Roilos (teacher, among others, of the
famous surrealist painter Giorgio de Kiriko), the rector of the
University of Athens and distinguished professor of theology Athanasios
Hastoupis, the professor of theology of the University of Athens
Panagiotis Trembelas; the distinguished jurist Georgios Roilos; the
judge of the Court of the European Communities (1983-1997), the Council
of State and the Supreme of the Special Court Konstantinos Kakouris
(descended from the Nikoletopoulos family); US MIT professor Elias
Gyftopoulos; professor and former Minister of Education Dimitris
Fatouros; Harvard University professor Panagiotis Roilos; Prime Minister
Antonis Samaras (his grandfather's house is preserved in Stemnitsa), the
professor of architecture at the University of Thessaloniki Nikolaos
Moutsopoulos, the actor Krateros Katsoulis, the Olympic medalist Mimis
Thanopoulos, the shipbuilding family of Martinou, Marika Mitsotakis, the
President of the 4th Department of the Council of State for many years
and an eminent public lawyer of law Christos Fatouros et al.
Also
two great artists, heroes and people, the ones that Diogenes was looking
for were Charalambos Katsoulis, awarded by the Academy of Athens for the
art of silversmithing and Aristides Vlachogiannis for archerysmithing
(church items, bells, icons, repousse art)