Tyros (Tsakonika: Tere) is a seaside town in the prefecture of
Arcadia. It was the seat of the Municipality of Tyros and the
current seat of the Municipal Unit of Tire of the Municipality of
South Kynouria. It includes three settlements: Ano Tyros, Kato Tyros
and Tyros beach.
It is located in the middle of Kynouria,
between the foothills of Mount Parnon and the shores of the Myrtos
Sea.
It is one of the oldest naval states of the Peloponnese
and belongs to the area of historic Tsakonia where the Tsakonian
dialect is still spoken and the traditional Tsakonian dance is
danced.
Tyros is 180 km from Athens, 71 km from Tripoli, 70
km from Argos, 20 km from Leonidio, 30 km from Astros and 14 nm from
Spetses.
Tyros has been inhabited since prehistoric times, it
was one of the ports of ancient Sparta, on the hill above the
present port, there are the ruins of a prehistoric settlement -
castle of Lygaria that helped oversee the port of Komi of Tyros
which was located 100m. inside the current Karavostasi location.
Tyros has taken its name from the sanctuary of Apollo Tyritis
(APELLONI TYRITA), a local deity worshiped in the area.
The
location of the sanctuary is located on the hill of Profitis Ilias
southwest of the town.
Extensive excavations were made by
Professor Romaios, ancient finds have been found in both the
Paliochora plateau of Tyros and Mount Orion (1,194 m).
The
findings from the area are now in the museums of Sparta, Tripoli,
Astros, the Benaki Museum as well as the Louvre museum.
In
the Laconic of Pausanias it is referred to as "earl after port".
Geology
In Tyros from 1860 to 1939 operated barite mines at
Cape Trikeri northeast of the town. Their last owner was the
Athenian businessman Sgourdas.
In the area of Tyros are
also the geological layers of Tyros, of the Tripoli zone which,
according to geologists of the University of Patras, is found only
in the area. It is a very hard rock of blue and green hue, which the
locals call "Gerania".
Language
Tyros belongs to the
historical Tsakonia and its inhabitants still speak the Tsakonian
dialect which comes from the ancient Doric dialect.
The
Tsakonian dialect, apart from Tyros, is spoken in Leonidio, Prastos,
Kastanitsa, Agios Andreas, Sitaina, Pera Melana and Vaskina.