Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Andania

Municipal unit in Greece

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Andania (Greek: Ανδανία) is a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been a municipal unit of the municipality of Oichalia. The municipal unit has an area of 88.694 km2. Population 1,820 (2021). The seat of the municipality was in Diavolitsi.

01History

Anciently, Andania (Ancient Greek: Ἀνδανία) was a town of ancient Messenia, and was the capital of the kings of the race of the Leleges. It was celebrated as the birthplace of Aristomenes, but towards the end of the Second Messenian War, it was deserted by its inhabitants, who took refuge in the strong fortress of Ira. From this time it was only a village. Livy describes it as a parvum oppidum ("little town"), and Pausanias, who extols the mysteries celebrated there, saw only its ruins when he visited in the second century. It was situated on the road leading from Messene to Megalopolis. The Homeric Oechalia is identified by Strabo with Andania, but by Pausanias with Carnasium, which was only 8 stadia from Andania.

Watch videos about AndaniaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Andania, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.