\ Crete (1) / \Cyclades (2) / \ Dodecanese (3) / \ Peloponnese (4) / \ Attica (5) / \ Central Greece (6) / \ Epirus (7) / \ Ionian Islands (8) / \ Thessaly (9) / \ Evia & the Sporades (10) / \ Macedonia (11) / \ Thrace (12) / \ NE Aegean (13) /

... REGION: Peloponnese ... Prefecture: Argolida ... / Ancient Mycenae \ ... / Epidaurus \ ... / City of Nafplion \... Northeastern Peloponnese, southern Greece.The magic of the shores of the Argolid, the bald moun tains, golden valleys, the grandeur of the monuments and the eternal quality of its myths will leave a lasting impression. Ïn this "flaming red Argive earth" celebrated by the poet, "where the poppy flames still brighter", you hear the most sublime voices of the Greek land - Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles. The Argolid was the heart of Greece from 1600 to 1100 BC under the Mycenaeans. With their decline, the Dorians controlled the fate of the region until the åïç- quest of the country by the Romans. During the Byzantine era the Argolid shared the fortune of the rest of the Peloponnese. It was ruled by the Franks and surrendered to the Turks in 1460, Nafplio, however, remained in Venetian hands until 1540. Nafplio was the capital of the newly formed Greek state from 1828 to 1834, when this role passed to Athens. The district in this little tour the approach to the district of Argos starts in the south, at Arcadian Astros. The little village of Mili is not far away. Ten kilometres further north are the ruins of ancient Lerna, where Herakles is said to have killed the Hydra, a dragon with the body of a snake and nine heads. Passing sometimes through valleys filled with vines and olive groves sometimes along the turquoise sea, the road leads to Nea Kios, a coastal town built at the back of the bay of Nafplio. Tranquillity reigns ïn this sandy, shallow seashore. Here ïn the last Sunday before Lent there is a festival with free food and wine. The coast road continues to Nauplia (Nafplio), capital of the prefecture and one of the lovellest towns in all Greece. The old city with its neoclassic houses, picturesque streets, wooden balconies with cascading flowers, Turkish fountains, Constitution (Syntagma) Square with its fascinating mosques and outdoor cafe tables is like a fairy land. Here, after centuries of struggle, happiness has finally settled. You feel like immersing yourself in its history, burrowing into its past-the house of the Regent Mauer, the Military Academy, it operates as a military Museum, the Army Ministry, Greece's first high school, Parliament House, St. Spyridon's, the church where Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece, was assassinated. And the fairy tale worid continues, whether you climb onthe 857 steps to the Venetian fortress of Palamidi. It is a narrow, mountainous peninsula projecting eastward into the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf, (to the northeast) and the Gulf of Argolis (to the southwest). Bordered on the north by Korinthos (Corinth) and on the west by the mountains of Arcadia, it has been inhabited since Neolithic times. A limestone plateau comprises the highland areas of Argolis, while its lowland plain is alluvial and fertile, though too dry to cultivate without irrigation. The main natural vegetation is macchie, but with cultivation the land supports vegetables, olives, citrus, and grapes. On the coast trees are cultivated for resin. Goats and sheep are raised, especially for milk, which is used in the production of cheese. The Argolid is an archaeological treasure house and thus a tourist trade centre: Mycenae was the home of Agamemnon, Tiryns the birthplace of Heracles, Epidaurus the home of an ancient healing cult. In ancient times the Gulf of Argolis gave Greece access to trade and exchange of ideas from Crete and Egypt. The city of Argos gave its name to the plain; Nauplia, the chief town of the nomós, is a seaport and seaside resort. It was also the first capital of an independent Greece in the 19th century. Area 2,214 square km.

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