Alea, Argolis
Alea (Greek: Αλέα, before 1928: Μπουγιάτι - Bougiati) is a village and a former community in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. In 2001 its population was 146 for the village and 793 for the community. The seat of the community was Skoteini. Alea is situated in the mountainous northwestern part of Argolis, 5 km southeast of Kandila, 12 km northwest of Lyrkeia, 14 km northeast of Levidi and 27 km north of Tripoli. The Greek National Road 66 (Levidi - Nemea) passes near Skoteini.
Subdivisions
The municipal unit Alea is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
Population
History
Alea was an ancient city of Arcadia, founded by the mythical king Aleus, a son of Apheidas. It was situated near Stymphalos. The city had temples of Artemis of Ephesus, Athena Alea and Dionysus. Every other year the Skiereia, a celebration for the god Dionysus, were celebrated. Traces of ancient buildings have been found near the modern village.
Argolis
Argolis or the Argolid (Greek: Αργολίδα Argolída, [arɣoˈliða]; Ἀργολίς Argolís in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the tripoint area of Argolis, Arcadia and Corinthia. Much of the territory of this region is situation in the Argolid Peninsula.
Geography
Most arable land lies in the central part of Argolis. Its primary agricultural resources are oranges and olives. Argolis has a coastline on the Saronic Gulf in the northeast and on the Argolic Gulf in the south and southeast. Notable mountains ranges are the Oligyrtos in the northwest, Lyrkeio and Ktenia in the west, and Arachnaio and Didymo in the east.
Argolis has land borders with Arcadia to the west and southwest, Corinthia to the north, and the Islands regional unit (Troezen area) to the east. Ancient Argolis included Troezen.
History
Parts of the history of the area can be found in the articles on Argos, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Nafplio, Troezen, Ermioni, Kranidi, and Tolo.
Regions of ancient Greece
The regions of ancient Greece were areas identified by the ancient Greeks as geographical sub-divisions of the Hellenic world. These regions are described in the works of ancient historians and geographers, and in the legends and myths of the ancient Greeks.
Conceptually, there is no clear theme to the structure of these regions. Some, particularly in the Peloponnese, can be seen primarily as distinct geo-physical units, defined by physical boundaries such as mountain ranges and rivers. These regions retained their identity, even when the identity of the people living there changed during the Greek Dark Ages (or at least, was conceived by the Greeks to have changed). Conversely, the division of central Greece between Boeotia, Phocis, Doris and the three parts of Locris, cannot be understood as a logical division by physical boundaries, and instead seems to follow ancient tribal divisions. Nevertheless, these regions also survived the upheaval of the Greek Dark Ages, showing that they had acquired less political connotations. Outside the Peloponnese and central Greece, geographical divisions and identities did change over time suggesting a closer connection with tribal identity. Over time however, all the regions also acquired geo-political meanings, and political bodies uniting the cities of a region (such as the Arcadian League) became common in the Classical period.
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