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Sparta Google Earth Sparta (Doric: Σπάρτα Spárta, Attic: Σπάρτη Spártē) is a city in southern Greece. In antiquity it was a Dorian Greek military state, originally centered in Laconia. As a city state devoted to military training, Sparta possesed the most formidable army in the Greek world. Its defeat of rival power Athens in the Peloponnesian war asserted Spartan hegemony over Ancient Greece.,[1][2] and by overpowering both the Athenian and Persian Empires, she regarded herself as the natural protector of Greece.[3] Laconia or Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων) was the name of the wider city-state centered at the city of Sparta, though the name "Sparta" is now used for both. The Spartan Kings were believed to be the direct descendants of Heracles.[4] The city of Sparta lies at the southern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the river Evrotas. The site was strategically located; guarded from three sides by mountains and controlling the routes by which invading armies could penetrate Laconia and the southern Peloponnesus via the Langhda Pass over Mt Taygetus. At the same time, its distance from the sea—Sparta is 27 miles from its seaport, Gythium—made it difficult to blockade. For Information about Ancient Sparta, History etc See Ancient Sparta
Modern Sparta
Sparta situated in fertile valley of River Eurotas, flanked by Taygetos-Mountains (background) and Parnonas-Mountains. In front archaeological remains. (Source) Prior to modern times, the site of Sparta was occupied by a relatively small village that lay in the shadow of Mystras, a more important medieval Greek settlement nearby. In 1834, after the Greek War of Independencee, King Otto of Greece decreed that the village was to be rebuilt into a city on the site of and bear the same name as ancient Sparta (pronounced Sparti in Demotic Greek, Sparta in Tsakonian). The modern city of Sparta was designed with the intention of creating one of the most beautiful cities in Greece through the use of tree-lined boulevards and parklands. During the monarchy, the title of Duke of Sparta was used for the Greek crown prince, the διάδοχος (diadoxos). At present, Sparta is the administrative capital of the prefecture of Laconia. A Laconian Doric (Spartan) language known as Tsakonian survives in the Laconian region of Peloponnese into the modern era, although today its number of native speakers has significantly decreased. Sparta is the center of an agricultural plain whose focus is the Eurotas valley. It is the local center for the processing of goods such as citrus and olives. Sparta is a sister city of Stamford, Connecticut, United States.
Division of the municipality of Sparta
Historical population Year Communal population Municipal population 1961 10412 Google Earth Sparta Bus Station (KTEL)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org"
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