MPELLEIKO

It was mere accident that I saw a small hand – written sign: “the Mpelleiko”("Belleiko"), an old stone – made house with marvelous and immense view. Its name derives from its owner whose name was Mpellas. No one suspects the miraculous secret hostel, right above the central road of Stemnitsa, only 300 meters away. It is fascinating place of divine beauty, a real dreamland of human hand shaking. Its source: man’s intelligent poetic instinct. Around and in front of it the immense horizons flow with musical harmony. Across it, the Lykaion Mountain. In the distance to the left: pet mountain Taygetos and to the right the Ionian Sea with Zakynthos in the back. All the spectacles mirror poetic prayers of prudence and are bathed in secret whispers of the soul. A step further up, you travel with the clouds holding under your arms the moon of a night full of stars. An endless dream! Every room has its fire place for winter time. Grandmother’s hand – made neat sheets and the colored blankets offer a genuinely archaic esthetic movement. All windows look at the open horizons of unrivalled landscape and the fir trees stand proud in their epic loneliness. For breakfast, home – made products with tastes, that emanate from the memories of tradition. As for the cost of the room, it is reasonable, showing respect for the visitor. One night at the Mpelleiko, and you have the gods in your feet, fellow – travelers with the rays of the sun and the deep voices of the Mainalon forest. One night at the Mpelleiko is like one night and your whole life in earthly heavens, with feul the beauty built with few words inside and outside your heart! The Mpelleiko is the crown of Stemnitsa. The genuine and hearty hospitality of the enterprising owner, Mrs. Nena Gkrintzia, graduate of the School of Geology, is an important capital. The remodeling of the hostel was work of the inspired craftsman and business partner Mr. Ntinos Sarakiniotis. The epic – lyric travel from the path – ways of Mainalon to Mpelleiko constitutes a conquest of the innocent sight and the soul’s fervent dream. ACCOMMODATION Traditional houses in the area of Stemnitsa have got two floors, the ground floor called katoi and the first floor called anoi. On the ground floor there are two rooms, the principal room, to kyrios katoi, and the room of the donkey, to katoi tou gaidarou, which resulted from an extension of the building in the beginning of the 18th century. On the first floor there is the drawing room, i sala, the winter room, to himoniatiko, the chamber, i kamari , and the summer room, o ontas. STEMNITSA Stemnitsa, a beautiful town in Arcadia is built on the slopes of Mt. Menalon. It disappears from history in the mid 15th century until the 16th century, when we have the first written accounts of it. From the 18th century on, with the increase in its population, Stemnitsa became an important market town, a «chora» as it was called, and at the same time saw a remarkable cultural, artistic and economic development. Along with its neighbouring towns in the province of Cortyna, Stemnitsa played an important role in the struggle for Greek independence. Characteristic of the regard in which Stemnitsa was held, is the address made to its people by the Gortyna-born Theodoros Deliyiannis, the then prime minister: «off all the Greeks the Peloponnesians are the most intelligent; of the Peloponnesians, the Arcadians; of the Arcadians, the Gortinians and of the Gortinians, the Stemnitsians». Stemnitsa’s prosperity continued throughout the 19th century. However, its decline started as early as the first decades of the 20th century, due to large-scale emigration and migration to urban centres. The old «chora» Stemnitsa, with its 3.000 inhabitants is sparsely populate today, but has kept alive its rich history. The original Greek name of Stemnitsa is Ypsus. Το discover the beginning of its history, one must look far back through the ages to that ancient Greek mythology whose roots are to be found in prehistoric times. So, according to mythology, King Lycaon, whom Zeus in a rage had transformed into a wolf, had fifty sons and one daughter. Each of his sons founded a town in the area, naming it after himself and Ypsus was founded by the son of that name. Its history follows the great moments of Greece without, in ancient times, playing a leading role in events. The first Byzantine monuments in Ypsus date back to around the 6th century A.D. Consequently, it is considered certain that from that time on the area was inhabited by Christian farmers and craftsmen. These craftsmen toured the Southern Peloponnese practising their craft, resulting in the ultimate migration of many inhabitants of Ypsus to more fertile areas. The renaming of Ypsus to Stemnitsa occurred in A.D. 746, a year of plague in the Peloponnese. The devastation of the region’s population and the intense demographic problem that followed, led the emperor in Constantinople, Constantine V, to allow the peaceful resettlement of Slavs from the North in the Peloponnese. The new settlers took up animal husbandry and agriculture and, naturally, gave the places they lived in names descriptive of their topography. So, the area around Ypsus became Stemnitsa, which means a wooded place. The «kastro» (or fortress), as it is still called tοday, bears witness to the passing of the Franks and was the conqueror’s stronghold. The Greeks and the Hellenized S1avs despised the Franks and looked for any opportunity to rise up against them. Stemnitsa was one of the twenty-two fiefs that made up the barony of the Frankish nob1eman Hugode Bruyer. Α vast number of monuments testify to the fact that Stemnitsa flourished during the Turkish occupation. Its location high up in the mountains encouraged prominent Greek fami1ies from other regions to seek refuge there to escape the Turkish yoke. This 1ed to Stemnitsa developing into one of the major trade and craft centres of the Peloponnese. The casting of church bells was a craft that was passed on from father to son in Stemnitsa. Bell makers, cand1estick makers, gold and si1ver smiths practised the most important crafts of the area, along with cand1e makers, tinsmiths and cobb1ers… Towards the end of the 17th century the Greek School of Stemnitsa was founded with a 1ibrary containing thousands of volumes. The Shcoo1 made a major contribution to the cu1tura1 deve1opment of the area. Stemnitsa suffered greatly at the hands of the invaders after the failure of the Orlov Rising in 1770. The attacks by Albanian irregulars did not leave Stemnitsa untouched. On the contrary a great deal of damage was caused, but the inhabitants, who hid in the monastery of St. John the Baptist, were miraculously saved. However, Stemnitsa’s name was destined to be linked with that of the national hero and protagonist of the 1821 revolution, Theodoros Kolokotronis. Already, by 1802, whenever he was in danger from the Turks, «the old man of Morea», as he was called, would take refuge in his beloved Stemnitsa. In the War of Independence it became his centre of operations, and it is there that he sought comfort for his grief after the 1oss of his son. The national uprising of 1821 found the Stemnitsians ready at -arms. On the 25th March all those able to bear arms formed a-unit, led by Constantine Alexandropoulos, George, Basilis and Dimitris Roilos and under the command of Kolokotronis, which took part in the siege of Karitena. Two months after the struggle began Stemnitsa was elected by the Assembly of Kaltetzes as the seat of the first Peloponnesian Senate, thus coming into the forefront of history. Stemnitsa or Ypsus: both names tell us about topography and 1ocal history. Α corner of mountain Arcadia with monuments that can unfold before the eyes of the modern-day visitor the adventures of the Greek people from Homeric times until today… LS: 01/05/2013 - 30/09/2013 MS: 01/10/2013 - 22/12/2013 & 08/01/2014 - 30/04/2014 HS: 23/12/2013 - 07/01/2014