Archaeological Site of Lepreo

On yet another balcony of nature with an unobstructed view of the Ionian sea flourished the ancient city of Lepreo, capital of Triphylia. According to Strabo, Lepreo was a "land of bliss". Its impressive remains await the visitor to explore on the verdant western slopes of Mount Minthi, above the current community of the same name.

The founding of the city is attributed to the descendants of the Argonauts Minyas, who, when they were expelled from the island of Lemnos, ended up in Triphylia, establishing the Minyan hexapolis, with Lepreo being the most important of them. Although for a long period of its history it was autonomous, after the Persian wars Lepreo found itself together with other cities of Triphylia in the territory of the state of Ilians as a suburb city. With the end of the Peloponnesian war, in 400 BC. it regains its autonomy with the help of the Spartans and quite later joins the federation of Arcadian cities founded by Epaminondas.

Lepreo is mentioned by several ancient authors, such as Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristophanes and Pausanias, who when he visited the city around 170 AD. he found in decline.  Lepreo survives until the Byzantine period and seems to have been abandoned around 800-1000 AD. after pirate and barbarian raids. While the prehistoric acropolis has been identified and researched on the current hill of Agios Dimitrios of Lepreo with the remains of a settlement from the Proto-Hellenic period (2500-2000 BC), however, the one of greatest tourist interest is the acropolis of the classical and Hellenistic era on the hill to the north of today's village.

As a testimony of the prosperity and power that the city experienced, the highly elaborate fortification that protected it from invaders, with walls and towers built according to the mixed, isodome, still stands today at a height that reaches in some places up to 4 meters and polygonal system. Among the buildings preserved in ruins, the classic Doric pavilion temple on the plateau within the acropolis dedicated to the goddess Demeter, according to the testimony of Pausanias, stands out.

After admiring the imposing landscape, the visitor can see the church's platform where the occasion and the walls of the nave were located, while several column vertebrae, capitals and parts of the thrigos have been stored after the excavation of the monument around the church. A short distance to the east, a rectangular foundation made of conch shell stone has been uncovered which was the altar of the temple - sanctuary of Demeter.

Copyediting: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia