Peloponnese pen. Arcadia. Tours 2024

Arcadia: the Divine Ark

The capital of Arcadia is the city of Tripoli, built in the center of the plateau of Arcadia, which allowed it to quickly develop and dominate the region. Today it is an important commercial, agricultural and political center of Peloponnese, with modern buildings, traditional houses and large squares.
Other major cities of the region: Megalopolis, Leonidas, Astros, Tyros, Levidi and its largest ports are Astros, Tyros and Plaka Leonidio.

A Bit of History

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west, Arcadia became part of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire. Arcadia remained a beautiful, secluded area, and its inhabitants became proverbial as herdsmen leading simple pastoral unsophisticated yet happy lives, to the point that some imaginary idyllic paradise may be  referred to  Arcadia, immortalized by Virgil's Eclogues, and later by Jacopo Sannazaro in his pastoral masterpiece, Arcadia (1504).

Local products

 Arcadia is abundant with the gifts of nature such as juicy apples, sour cherries, robust potatoes, sublime olive oil, heavenly honey, sweet chestnuts, fresh walnuts, delicious garlic, wild greens (myronia), etc. Traditional products include the spoon sweets, tsipouro, cheeses: feta and mezithra (a full-bodied white soft cheese that's not salty), cooked meats, hylopites (pasta), trahana (a dried grain-like food made with milk products, egg and flour), etc.

The central Peloponnese produces a particular type of grape for wine known as Moschofilero.

Liqueur Tipota

In Tripoli you might find a sweet brandy-type drink with a scent of almond and vanilla called tipota meaning "nothing", produced by Nick Biris in 1949, originally devised for people, who reply “nothing” when asked what they want to drink.