Aria

Aria is just three kilometers from Nafplion on the Nafplio-Epidaurus road. Aria is built at the foot of a hill, which is a continuation of the hill of Palamidi and at an altitude of 27 meters from the surface of the sea.Aria is just three kilometers from Nafplion on the Nafplio-Epidaurus road. Aria is built at the foot of a hill, which is a continuation of the hill of Palamidi and at an altitude of 27 meters from the surface of the sea.

According to the 2001 census, the population of Arias is 1920 inhabitants, in recent years it has been extended and rebuilt over Magoula (Agios Vlassis). Today, three districts are located in Aria: Rhodes, Agia Kyriaki and Eksostis. The area of ​​Arias offers a splendid view of the city of Nafplion, which lies in front of it, with Palamidi and Bourtzi. However, the ancient acropolis of Argos, Tiryns, Ancient Lerna and Kiveri is also distinguished from the area.

Aria historically appears for the first time in 1149 in the memoirs of Leo, Bishop of Argos and Nafplion, where he built the monastery of the Holy Monastery. It seems that on this hill, over Aria, four great water springs came, with the most important source of Arias and the source of the Monastery of the Holy Monastery dedicated to the Zoodochos pigi.

Until 1960 it was the main source of water supply to the city of Nafplion. This fact (the existence of water in Aria) creates close links with Nafplio, which are distinguished by the first historical references of the settlement.

However, the existence of the water sources, the Mycenaean tombs found near the Aryan spring, the traces of Mycenaean structures found in the old school, the ancient Greek temple at whose ruins the Holy Monastery was built and the Roman aqueduct that fueled since then Nafplio with water reinforce the view that the area had been inhabited since ancient times, long before its first historical reference.

In the first official census of Othon in 1834 the settlement had 145 inhabitants. Continuing the historical retrospection, the Aria area also starred in the revolution of February 1, 1862 against Othon autocracy. In the wider region, important battles were made between the rebels and the government forces, culminating in the Battle of Aria (March 1, 1862), in which the hero of the artillery artillery commander S. Douvouniotis was killed in honor of which his Hero is at that moment.

Holy Monastery

The Monastery of Agia Moni is 3 km from the city of Nafplio and half a kilometer southwest of Aria. It dates back to the middle of the 12th century and since 1875 it is dedicated to the Zoodochos pigi. The katholic of the monastery is a typical example of Byzantine architecture, preserved in excellent condition and according to the French Byzantinologist Karolos Detel "is the most beautiful of the second millennium.

According to the inscription on the built marble slab at the west entrance of the temple, the temple was built by the bishop of Argos and Nafplion, Leo Aga in 1149. It was constructed in the type of a composite four-legged cruciform inscribed temple with a dome, built with carved pyramidal isometric stones. The monastery's katholikon has been built on the ruins of an ancient Greek temple and many members of the ancient temple have been incorporated into the building. On the back of the building there are still columns and capitals of the ancient temple still on the ground. The Holy Monastery and other churches in the villages of Argolida of the same type and characteristics (12th and 13th centuries) constitute a special unity in the

Architectural School of Greece (such as the Assumption of the Virgin in Chonika, Agia Sotira in Plataniti and the Assumption of the Virgin In the Holy Trinity)

The monastery on Frankish rule (1212-1389) received special privileges from Latino bishop Argus Sekundos Nani. During the Venetian rule (1835-1540), the Holy Monastery remained in the Greek Orthodox monks, while during the Ottoman rule it was granted by the Notary of Nafplion (in 1679) to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem as a shareholder of the Holy Sepulcher.

Many historians - writers believe that the source located outside the monastery's enclosure is identified with the ancient Canato source, where Hera goddess bathers each year to acquire her virginity.
Today the Holy Monastery is a women's monastery in which there are 10 nuns, who care for and preserve both the temple and the surrounding area.

Square

In the center of the oldest part of the village is the large square that up to 1992 consisted of five large of five large, uneven cobblestone threshing floors. At this point, the threshing and the harvesting of the fruits were held and celebrations and celebrations were celebrated. Today, this traditional character of the village has changed, as the paved surfaces of the threshing floors have been covered. In the square there is the church, the building of the spiritual center and the Hero of the Dead.

Churches and chapels

The Assumption of the Virgin is the central church of Aria, built in 1866 on a pre-existing early Christian Byzantine temple. It has a magnificent marble iconostasis built in 1893.

At the top of Magoula hill, on the north side of the village, there is the church of the patron saint of Aria of St. Vlasius, which is a royal flat-roof. Despite the fact that the date of its construction dates back to the end of the 19th century, it is certain that at that point there existed a Christian church as there is a mention of its existence in a Venetian topography of 1714.

In the area of ​​Aria there are many small churches and chapels with old hagiographies such as Agia Kyriaki, Agios Eleftherios, Agia Paraskevi, May Thanasis, Agios Theodosios and many others.

Eksostis

The settlement is located 1 kilometer away from Aria and has been inhabited since ancient times, at least since the Venetian occupation, where it is also referred to as Merzé. Bonaphine, one of the earliest pharmacists who came to Greece, who operated the first pharmacy in the country and embalmed his dead friend, Ioannis Kapodistrias, seems to have had a plot in the town of Efos. In his estate, Bonaphin built the church of doctors of Saint Anargyroi, Kosmas and Damianos.

Eksostis, due to its amphitheatrical location, offers a panoramic view that is approaching in the last few years more and more to build in this area.

Aria belongs to the municipal unit of Nafplio of the Municipality of Nafplio and appears under the name of Aria and according to the 2001 census it has 1920 inhabitants.

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