page_title: Leonidio
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Leonidio / History
caption_attribution_description: Alemannisch: "Unser Sproch isch Tsakonisch. Verlangent, ass mers mit ych schwätzt!" E zweisprochig Schild (Tsakonisch un Neijgriächisch) z Leonidion and Tyros. Български: "Езикът ни е цаконски. Питайте, за да ви се отговори". Двуезичен надпис (цаконски и стандартен гръцки) в град Леонидио, Гърция. Deutsch: "Unsere Sprache ist Tsakonisch. Fragt Leute, dass sie es mit euch sprechen". Ein zweisprachiges Schild (Tsakonisch und Neugriechisch) in den Dörfern Leonidi und Tyros in Griechenland. English: "Our language is Tsakonian. Ask people to speak it with you". A bilingual (Tsakonian and Standard Greek) sign in the towns of Leonidio and Tyros Greece. Nederlands: "Onze taal is Tsakonisch. Verzoek dat men het met u spreekt". Een tweetalig (Tsakonisch en Modern Grieks) bord in Leonidio and Tyros , Griekenland. Español: "Nuesta lengua es el Tsakonio. Pedid a la gente que lo hable contigo". Un cartel bilingue (tsakonio-griego moderno) de Leonidio o Tiro (Grecia). Français&#160;: "Notre langue est le tsakonien. Demandez aux gens qu'ils le parlent avec vous". Un panneau bilingue (tsakonien et grec moderne) dans les villages de Leonidio et Tyros, Grèce.
context_page_description: Leonidion is a town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Kynouria, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 418.65 km², the community 102.67 km². It is considered a traditional settlement.
context_section_description: Leonidio is situated near the ancient city of Prasiae, which was an important harbour for Sparta until its ruin by the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War. The ancient Greek traveller Pausanias describes the area as the "garden of Dionysus",  because of the fertility of its plain, and in ancient myth the young Dionysus was found on its beach and later brought up in a cave emerging from it. There is also a second variant of the story, influenced by Christian tradition, recounting the finding of the relics of Saint Leonides atop the beach of Leonidio, where a church was to be built in his honour, remaining to this day; this is a common  suggestion for the derivation of the area's name. During the Middle Ages,  Leonidio found itself used only as a winter refuge for the inhabitants of Prastos, the former capital of Tsakonia. When Prastos was burned to the ground by Ibrahim Pasha during the Greek Revolution, however, its refugees found shelter in Leonidio, protected by the morphology of the landscape. In ensuing years the town flourished and thrived, counting among its residents wealthy merchants and seamen, closely associated with Constantinople and Odessa; during this period beautiful neo-classical house and tower house structures were built within its limits, including the "Tsikaliotis Tower". On January 21, 1949, a major battle of the Greek civil war took place in the town.
caption: "Our language is Tsakonian", bilingual (Tsakonian and Standard Greek) sign in Leonidio.
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