page_title: Kastanitsa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kastanitsa / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of Kastanitsa from the ruins of Koutoupou.
context_page_description: Kastanitsa is a village in Arcadia in Greece, on the southern slope of Mount Parnon. It is considered a traditional settlement. It is noted for its production of chestnuts, from which it takes its name, and for formerly being a majority Tsakonian-speaking settlement.
context_section_description: Kastanitsa is first mentioned in writing in 1293, but the settlement is thought to be nearly two centuries older, founded by Tsakones fleeing the rule of Slavic tribes that had invaded the Peloponnese.  According to Kastaniot tradition, the village was founded by two families called Pentalonas and Bezenikos.
  A Byzantine fort called Koutoupou was placed on the nearby hill of Pyrgos while the restored Byzantine monarchy warred with the Frankish lords of the Peloponnese to recover territory lost in the wake of the Fourth Crusade.
  Further documentary evidence is scant until the eighteenth century.  In 1788, a French traveller named Villehouson wrote that Kastanitsa "...has four hundred houses."  In 1808, an Englishman, Martin Leek, reported that "This was once a city of great note."  On 21 July 1821 the inhabitants proclaimed their independence from Turkish rule from atop the old Byzantine tower and joined in the Greek struggle for independence.
caption: A view of Kastanitsa from the ruins of Koutoupou.
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