Kapsia

The village of Kapsia (also often pronounced as "Kapsas") is built in the first uphill valley after the plain of Tripoli, in the direction to Levidi. The narrow passage leads to a large sloping plateau, which essentially constitutes the alluvial fans of the great ravine of Kardaras.

The position is strategically important, as the road it controls is not only the shortest to Levidi and from there to Vytina, Achaia and Korinthia, but it is also the only safe passage during the period when the basins of Mantineia are flooded. Thus, Kapsia has always been a key road station dor travellers and transportation from Tripoli to the Northern Peloponnese.

In confirmation of the strategic value of the passage, in ancient times a watchtower was built on the hill known today as Agiolias. The tower supervised not only the inland road connecting Mantineia to the ancient Orchomenos, but also the mountain passes that led through Mt Menalon to Methydrion, Mainalia Theisoa and other hinterland locations.

It is believed that the original location of the settlement was near the Kapsia sinkhole: as in all similar cases of relocation, the old settlement is now called Paleochori ("Old Village"). A few remains and the ruins of a cemetery near the current chapel of Panagia confirm this hypothesis.

At the eastern base of the Agiolias peak, there several sinkholes that drain the runoff of the basins of the Mantineia plain. Two of them are particularly prominent and the bigger one forms a large entrance with a large chamber.
Apart from the great geological interest of this sinhole, it is of particular archaeological importance that its spacious chamber was one of the most important sites of prehistoric inhabitation in eastern Arcadia. The cave can be visited by appointment.

Today, Kapsia hosts several facilities (gas station, shops, hostels, restaurants), it is however a somewhat silent village.

Text and photos by T. Adamakopoulos