Valtetsi () is a village in the municipal unit of Valtetsi, Arcadia, Greece. It is located in the Central Peloponessus in what is called Ορεινή Αρκαδία (Greek: Mountainous Arcadia) at a distance of 12 km west of Tripoli and an altitude of 1,050 m. It is a small plain terrain surrounded by four hills: Chomatovouni, Mylos, Katsikeika and Dovrouleika. It is considered a traditional settlement.
Historical Synopsis
It was later improved by a migration of Tsakonians on their way to Attica due to their shepherd's life and also some Souliotes chased by the Ottomans resettled in the village.
Valtetsi used to be an isolated place, connected to other villages with three narrow paths only, each one guiding to the major mounts in the region: one to the Taygetus, other to the Menalus and the third to the Parnon. This is possibly the reason why it was one of the most famous dens chosen by klephtes and brigands.
It soon became characterized by a strong common ethic code which was strictly guarded by the Valtetsiotes, who were renowned as warlike highlanders with an austere way of life and love for Greek tradition and Christian faith.
Every day life was extremely hard since cattle keeping (mostly sheep and also some goats) was the local profession for ordinary villagers. The typical family lived in a constant move. When it was not the Ottoman occupant's menace it was the strong winter which obliged shepherds to take their herds to milder weathers and pastures in the Argolid returning to Valtetsi in April. When September arrived, they started the herd's move again, this time to the summer camps in Tegea and Dimitsana. The existence of nearby marshes, worsened the living conditions up to a level that a strong dengue epidemic struck the village even at the beginning of the Twentieth century.
The pastoral way of living was kept for nearly 400 years until the early 1950s. The negative impacts of the Second World War and the Greek Civil War, which impoverished the region to an extent of very difficult subsistence, and the advent of modernization with the boom of urban life made younger generations to flee for new experiences at first towards nearby cities in the Argolid, second to Athens, Greece's capital city (notably in some of the neighbourhoods of Piraeus like Kastela or Palaio Faliro) and in the end overseas abroad to America being the United States, Canada and Argentina the three main places chosen as destinations.
The disaster that both wars caused in the region, slowly overcame as the rest of Greece with the help of the Marshall Plan and the doctrine of rebuilding Europe. With the accession of the country to the European Union, progress arrived to the villages, mainly in terms of communication. New roads and tunnels were built with European funds and telephone netting plus TV provision finished with centuries of isolation.
Today's Valtetsi is a touristic attraction, showing the typical highland mountain village with a number of nearly 300 semi-stable people living. When the month of the Anniversary of the Greek War of Independence arrives, a new revolution, takes place with historical re-enactments and special celebrations which are attended by national and regional political celebrities.
Valtetsi during the Greek War of Independence
In 1821, when the Greek War of Independence broke out, Valtetsi became the key headquarters of the revolutionary army. The short distance within the village and Tripolis -which being the capital of the Ottoman vilayet of Morea became the main objective of the rebels- and the topographic characteristics of the place made Theodoros Kolokotronis to choose it as his stronghold prior to the final assault.
The Maniots, under the leadership of Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis and with the help of the local villagers, succeeded in fortifying the four hilltops by building small housetowers and installing defensive batteries. During the Battle of Valtetsi, the combined action of the Maniot warriors and the local brigands helped the Greek side to win the battle and to take effective control nearly half of the Peloponessus.
Prior to the Siege of Tripolitsa, Petros Mavromichalis, the commander-in-chief and bey of Mani arrived to the village with a strong army and camped at Valtetsi, establishing the Maniot seat of campaign and headquarters for the first time since the medieval period outside the limits of Laconia. During the siege itself, the Valtetsiotes fought under the command of Petrobey and took part in the capture of the city.
