Messini is a municipal unit and seat of the municipality of Messini within the regional unit of Messenia in the region of Peloponnese, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided. Before 2011 the same hierarchy prevailed, according to Law 2539 of 1997, the Kapodistrias Plan, except that Messenia was a nomos and the Municipal unit was a locality. The dimos existed under both laws, but not with the same constituents. Messini is not to be confused with its ancient namesake, Messene, located to the north in the shadow of Mount Ithome. Ancient Messene is an equally large but abandoned site of ruins partially occupied by the small village of Mavrommati. Messini did not gradually become nor was it created by population transfer from Ancient Messene.
Before the reorganization, the municipality of Messini contained 14 local divisions for a total population of 11041. Since 2010 Messini has still been a municipality, one of the six of Messenia. However, it has absorbed seven other former municipalities. These, and the former municipality of Messini, have become municipal units of the municipality Messini, with a total population of 23,482. These are as follows:
Municipal unit
Population
Aipeia
1,884
Androusa
2,397
Aristomenis
2,459
Voufrades
1,051
Ithomi
1,879
Messini
9,889
Petalidi
3,217
Trikorfo
706
The municipality has an area of 562.062 km2, the municipal unit 84.602 km2. The municipal unit of Messini contains the same subdivisions and populations as did the previous municipality of Messini but the subdivisions are now local communities. These are as follows:
Local community
Population
Messini
6,287
Avramiou
466
Analepsi
429
Velika
282
Karteroli
629
Lefkochora
201
Lykotrafos
240
Madena
109
Mavrommati Pamisou
452
Neochori
196
Pilalistra
181
Piperitsa
139
Spitali
120
Triodos
158
In summary, Messini is a town, a municipal unit and a municipality.
Province
The province of Messini was one of the provinces of the Messenia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality Messini and the municipal units Andania, Meligalas and Oichalia. It was abolished in 2006.
History
Messini began its communal existence as Nisi, a settlement placed on an island in the extensive marshland at the mouth of the Pamisos River. It was placed in Frankish territory, the Principality of Achaia, dated 1205-1432, consisting of 40 villages in Messenia and Elis. The ethnic content of the population in the vicinity at that time was Greeks and Christianized, Hellenized Slavs, which is reflected in the names of the villages around Messini. After 1432, when the Byzantine Empire fell and was commandeered by the Ottoman Empire, some Turks entered the region. Except for the names, these distinctions have more or less disappeared in modern Greece. The government of Greece changed the official name to Messini in 1867. Baedeker's for the later 19th century and early 20th centuries referred to Nisi as "now officially Messini," a phrase that was widely used in travelogues of the period. The earliest Baedeker's to do so is the German edition of 1888. Prior to 1887 Nisi is not treated as Messini. Subsequent references to the place often refer to Nisi as "the popular name".
