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{{for|the cockroach genus|Methana (cockroach)}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
| name = Methana
| name_local = Μέθανα
| type = municipal unit
| image_map = DE Methanon.svg 
| map_caption = Location within the regional unit
| periph = [[Attica (region)|Attica]]
| periphunit         = [[Islands (regional unit)|Islands]]
| municipality   = [[Troizinia-Methana]]
| pop_municunit = 1352
| population_as_of = 2021
| area_municunit = 50.161
| elevation = 18
| coordinates = {{coord|37|34|N|23|23|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code = 180 30
| area_code = 22980
| licence =
| website = [https://www.methana.gr/ www.methana.gr]
| image_skyline = Methana 2008.jpg
| caption_skyline = Town of Methana
| city_flag =
| city_seal =
| districts = 4
}}

'''Methana''' ({{langx|el|{{linktext|Μέθανα}}}}, {{translit|el|Méthana}}) is a town and a former [[Communities and Municipalities of Greece|municipality]] on the [[Peloponnese]] peninsula, [[Greece]]. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality [[Troizinia-Methana]], of which it is a municipal unit.<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL81-32jgAMSfbnMRVjyfnPUeJInJ48_97uHrMts-zFzeyCiBSQOpYnT00MHhcXFRTsb2fGphpq4MKX2ZkaHobySNnvZCNHXvYVvlf80XevW0Q.|title=ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> The municipal unit has an area of 50.161&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archivedate=2015-09-21 }}</ref>

Methana is situated on a [[volcano|volcanic]] (the [[Methana Volcano]]) [[peninsula]], attached to the Peloponnese. Administratively, it belongs to the [[Attica (region)|Attica]] region. The town (pop. 892 in 2011) is located north of the road connecting to the rest of the Peloponnese and Galatas. The highest point is {{convert|740|m|0|abbr=off}} (Helona Mountain). The municipal unit has a land area of {{convert|50.161|km2|3|abbr=off}} and a population of 1,352 inhabitants at the 2021 census.

==Subdivisions==

The municipal unit Methana is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
*[[Kounoupitsa]] (Kounoupitsa, Agios Georgios, Agios Nikolaos, Makrylongos, Palaia Loutra)
*[[Kypseli, Methana|Kypseli]] (Kypseli, Agioi Theodoroi)
*Loutropoli Methanon (Methana, Dritsaiika)
*[[Megalochori, Methana|Megalochori]] (Megalochori, Vathy, Kaimeni Chora, Megalo Potami)

==Historical population==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Community population !! Municipal unit population 
|-
| 1981 || 1,035 || - 
|-
| 1991 || 1,054 ||2,056 
|-
| 2001 || 1,148 || 2,057 
|-
| 2011 || 1,097 || 1,657 
|-
| 2001 || 899 || 1,352
|}

Half of the entire peninsula's population lives in Methana town.

==Volcanic activity==
{{Main|Methana Volcano}}
[[File:Vulkandom.jpg|thumb|left|240px|[[Methana Volcano]]]]

The peninsula is entirely of [[volcano|volcanic]] origin and contains over 30 volcanic eruption centers. The last volcanic eruption occurred near present-day [[Kameni Chora]] in 3rd century BC. Famous writers such as [[Ovid]], [[Strabo]] and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] reported the last volcanic eruption in Methana. The peninsula is the northwesternmost of the arc of the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] islands of which the active volcanic areas are Methana, [[Milos]], [[Santorini]] and [[Nisyros]]. In the future, Methana (and the area of the [[Saronic gulf]]) may expect other volcanic eruptions.<ref>{{cite web|title=List of volcanic eruption sites on Methana|url=https://www.methana.com/en/geography-of-methana/geology/methana-volcanoes.html|publisher=Methana-Promotion.com|accessdate=11 May 2021}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:20090608 Methana peninsula Peloponnese view from the sea Greece.jpg|thumb|View of Methana peninsula from the sea]]
[[File:Sulfurous bath inside sea.JPG|thumb|Sulfurous bath inside sea]]

Since 1991, the peninsula has been investigated by the team of [[ETH Zürich]] geologically and cartographically. From this, a topographical map of the entire peninsula at a scale of 1:25,000 was made.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}  An interactive [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927031339/http://www.methana.de/cms/index.php?id=257&L=1 3D map] was created and is on the World Wide Web.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Also a rich photographic archive with about 10.000 color slides has been produced (see links below).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The panorama of the northeastern part of [[Argolis]], southeastern and eastern [[Corinthia]] along with the southern part of the [[Attica]] peninsula and the [[Saronic Gulf|Saronic Islands]] of [[Aegina]] and [[Salamis Island|Salamis]] along with a smaller one and the mountains of the eastern tip of the neighboring peninsula.

Much of the peninsula is mountainous and bushy and grassy. The mountain range covers the central part of the peninsula and has a small ridge north of the seat. The residential area is within the sea. The pastures are around Methana. A mountain ridge is founded in the west and is about {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=on}} long with a stream in the middle and a cliff in the south.

==History==

The earliest known settlement (near the village of Vathy) dates from 1500&ndash;1300 BC. The first survey was conducted by [[Michael Deffner]], who discovered a large [[throne]], among other artefacts. Many ancient sites were identified through the archaeological survey conducted in the 1980s by the University of Liverpool in association with the British School at Athens. The [[Acropolis Palaiokastro]] is located near the village of [[Vathy (Methana), Greece|Vathy]] but the main port is at Methana, also called Arsinoe in Ptolemaic times, with a fort on the islet of Nisaki. A coastal fortress called Akropolis Oga is located near [[Kypseli (Methana), Greece|Kypseli]]. A [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] settlement was excavated by Helene Konstolakis-Jiannopoulou in 1990 along with the chapel of Agios Konstantinos and Elenis. Selected artifacts can be visited in the museums of Poros island and in Piraeus. This site dates between 1500 and 1300 BC. 
The name of the town appears to be in the so-called "Aegean List" from the [[Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III]] in [[Egypt]], dating to 14th century BCE, where it is recorded as {{transliteration|egy|m-dj-n-ij}}. <ref>{{cite book |last= Cline |first= Eric |date=1998 |title=Amenhotep III, Perspectives On His Reign |url=https://archive.org/details/AmenhotepIIIPerspectivesOnHisReign_201905 |location= |publisher= The University of Michigan Press |page=238 |isbn= 0472088335 |access-date= }}</ref>

Methana ({{langx|grc|τὰ Μέθανα}},<ref name=Pausanias>{{Cite Pausanias|3|6|12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Strabo|viii. p. 374}}</ref> {{translit|grc|tà Méthana}}), Methone ({{lang|grc|Μεθώνη}},<ref>{{Cite Thucydides|4.45}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Diodorus|12.65}}</ref> {{translit|grc|Methṓnē}}), or Methene ({{lang|grc|Μεθήνη}},<ref>{{Cite Ptolemy|3.16.12}}</ref> {{translit|grc|Methḗnē}}) was in the territory of [[Troezen]]. In his ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'', [[Thucydides]] tells of an Athenian expeditionary force under [[Nicias]] that after defeating Corinth (in 425 BC) built a wall across the isthmus to cut the Methana peninsula off from the mainland.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|45|2|ref}}</ref> In the [[Hellenistic]] period, the peninsula became one of the Ptolemaic bases in the Aegean when it was renamed Arsinoe. When [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] visited in the 2nd century, he saw a temple of [[Isis (goddess)|Isis]], and statutes of [[Hermes]] and [[Heracles]] in the [[agora]].<ref name=Pausanias/>

There are no written references to Methana in the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Ruins of basilicas and churches from the late 6th or early 7th century have been found. It seems that there were two settlements in Methana in the Byzantine period, one at Panagitsa and another at Prophet Elias and at Helona. Another settlement seems to have existed west of [[Kounoupitsa]], where the church of Agia Barbara is located and the churches of Agios Dimitrios and Agios Ioannis the Theologian, built in the 13th century and frescoed, are located.<ref name="dimos1">{{Cite web |url=https://troizinia-methana.gr/gr-byzantinetimes.html |title=Βυζαντινοί και Μεσαιωνικοί χρόνοι |website=troizinia-methana.gr |publisher=Δήμος Τροιζηνίας-Μεθάνων |accessdate=2022-01-03}}</ref> It seems that the peninsula was not affected by [[Slavic migrations to the Balkans|Slavic invasions]], but later in medieval times it was affected by raids. During the 14th century, a period in which the population of the region was diluted, [[Arvanites]] settled on the Methana peninsula.<ref name="dimos1"/>

During the [[Greek War of Independence]], hundreds of refugees, mainly women and children, found refuge in the sparsely populated peninsula of Methana, so that the population of Methana rose from 500-600 in the pre-revolution years to 1,349 in 1830. In 1826-27 [[Charles Fabvier]] built a fortress on the isthmus of Methana, probably to protect his troops. In 1834 Methana became a municipality which was annexed to the province of Kalavria, consisting of the municipalities of Methana, Troizina, Dryopi and Kalavria.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.troizinia-methana.gr/gr-aneksartisia.html |title=Μετά την Ανεξαρτησία |website=www.troizinia-methana.gr |publisher=Δήμος Τροιζηνίας-Μεθάνων |accessdate=2022-01-03}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Giorgos Batis]] (1885–1967) singer
*[[Lina Nikolakopoulou]]

==See also==
*[[List of settlements in Attica]]

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Mee |first1=Christopher |last2=Forbes |first2=Hamish Alexander |title=A Rough and Rocky Place: The Landscape and Settlement History of the Methana Peninsula, Greece : Results of the Methana Survey Project, Sponsored by the British School at Athens and the University of Liverpool |date=1997 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-0-85323-741-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6V9oAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{DGRG|title=Methana}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{cite gvp|vn=212020|name=Methana}}
*[https://www.methana.gr/ Official website] {{in lang|el}}
*[https://www.methana.com The alternative Methana Website Project]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19990224210833/http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/europe_west_asia/methana.html  Methana Volcano]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050327085402/http://www.bu.edu/jfa/Abstracts/J/James_21_4.html Erosion of Methana]
*[http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/methana_saronic_gulf/methana_volcanoes.html Methana Volcanoes]

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = 
|North     = ''[[Saronic Gulf]]''
|Northeast = 
|East      = ''Saronic Gulf''
|Southeast = 
|South     = [[Troizina]]
|Southwest = 
|West      = ''Saronic Gulf''
|Northwest = 
}}

{{Troizinia-Methana div}}
{{Arvanites}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Spa towns in Greece]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Greece]]
[[Category:Subduction volcanoes]]
[[Category:Stratovolcanoes]]
[[Category:Lava domes]]
[[Category:Troizinia-Methana]]
[[Category:Landforms of Islands (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Landforms of Attica]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Argolis]]
[[Category:Populated places in Islands (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Arvanite settlements]]