The village of Palladio lies northwest of Lake Taka and 7 km from Tripoli. On the nearby wooded hillside is one of the earliest and most important towns of Arcadia, Ancient Palladio. Pallas, grandson of Pelasgos is considered the founder of the site. However it probably owes its name to Pallas Athena so loved by the Arcadians. Palladio was the main metropolis of the Roman Empire.
This is where the Arcadians started out with their leader Evandros, they arrived at the Italian peninsula and inhabited Palatine Hill, the heart of Rome, for the first time. This is the reason Roman Emperor Antonius Pius proclaimed Palladio an independent domain and granted it the privileges of a free city. This is also why modern Italians, in our times are full of awe and nostalgia for Palladio and worship their ancient cradle.
On this very hillside, excavations brought to light the foundations of four great temples. There are surviving traces of the fortification wall of the citadel and two great statues of Pallantas and Evandros were found in the lower town. Pausanias preserved the existence of the sanctuary of Clean Gods, named “clean” because they no longer accepted bloody sacrifices. Morals were now refined and the war ethos that created the myth of the primeval ritual sacrifices faded in the time of Pausanias.
Also located in the city of the ancient and sacred Palladio was the temple of Persephone, the chthonic daughter. In the valley beneath the mystical hillside lie the remnants of two early Christian basilicas that also incorporate older architectural elements. One of the basilicas, built in the 6th century, is dedicated to St. Christopher.
The distance from Tripoli is 7 km.
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