Kyparissia, Arcadia


Kyparissia is a village, former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see in southwestern Arcadia, Peloponnese peninsula of continental Greece.
It is part of the municipal unit of Gortyna. In 2011 Kyparissia had a population of 58. It is situated near the left bank of the river Alfeios. 1 km south of Mavria, 3 km east of Kourounios, 3 km northeast of Isoma Karyon, 3 km west of Katsimpalis, 5 km southeast of Karytaina and 8 km northwest of Megalopoli. There are lignite mines east of the village.

History and remains

The town lay in Achaea and after split in the Late Roman province of Peloponnesus Secundus.
The ancient city Trapezus was situated near the village.
To the east of the modern village lay the ancient town of Basilis, which had largely vanished by the 2nd century AD, when the geographer Pausanias recorded that only the sanctuary of hunting goddess Artemis survived. The site is now being excavated.
Ciparissia once was a bishopric, apparently a suffragan of the Metropolis of Patras, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but it was suppressed without a single historically documented incumbent.

Titular see

It was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Titular bishopric.
It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents of the fitting episcopal rank:

Notable locals