megalopolis

megalopolis
/meg'euh lop"euh lis/, n.
1. a very large city.
2. an urban region, esp. one consisting of several large cities and suburbs that adjoin each other.
Also, megapolis.
[1825-35; MEGALO- + POLIS]

* * *

Ancient city, central Peloponnese, Greece.

Occupying both banks of the Helisson River, it was founded in 371–368 BC by Epaminondas of Thebes as the seat of the Arcadian League. Attacked several times by Sparta, it joined the Achaean League in 234 BC. It declined rapidly after being plundered by Cleomenes III of Sparta in 223 BC, and by the 2nd century AD it lay in ruins. The nearby modern town lies in a rich lignite-bearing region that fuels thermal power stations.

* * *

Greece
Modern Greek  Megalópolis,  

      ancient and modern settlement, nomós (department) of Arkadhía, of the Peloponnese, Greece, just northwest of which lay an ancient city of the same name at 1,400 feet (427 m) above sea level on the Akhíllion plain. Spreading extensively on both banks of the Helisson (Elísson) River just above its junction with the Alpheus (Alfiós), the ancient community (the name means “large city,” or “great city”) was founded on a grandiose scale (371–368 BC) by Epaminondas of Thebes as the seat of the Arcadian League and as a bastion for the southern Arcadians' containment of Sparta. Megalopolis on the Helisson was populated by the wholesale transfer of inhabitants from 40 local villages and by contingents from Tegéa, Mantineia, and other locations. Encompassed by strong walls, the city reached about 5.5 miles (9 km) in circumference; its territory, extending 24 miles (39 km) northward, was the greatest of any city-state in Arcadia. Spartan attempts to take the city, which had been weakened by the failure of the Arcadian League, were foiled in 353 and 331—as well as after 234, when Megalopolis joined the Achaean League. In 223, however, Cleomenes III of Sparta plundered it, and with the coming of Rome in 146, the city declined rapidly; in the 2nd century AD the Greek traveler Pausanias noted that it was a heap of ruins. The only great historical figures it produced were the Achaean soldier-statesman Philopoemen (c. 252–182 BC) and the historian Polybius (c. 200–after 118 BC).

      Excavation by the British School at Athens in 1890–93 revealed municipal buildings north of the river that were grouped around a square agora; buildings to the south of the river included the main federal buildings, a theatre that was the largest in ancient Greece, and an adjoining Thersilion, or assembly hall.

      Megalopolis is at the centre of a rich lignite-bearing region that has been exploited since the early 1970s to fuel several thermal-power stations. Pop. (1981) 4,875.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Megalopolis — Mégalopolis Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mégalopolis (comédie musicale). Mégalopolis ou Megalópoli (« ἡ Μεγάλη πόλις », la grande ville , comme l écrit Pausanias le Périégète, ou en grec moderne Μεγαλόπολη) est une ville de Grèce,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • MÉGALOPOLIS — Au centre de la côte atlantique des États Unis s’accumule la plus grande concentration urbaine du globe: sur plus de 1 000 kilomètres du nord est au sud ouest vivent quarante neuf millions d’hommes, 20 p. 100 de la population des États Unis, dans …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • megalopolis — MEGALÓPOLIS, megalopolisuri, s.n. (În sociologie) Arie urbană foarte întinsă creată prin includerea succesivă a zonelor suburbane şi a oraşelor învecinate. – Din fr. mégalopolis, engl. megalopolis. Trimis de LauraGellner, 27.05.2004. Sursa: DEX… …   Dicționar Român

  • Megalopolis — (Greek for large city, great city) may refer to: Megalopolis (city type), an extensive metropolitan area or a long chain of continuous metropolitan areas. See also, Megacity, Agglomeration, or Ecumenopolis. Megalopolis, Greece, now known as… …   Wikipedia

  • Megalopolis — (griechisch Μεγάλη πόλις oder Μεγαλόπολις „große Stadt“) ist: Bezeichnung für eine große Stadtlandschaft, siehe Megalopolis (Stadtlandschaft) die figürliche Verkörperung des Landes Mecklenburg (von Mikelenburg = „große Burg“) Name mehrerer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • megalópolis — (plural megalópolis) sustantivo femenino 1. Uso/registro: elevado. Ciudad gigantesca que se extiende a lo largo de muchos quilómetros: La ciudad de México es la megalópolis más poblada del mundo hispánico …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • megalopolis — megalòpolis m DEFINICIJA geogr. kontinuirano izgrađena urbana zona koja obuhvaća više velikih gradova ETIMOLOGIJA grč. megalópolis: veliki grad ≃ megalo + pólis: grad …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Megalopolis — statusas T sritis ekologija ir aplinkotyra apibrėžtis Vientisa urbanizuota teritorija (daugelio miestų ir gyvenviečių junginys), kurioje labai didelis gyventojų tankumas. atitikmenys: angl. megapole vok. Megalopole, f; Megalopolis, f rus.… …   Ekologijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • megalopolis — statusas T sritis ekologija ir aplinkotyra apibrėžtis Vientisa urbanizuota teritorija (daugelio miestų ir gyvenviečių junginys), kurioje labai didelis gyventojų tankumas. atitikmenys: angl. megapole vok. Megalopole, f; Megalopolis, f rus.… …   Ekologijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • Megalopolis — Meg a*lop o*lis (m[e^]g [.a]*l[o^]p [ o]*l[i^]s), n. [NL., fr. Gr. megalo polis; me gas, mega lh, great + po lis city.] A chief city; a metropolis. [R.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Megalopŏlis — Megalopŏlis, 1) (d.i. große Stadt, a. Geogr.), Hauptstadt Arkadiens, durchströmt vom Helisson, mit vielen Tempeln, Stoa, ummauertem Markt, größtem Theater in Griechenland; es hatte 60–70,000 Ew. Erbaut wurde M. von Epaminondas nach dem Sieg der… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”