Elis, also called Elea, modern Iliá, is one of the units on the peninsula. It combines the mountain with the sea and boasts beautiful vacation towns, sandy beaches, blue waters and pine trees which stretch down to the sea. The west side of Elis has long sandy beaches including Elia- one of the longest beaches in Greece. The port of Kyllini in the north part of the region provides regular ferry connections to the Ionian islands of Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Ithaki.
These are elements which compose a unique landscape for vacations, sun and swimming, while the most significant archaeological sites (Olympia, Ilis, Temple of Epicurios Apollo) entice tourists from all over the world.
The history of the region of Elis is tightly connected to that of the city Elis, ancient Greek region and the region’s centre in antiquity, well known for its horse breeding and for the Olympic Games, which were allegedly founded there in 776 B.C.
The Olympic Games were celebrated every four years at the sanctuary of Olympia, on the north bank of the Alpheus River. The city of Elis engaged in a long struggle with the Pisatians for control of the games until 572 B.C., when the Eleans decisively subjugated the Pisatians. Having gained control of the entire region by 580 B.C., the city of Elis briefly joined Sparta in an anti-Persian alliance (479), then broke with Sparta, adopted a democratic constitution (471), and became the administrative centre of union of smaller townships. During the Peloponnesian War, Elis again allied with Sparta until 420 B.C., when it defected to the side of Athens. Sparta subsequently punished Elis for its defection by stripping it of Triphylia, and Elis’s attempts to recover the latter were repeatedly frustrated by Sparta and then by Arcadia. But by adroit diplomacy and by emphasizing the sanctity of the Olympic Games (and the neutrality of Elis as the games’ host), the city was able to retain its territory and in some sense even its independence after the Roman occupation of Greece (146 B.C.), only to disintegrate with the collapse of the Roman Empire.
