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Passavas (Template:Lang-el) or Las (Λας) is situated on the Mani Peninsula. In ancient times Las was a Spartan possession and in 218 BC the citizens of the city fought and routed and group of Philip V of Macedon's army. Las became part of the Union of Free Laconians in 195 BC when it separated from Sparta. The Spartans however recaptured the city in 189 BC. Sparta was then taken over by the Achaean League and Las gained its independence again. When the Romans took over most of Greece in 146 BC, Las and the other Free Laconian city continued to have independence. In Roman times, Las had a bath and a gymnasium.

The site is not mentioned in Byzantine times until the Frankish conquest of the Peloponnese, when Mani was given to the Baron Jean de Neuilly (or de Nully), who built a castle at Las. This castle became known as Passavant or Passavas, a name probably related to the motto Passe-Avant, "move forward". Passavas was a small but important barony because it held the unruly Maniots at bay. When the prince of Achaea, Prince William II Villehardouin was defeated and captured at the Battle of Pelagonia, The Barony of Passavant was probably conquered by the Byzantine shortly after 1262 and Jean's daughter Margaret of Passavant, widow of the Lord of Lisarea Guibert de Cors never entered her inheritance.

The castle was in use once again during the second Byzantine domination. The castle of Passavas was occupied by the Ottomans for a short time when they took over the majority of the Peloponnese, in a failed attempt to keep control over the Maniots who refused to accept Ottoman rule. In 1601, a Spanish fleet led by Alonso de Contreras that was raiding in the area surprised the Ottoman garrison and sacked the city. It was regarrisoned in 1669, by the Ottoman general Kuesy Ali Pasha. The castle was captured again in 1684 by the Venetians and the Maniots. The Venetians carried off the cannons and destroyed the city so it would not be used again. When the leader of the Maniots was executed by the Ottomans, his mother led the men of Skoutari who dressed up as priests on Easter Sunday and were allowed entry to the castle. When they got in they took out their hidden weapons and not many of the 700 families inhabiting the castle escaped. The castle was abandoned after that and has not been inhabited since.

Notes

1. Libro de los fechos et conquistas del principado de la Morea. 1885. Juan Fernández de Heredia, Alfred Morel -Fatio. Imprimerie Jules -Guillaume Fick.
2. The Chronicle of Morea. A History in political verse, relating the establishment of feudalism in Greece by the Franks in the thirteenth century. 1904. John Schmitt, PhD. Methuen & CO. 36 Essex Street, W.C. London.
3. Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d’Achaïe (in French). Paris: De Boccard. pp. 508-509

References

• Livy. "Rome and the Mediterranean" ISBN 0-14-044318-5
• Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos. Deep into Mani:Journey to the southern tip of Greece.
• Peter Green. Alexander to Actium: Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age ISBN 0-500-01485-X

36°43′39″N 22°30′16″E / 36.72750°N 22.50444°E / 36.72750; 22.50444

• Laconia
• Cities and towns in the Mani Peninsula
• Castles in the Peloponnese
• Buildings and structures in Peloponnese (region)