Kassándreia

Kassandreia is the inland town on the Kassandra peninsula that was known as Valta during the Ottoman period. The name recalls ancient Cassandreia, but the old city near the peninsula's neck and the inland settlement should be distinguished. Valta had become an important commercial centre by the sixteenth century, and its ecclesiastical importance was marked by the presence of a metropolitan seat. The destruction of 1821 broke this pattern of town life. Residents subsequently returned, and Valta grew again by drawing people from neighbouring settlements that had also been devastated. Its recovery was therefore a process of gathering displaced communities as well as rebuilding houses. Valta's history combines regional commerce, religious administration and the reconstruction that followed the upheaval of 1821.