Ancient Lepreon was a Greek city-state located on the lower slopes of mount Minthi, north of the river Neda in southern Triphylia in Elis. Herodotus mentions Lepreon as being part of the Hexapolis founded by the Minyans, who drove out the original Cauconians. Lepreon was the only city of Triphylia to fight against the Persians at Plataea. Their name was inscribed on the base of the statue of the Olympian Zeus. Lepreus, son of Pyrgeus or of Caucon, who was killed by Heracles, is considered the city’s mythical founder.

Coordinates: 37°26’22.0″N 21°43’27.9″E

Lepreon flourished in the Classical and Hellenistic periods when it became the capital of Triphylia. It controlled the roads connecting Elis with Messenia and Arcadia. From the Roman conquest onwards, in 146 BC, the city began to decline. When Pausanias visited Lepreon in AD 170, the town was in demise. Lepreon lived on until the Byzantine period and was abandoned in 800-1000 AD after a series of pirate and barbarian raids.

There are remains of the fortified walls surrounding the acropolis, with several square towers built of poros and limestone blocks. The foundation of a Doric temple dedicated to Demeter can still be seen. The temple, measuring 20 by 10 metres, originally had 11 by 6 columns (peripteral) and can be dated to the first half of the 4th century BC.

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Links:

• Hellenic Ministry of Culture archaeological report
• The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites