Velanidia, Laconia an observatory. Velanidia has an important distinction because of its Byzantine churches. Churches like those of Saint Constantine, Saint Panteleimon and Saint John has several wall paintures where we can observe the fidelity of figures. For photos, click here. From Velanidia you can visit the north side of Cape Maleas and its lighthouse, which was built in 1860 and it's the oldest at Mediterranean sea. For photos, click here. Velanidia, Laconia Velanidia () is a Byzantine village in Laconia, Greece, within the municipality of Monemvasia. Also, it is situated at the southern edge of Peloponnese and more specifically at the
Asine (Laconia) are the same place; and the resemblance between the names "Asia" and "Asine" probably led Polybius into the error of calling Las by the latter name; an error which was the more likely to arise, because Herodotus and Thucydides speak of the Messenian Asine as a town in Laconia, since Messenia formed a part of Laconia at the time when they wrote. The error of Polybius was perpetuated by Strabo and Stephanus of Byzantium. During the Roman period Asine belonged to Sparta although most of the other towns in the area were part of the Union of Free Laconians. The