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
Augeiae (Laconia) Augeiae (Laconia) Augeiae or Augeiai () was a town of ancient Laconia, mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the "Iliad", Strabo says the town was the same as the later Aegiae. Pausanias agrees with Strabo in that the name of the city had changed, but with a small variation, since he calls it "Aegias", which he places at thirty stadia from Gythium and situates in it a lagoon with a temple and a statue of Poseidon. There was a superstition that those who caught fish from the lagoon would become fishermen. If Augeiae is colocated with Aegiae,