Editing Argos, Peloponnese (section)

===Crusader and Ottoman rule===
In the aftermath of the [[Fourth Crusade]], the Crusaders captured the castle built on Larisa Hill, the site of the ancient acropolis, and the area became part of the [[lordship of Argos and Nauplia]]. In 1388, it was sold to the [[Republic of Venice]], but was taken by the [[Despot of the Morea]] [[Theodore I Palaiologos]] before the Venetians could take control of the city; he sold it anyway to them in 1394. The Crusaders established a Latin bishopric. Venetian rule lasted until 1463, when the Ottomans captured the city.

In 1397, the Ottomans plundered Argos, carrying off part of the population,<ref name="Sutton">Contingent countryside: settlement, economy, and land use in the southern Argolid since 1700  Authors Susan Buck Sutton, Keith W. Adams, Argolid Exploration Project  Editors Susan Buck Sutton, Keith W. Adams  Contributor Keith W. Adams  Edition	illustrated  Publisher	Stanford University Press, 2000  {{ISBN|0-8047-3315-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3315-1}} page 28</ref> to sell as slaves.<ref name="link">Eventful Archaeologies: New Approaches to Social Transformation in the Archaeological Record  The Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology Distinguished Monograph Series  Author Douglas J. Bolender  Editor Douglas J. Bolender  Publisher SUNY Press, 2010 {{ISBN|1-4384-3423-5}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4384-3423-0}} page 129 [https://books.google.com/books?id=TSLeX0GRNqwC&dq=%22In+1397+Argos+was+captured+by+Turkish+raiders%2C+and+its+population+carried+off+to+slavery.+The+Venetians+repopulated+the+town+and+region+with+Albanian+colonists%22&pg=PA129 link]</ref> The Venetians repopulated the town and region with Albanian settlers,<ref name="link"/> granting them long-term agrarian tax exemptions.<ref name="Sutton"/> Together with the Greeks of Argos, they supplied [[stratioti]] troops to the armies of Venice.<ref name="Sutton"/> Throughout the [[Ottoman–Venetian wars]], many Albanians died or were captured in service to the Venetians; at [[Nafpaktos]], [[Nafplio]], Argos, [[Methoni, Messenia|Methoni]], [[Koroni]] and [[Pylos]]. Furthermore, 8,000 Albanian [[stratioti]], most of them along with their families, left the Peloponnese to continue their military service under the [[Republic of Venice]] or the [[Kingdom of Naples]]. At the end of the Ottoman–Venetian wars, a large number of Albanians had fled from the Peloponnese to Sicily.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Biris |first=Kostas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOkJHQAACAAJ |title=Αρβανίτες: οι Δωριείς του Νεώτερου Ελληνισμού |date=1998 |publisher=Melissa |isbn=978-960-204-031-7 |language=el |page=340}}</ref> Some historians consider the French military term "argoulet" to derive from the Greek "argetes", or inhabitant of Argos, as a large number of French stratioti came from the plain of Argos.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pappas|first=Nicholas C. J.|title=Stradioti: Balkan Mercenaries in Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Italy|url=http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Stradioti.html|publisher=Sam Houston State University|access-date=7 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101628/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Stradioti.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Neo Ireo Kimisis Theotokou.JPG|thumb|The church of the Kimisis (Dormition) of the Virgin in Neo Ireo]]
During Ottoman rule, Argos was divided in four [[mahala]]s, or quarters; the Greek ([[Rûm]]) mahala, Liepur mahala, Bekir Efenti mahala and Karamoutza or Besikler mahala, respectively corresponding to what is now the northeastern, the northwestern, the southwestern and southeastern parts of the city. The Greek mahala was also called the "quarter of the unfaithful of Archos town" in Turkish documents, whereas Liepur mahala (the quarter of the rabbits) was composed mostly of [[Albania]]n emigrants and well-reputed families. Karamoutza mahala was home to the most prominent Turks and boasted a mosque (modern-day church of Agios Konstadinos), a Turkish cemetery, Ali Nakin Bei's [[seraglio|serail]], [[Turkish bath]]s and a Turkish school. It is also at this period when the open market of the city is first organised on the site north to Kapodistrias' barracks, at the same spot where it is held in modern times. A mosque would have existed there, too, according to the city planning most Ottoman cities followed.

Argos grew exponentially during this time, with its sprawl being unregulated and without planning. As French explorer [[François Pouqueville|Pouqueville]] noted, "its houses are not aligned, without order, scattered all over the place, divided by home gardens and uncultivated areas". Liepur mahala appears to have been the most organised, having the best layout, while Bekir mahala and Karamoutza mahala were the most labyrinthine. However, all quarters shared the same type of streets; firstly, they all had main streets which were wide, busy and public roads meant to allow for communication between neighbourhoods (typical examples are, to a great extent, modern-day Korinthou, Nafpliou and Tripoleos streets). Secondary streets were also common in all four quarters since they lead to the interior of each mahala, having a semi-public character, whereas the third type of streets referred to dead-end private alleys used specifically by families to access their homes. Remnants of this city layout can be witnessed even today, as Argos still preserves several elements of this Ottoman type style, particularly with its long and complicated streets, its narrow alleys and its densely constructed houses.

[[File:Veduta d'Argos - Coronelli Vincenzo - 1688.jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of Argos by [[Vincenzo Coronelli]], 1688]]