Stemnitsa (Greek: Στέμνιτσα) is a village and a municipality located in northwestern Arcadia. It is also the seat of the municipality of the same name. The village is connected by a road connecting Karytaina and GR-76 and Dimitsana. The road is narrow and has only one lane within town limits, while it is two-laned outside the village. GR-74 is about 20 km south. The town is located about 9 km south of Dimitsana, southwest of Levidi and Vytina, west of Tripoli, and north of Megalopoli and Dimitsaina. Its nearest neighbouring communities are Dimitsana to the north and Zygoviti to the southeast. It is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Arcadia. The village's name comes from a Slavic word meaning "a thick forest shaded with trees." The village was known by the name of Hyspous until about the time of the Black Plague. In the 1500s, it was the most populated village in Gortynia.
The village has a school, a church, a post office, a square (plateia) and a folklore museum. The village is located on the eastern slope of a valley, which has a small creek to its east. The residential area covers the eastern part of a mountain. Another mountain is located to its west and southeast. Most of the area to its south and west is deforested.
Its librabry of Stemitsa used to have around 5,000 volumes until the Greek War of Independence of 1821. It is now a monument and is located next to the square.
Until the 1960s, much of the village did not have electricity and until the 1980s, most of the houses were stone-built.
Stemnitsa (also called Ypsous) is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Dimitsana on your way to Tripoli, which you reach after another 45 kilometers (28 miles).
What is not generally known is that Stemnitsa was the capital of liberated Greece during the summer of 1821, the first year of the Greek Revolution.
Stemnitsa is proud of its Cultural Museum, housed in the 18th century Hadji Mansion.
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