Astros is 170 km from Athens and Paralio Astros is 4 km from Astros.
The historical Astros Kynourias is located on the western beach of Argolikos, in the interior of the plain of Thyrea, where was the ancient city of Thyrea and later the polis Astron, south of the first city of Europe, the historic Argos and the seat of the Mycenaean civilization Mycenae.
On the map above, the historical Argos and Mycenae can be seen in the interior from ancient times, also later Astros and Leonidio are located in the interior. In recent years, also inland are the neighboring Agios Andreas, (from the settlement of Agios Andreas the Port of Agios Andreas was named, of course the ports are named after the settlements), Korakovouni, Meligou and Koutroufa.
It is obvious that the inhabitants in ancient times preferred the inner ones.
Astros existed thousands of years earlier, it was found there by the proxies of the National Assembly and Kolokotronis, “the National Assembly of liberated Greece met in Astros” said Alexandros Mavrokordatos, president of the Electoral Commission (i.e. Prime Minister), and “En Astrei”, “in Astros” the proxies did the obvious, and with the proclamation that was “Issued in Astros inside the Karytsiotis Museum” they proclaimed to the world and the powerful of the time “and let us become completely independent, a separate, autonomous and independent Nation”
The National Assembly did not take place to name the settlement Astros, on the first day of the National Assembly on March 29, 1823, Petrobeis Mavromichalis, Grigorios Dikaios i Papaflessas, Th. Negris, Panos Zafeiropoulos i Akuros, K. Zafeiropoulos, Bresthenis Theodoritos, G. Psyllas and about 80 other distinguished proxies. “In Astros on March 29, 1823 and third of Independence”, the Astros were found there by the representatives of the National Assembly.
It is wrongly stated that the Assembly in 1823 named the settlement Astros, because all the decisions of the Constitutional Assembly were made and had to be made in writing (it was a Constitutional Assembly, it was not a coffee house) and the Assembly did not decide with any document for the name Astros, simply and self-evidently used and officially confirmed the existing name Astros of the settlement, “in Astros” with the first documents from the first day on March 29, 1823, almost before the Assembly began.
At the current location of Paralio Astros , there was no settlement for thousands of years, because there were marshes, rushes and reeds. It was an “uninhabited place”, said Akοuros, and the island was a desert rock. It was the port of the area and in recent times before 1845 the name of the location was Skala or Skala tou Astros and in ancient times it was probably Pyramia or Apovathmoi . Leake mentions “Leaving the Scala of Astro= leaving the Scala of Astro, Travels in the Morea (p. 485). Leake in 1805 mentions and also confirms that there was no settlement at the site, “on the scala there is a tank, an inn, a tower house of the (Turkish) tax collector, and two or three small warehouses” (Travels in the Morea p. 482), as other historical scholars also report.
Paralio Astros is the newest settlement in the area and was built from 1832-1845 by the Agiannite general Panos Zafeiropoulos i Akouros, as the Paraliotes honor with his aridan in the central square, “SETTLER OF PARALIO ASTROS”. Paralion Astros Kynourias, Gazette 32A – 08/12/1845. The settlement is annexed to the municipality of Thyrea.
Sources
astrosgr.com - Το Ιστορικόν Άστρος Κυνουρίας 