Sarakini ( meaning
Saracen) is a village and a community in the municipal unit of
Gortyna, western
Arcadia,
Greece. It is situated on a hill above the right bank of the river
Alfeios, at about 450 m elevation. It is 2 km northwest of
Vlachorraptis, 4 km northeast of
Theisoa (
Elis), 7 km northwest of
Karytaina and 8 km southwest of
Dimitsana. In 2001 Sarakini had a population of 37 for the village and 114 for the community, which includes the villages Kryonero and Palaiokastro. The village of Sarakini is first recorded in 1665, and was built, according to tradition, by settlers from
Constantinople. Palaiokastro is the site of a
Mycenaean-era settlement (
Homer's Phere), with a cemetery and a
nekromanteion having been found. The ruins of a nearby medieval fortress have been identified with the
Araklovon Castle. The village of Kryoneri is first mentioned in the Ottoman tax registers of 1698/1700, although its present site is more recent, as the village was moved from its original location.