Both before the Kallikratis law and after it, Therapnes was composed of the same eight Local Communities (topiki koinotita), the lowest level of the hierarchy: Agioi Anargyroi (formerly Zouraina), Agrianoi, Gkoritsa, Kalloni, Kefalas, Platana, Skoura and Chrysafa.

[1] Therapnes covers the hill country on the east bank of the Eurotas River northeast to the slopes of Mt.

Each village has a history of its own, but the basis making Therapnes a distinct unit is the presence of the ruins of ancient Therapne, a Bronze Age city that stood on a ridge on the left bank of the Eurotas River, overlooking the Eurotas Valley and the site of Dorian Sparta, today's city of Sparti.

From the top of the ridge the valley below appears as a sunken bowl between Mount Taygetus and Therapne, hence the Homeric epithet "Hollow Lacedaemon."

[4] In mythological terms, it was said to derive its name from a nymph Therapne, daughter of Lelex, and Castor and Pollux were thought to have been born there.