Asteri village (also known as "Brinikon") is 45 km away from Sparta and has 250 permanent residents. It is built at an altitude of 420 metres, above and around a small hill in the Evrotas river valley.
Archaeologists think that Mycenaean Elos was probably in the broader area of Asteri. According to mythology, the first inhabitant of the area was the youngest son of Perseus (king of Tirynth and founder of Mycenae), Elios. During the Trojan War, Elos was an important city. The British School of Athens has excavated the broader area of Elos and Asteri (in the area of Ai-Stratigos), where, among other things, the remains of a Neolithic settlement have been found.
The Agricultural Institute (former Institute of Phytopathology) of the Municipality of Evrotas is based in Asteri. The building where it is housed used to function as the Primary School of Asteri. In 2013, the Agricultural Institute began its cooperation with the American Agricultural School of Thessaloniki. In 2020, it began monitoring three Agro-meteorological stations at Asteri, Apidia and Krokees.
