Listed 2 sub titles with search on: History for wider area of: "GREVENA Prefecture GREECE" .
GREVENA (Prefecture) GREECE
The name Grevena has existed since the 10th century, although the
administrative district that bears it was not created until 1964. This well-forested
region attracted inhabitants from the surrounding lowlands after the Ottoman
conquest. On the slopes of the verdant Pindos
mountains, thriving hamlets sprouted, which over the centuries welcomed new settlers,
mainly Vlachs.
The terrain dictated the citizens' occupations (stock breeders and
muleteers cum merchants) and made the area a junction for communications between
Macedonia, north-west Thessaly and Epirus, as can be seen from the stone bridges
and traces of roads that have survived.
As early as the late 16th century, the area was involved in revolutionary
activity; in 1537 the first reference is made to the armatoliki of Grevena,
where the legendary Kapetan Vergos was based. (An armatoliki was a settlement
given special privileges by the Turks, including the right to bear arms.)
The region was subjected to mass conversions to Islam in the late
18th century, when formerly Christian villages are mentioned as having a purely
Muslim population. Despite the actions of the armatoles (e.g. Yero-Ziakas) and
the initiation of many of them into the 'Philiki Etaireia', the area was not in
a position to prepare itself for the revolution of 1822.
Cut off from their own armatolikia, many warriors joined other revolutionary
bands, while Theodoros Ziakas played a leading role in the
uprising of 1854. A place of conflict between guerrilla bands as early as
1897,
as well as during the Macedonian
Struggle, the region of Grevena was liberated during the First
Balkan War.
By kind permission of:Ekdotike Athenon
This text is cited Nov 2003 from the Macedonian Heritage URL below, which contains image.
SAMARINA (Village) GREVENA
Samarina was founded in 15th century on the wooded slopes of Mount
Smolikas, west of Grevena.
This market town in the Pindos
mountains with its Vlach population enjoyed three successive centuries of exceptional
economic growth and cultural development. On a map from 1560, it is shown under
the name Santa Maria de Praetoria.
Its inhabitants tended sheep and goats and wove a woolen fabric called
'velentza', which they sold at the region's trade
fairs. The people of Samarina were also involved in trade, and as muleteers
they headed the long caravans that traveled all over the Balkans. The level of
culture reached by this town (it had both schools and a library) is evident in
the excellence of its religious painting.
Artists from Samarina, organized into family teams, covered not only
local needs but also branched out into other regions, as far away as the Peloponnese.
After the liberation of 1913, the residents of Samarina and other mountain villages
began to move down to the urban centers of the plains; many of them also emigrated
abroad.
By kind permission of:Ekdotike Athenon
This text is cited Nov 2003 from the Macedonian Heritage URL below, which contains images.
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