Location information

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.

• http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HellenicMacedoni... (1 img.)

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.

• http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HellenicMacedoni... (2 img.)