Agia Efthymia

Agia Efthymia Αγία Ευθυμία
Community
Agia Efthymia
Coordinates:38°28′N22°21′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Central Greece
Regional unit	Phocis
Municipality	Delphi
Municipal unit	Amfissa
Lowest elevation	470 m (1,540 ft)
Population (2021)
• Community	374
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Postal code	331 00
Area code(s)	22650
Vehicle registration	AM
Website	agiathimia

Agia Efthymia(Greek:Αγία Ευθυμία,[aˈʝaefθiˈmia]) is avillagein theregional unitofPhocis,Greece.It is part of the municipality ofDelphi,located on the foothill ofMount Gionathe highest mountain of Central Greece, in the district of Parnassida inCentral Greece.

History

Classical antiquity

The history of Agia Efthymia can be traced back toancient Greece,when the town was namedMyoniaand/orMyania.Myonia is attested by classical sources as apolis,thus it must have been a political community,one of the principal of the ancientGreektribe ofLocrians,in the region ofOzolian Locris.Ruins of the ancient defence town walls have been preserved up to now, in and around the village, as well as remains of an ancient cemetery. In 338 BC, Myonia was sacked byPhilip II of Macedonalong withAmfissa,because Ozolian Locrians had illegally cultivated part of the Crissaean plain which belonged toDelphi.A treaty between Myonia andHypniahas been published, as well as a decree of Delphi in honor of a citizen of Myonia, both dating from the 2nd century BC.

The Myonians are also mentioned byThucydidesin his workHistory of the Peloponnesian War.Eurylochus, theSpartangeneral, had to pass through the land of the Ozolian Locrians on his road toNaupactus.For this reason and because he also wanted to detach the Amfissians fromAthens,Eurylochus sent a herald to Amfissa as long as he had arrived at Delphi. The Amfissians, who were alarmed at the hostility of thePhocians,gave hostages to him and induced the other Locrian cities to do the same; the first of them were their neighbours, the Myonians, who held the most difficult of the passes.

Pausanias,in his workDescription of Greece,refers to Myonia as a town farther inland from Amfissa and above it, thirty stades away. The town was lying upon a hill, and it had a grove and an altar sacred to the gods calledMeilichioi,the sacrifices to whom were offered at night and the rule was to consume the meat on the spot before sunrise. Beyond the city, there was a precinct ofPoseidon,calledPoseidonium,with a temple of the god in it, but the statue had disappeared before the author's time.

In another book of the same work, Pausanias mentions that there was a bronze-plated shield in theTemple of ZeusatOlympia,adorned with paintings on the inner side, and along with the shield there were a helmet and greaves. An inscription on the armour said that they were"dedicated by the Myanians as first fruits toZeus".He concludes that the Myanians were the same folk as the Myonians of the Locrian mainland, as he remembered the reference to the latter by Thucydides, and says that the letters on the shield were a little distorted, a fault due to the antiquity of the votive offering.Stephanus of Byzantiumnotes the town asMyon(Ancient Greek:Μύων).

There had been some confusion during the 19th and early 20th century in identifying the original location of ancient Myonia, mainly due to Pausanias' description of the location of the ancient town. Nevertheless, several historians and specialists on the geography of ancient Greece have identified Myonia with the modern village of Agia Efthymia, so there is no doubt about it anymore.Louis Robert,in his workÉtudes épigraphiques et philologiques,places Myonia at Agia Efthymia,as well asThe Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites,Alfred Philippson,and the editors ofInscriptiones Graecae,Günther Klaffenbachand Johannes Kirchner.William Martin Leakearrives at the same conclusion and locates Myonia at Agia Efthymia on the road fromSalonatoGalaxidi,contradictingWilliam Smith,who locates it on the road from Amfissa toGraviain theDictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.

Ottoman era

During theOttoman occupation of Greece,Agia Efthymia held a leading role in the region of Parnassida and had one of the only three schools in Phocis, established by the teacher and monk Nikodimos Kavassilas, who was born in Agia Efthymia in 1595. He became principal of the School of Varnakova in 1648 until his death in May 1652, leaving interesting spiritual writings.

The disobedient character and resistance of the local people against theOttoman Empirewere strong and admirable. Agia Efthymia was a center ofarmatoloi.Around 1705 the leader was Katsonis, uncle of the heroLambros Katsonis,who was nicknamed "Vrykolakas" meaning 'vampire', because until his death in 1740, he was so much feared by theOttoman Turksthat they left the whole territory to his jurisdiction in order to free themselves from him. The famous Greek writerAndreas Karkavitsashad dedicated to Vrykolakas a whole story calledThe Exarch.

Until 1821 and theGreek War of Independence,eleven massive attempts for independence took place on the Greek side, one of them headed by theBishopofSalona,Philotheos Charitopoulos, who was born in Agia Efthymia. He, together with captain Kourmas, formed an alliance withVenetianarmy and navy, trying to overthrow the Ottoman domination when he was killed in the battlefield.

The man who took charge after Charitopoulos' death was his son-in-law, Kostas Zacharias, nicknamed "Konstantaras". His achievements were sung in popular folk songs. The poetKostas Krystalliswrote the storyCaptain Konstantaras,in which he referred to the fact that Konstantaras killed his only left son - his other two sons had been killed by the Ottomans - with his own hands because he dishonored his family while he had been living on the island of Agios Konstantinos, opposite ofItea,where he had been sent to attend the local school. Konstantaras died in 1755 and his jurisdiction was shared to his three - second in command - men.

The tradition of the local fighters was continued by the famous fighter Astrapogiannos, who was also born in Agia Efthymia and his real name was Giannos Zacharis. Astrapogiannos was praised by popular folk songs too and the poet Aristotelis Valaoritis was inspired by Astrapogiannos' last moments after he was wounded. He wrote the poemAstrapogiannosin 1867, in which he praises the friendship between Astrapogiannos and his lieutenant, Lambetis. There was also a popular Greek film produced in 1970, titledO Astrapogiannos,dedicated to the fighter.

Other revolutionaries from Agia Efthymia who are popular in the local folk tradition are Arapogiorgos, the guerilla chief during 1750–1760, Mitros Dedousis around 1770, Georgios and Giannis Karaplis by the end of the 18th century. During the Greek War of Independence, several fighters from the village were distinguished, taking part in some of the most important battles like thebattle of Gravia,thebattle of Vassilikaand thebattle of Alamana.Among them Ioannis Kalpouzos and his son Anagnostis Kalpouzos, with the latter being killed during the battle in the region ofAlamana,where he fought along withAthanasios Diakos,which made the firstking of GreeceOttohonor Kalpouzos family by visiting them in Agia Efthymia.

Modern history

In thehistory of modern Greece,many Agioefthymiotes are recorded to have taken part in the struggles against foreign powers. During theGreco-Turkish War of 1897,three men were killed in the battlefield, while in theBalkan Wars,thirteen men from Agia Efthymia lost their lives in the lines, two of which had come from theUnited Stateswhere they had previously migrated. Nine people died duringWorld War Iand ten at theGreek campaign to Asia Minorin 1919-1922.

DuringWorld War II,Agia Efthymia suffered heavily from theAxis Powersas thirty-seven people were directly shot to death by the conquerors while the total loss of people numbered 120 individuals. On April 25, 1941, the village was bombed and its cathedral, dedicated to the "Birth ofTheotokos",was damaged. On 9 April 1943, the troops ofFascist Italyburned the largest part of the village, including the church of Agios Efthymios, and, in August 1944, the troops ofNazi Germanyburned the rest of it. According to official data 365 out of the total 423 houses of the village were destroyed and 20 were partial burned. The State recognized the sacrifice of the Agioefthymiotes and in 2000 Agia Efthymia was included in the list of "Towns and Villages of Martyrdom" and a monument for the people who died in World War II was erected at the entrance of the village.

Origin of the name

The ancient name of the village was Myonia (Μυωνία,Μυονία), also referred to as Myania (Μυανία), and it was held until 1580, slightly altered to Mynia (Μυνιά). The name is said to come from the wordmys(μυς) which means 'muscle', due to the brawniness of the men in the town.

According to theChronicle of Galaxidi,compiled by a monk named Efthymios in 1702, a huge earthquake in 1580 destroyed several towns in Phocis like Salona (Amfissa),Galaxidi,Lidorikiand Mynia. The desperate residents of the latter left the village and went to the mountain above it crying. There an old man with a long beard appeared and told them to return to their village and not to fear because he would protect them. This old man was believed to beSaint Euthymiusand actually he is always portrayed with a long beard. The residents returned to the village, rebuilt their houses and gave the name of the saint to their community, Agia Efthymia. Additionally they built a church dedicated to him.

It is interesting thatAgia Efthymiais feminine and not the name of the old man. Besides there is no female saint inChristianitywith this name. The prevalent explanation of why the village was namedAgia Efthymiainstead ofAgios Efthymios,is that the inhabitants might attempt to match the name of their villageMynia,which is feminine, with the feminine nameEfthymia.Indeed, nowadays this seems very sensible since the residents call their villageAithymniawhich sounds very close to the ancient nameMynia.

Archaeological finds

In the region, 4th century coins have been discovered, depicting, on the front side a head of Demeter with a peplos and a wreath made of wheat, whereas the rear side depicts Apollo seated, holding a branch of laurel and holding a lyre. The inscriptions bear the name of the Amphictyony.

In 1928, at Kazas, two iron swords within two graves were discovered, as well as lances and javelins and a bronze helmet of the 6th century BC, located in the Archaeological Museum of Amphissa. They present affinities with similar objects from Macedonia and northern Greece in general, a fact which may sho the Doric origin of the Locrians and the route followed by the Dorians during their descent to southern Greece.

Modern village

The village is situated on the foothill ofMount Giona,the highest mountain of Southern Greece, on the site that the ancient town existed. It is about 8.5 km SW of the prefecture's capital,Amfissa,to which it is connected by the recently reconstructedGR-48.Agia Efthymia is also close to some popular destinations of Greek and foreign travellers: the famous archeological site ofDelphi,the coastal townsIteaandGalaxidi,Parnassos Ski Center.

The residents engages mainly inagriculture,with products like the popular olives of the region,pastoralism,building, while many of them work in the bauxite mines. During the 19th and 20th century, Agia Efthymia was one of the largest villages in Parnassida and the whole of Phocis. Now the population of the village has reduced to 374 residents according to the census of 2021, although the people originating from it who visit and live there during the year, especially in summer, increase the number to more than 1,000.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1821 300 — 1835 467 +55.7% 1851 720 +54.2% 1870 1,009 +40.1% 1879 1,275 +26.4% 1896 1,510 +18.4% 1907 1,481 −1.9% 1920 1,418 −4.3% 1928 1,490 +5.1%

Year Pop. ±% 1940 1,528 +2.6% 1951 1,173 −23.2% 1961 1,087 −7.3% 1971 851 −21.7% 1981 670 −21.3% 1991 756 +12.8% 2001 429 −43.3% 2011 452 +5.4% 2021 374 −17.3%

Culture

Today there is the "Union of the Athens, Piraeus and Environs Agioefthymiotes", founded in 1957 by descendants of the village's people who live inAthens,which keeps its society in the Greek capital close to Agia Efthymia and publishes a newspaper which goes to around 1,600 households in and outside of Greece. In 1921 the "Agioefthymiotes Myonia - Mutual Support Society" was established inNew York Cityby the local numerous society of immigrants from Agia Efthymia.

Giannis Skarimpas,a popular writer, was born and raised in Agia Efthymia, descended from a well-known local family which had taken part in the Greek War of Independence. Each year the society of the village organizes a series of cultural events called "Skarimpeia", dedicated to the writer. Ioanna Glymi, a professional painter who had taken part in various contests inParis,also descended from Agia Efthymia and left to the community approximately 100 of her paintings. Other distinguished people who descended from the village were the hero of the Greek War of Independence Astrapogiannos, the painter Georgios Kalamaras and - as it is said -the popular folkloric personality Maria Pentagiotissa.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Pausanias,Description of Greece,onlineatPerseus Project
• Thucydides,History of the Peloponnesian War,onlineatPerseus Project

Secondary sources

• Habicht, Christian (1998).Pausanias' Guide to Ancient Greece.University of California Press.ISBN0-520-06170-5.
• Hansen, Mogens Herman;Nielsen, Thomas Heine (2004).An inventory of archaic and classical poleis.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-814099-1.
• Leake, William Martin(1835).Travels in Northern Greece.J. Rodwell.
• Leake, William Martin(1857).On some disputed questions of ancient geography.John Murray, London.
• Robert, Louis(1938).Études épigraphiques et philologiques.Champion.
• Smith, William(1857).Dictionary of Greek and Roman geography.Walton and Maberly.
• Stillwell, Richard; MacDonald, William L.; McAllister, Marian Holland (1976).The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.

External links

• https://agiathimia /
• Χρονικό του Γαλαξειδίου - Galaxidi Chronicle(in Greek)