Atsicholos

Atsicholos or Atsiholos (Greek: Ατσίχολος) is a very old village in Gortynia (Arcadia prefecture

Nearest places

*Maratha (formerly Vlachorrapti), west
*Stemnitsa, northeast
*Elliniko, east
*Karytaina, south

Information

Its main production are olives, citrus, fruits, vegetables and other crops, several common crops are rarely common. The village can be seen as far as to the north and east.

Marathia has several rural roads and approximately 10 km of hydro lines and 3 km of paved roads.

Its residential houses and buildings are within the main road and it is about 200 to 300 m long wide at the centre. Much of the houses were stone built until the 1960s. Electricity arrived in the same year. Vehicles arrived in the 1970s, the pavement of the main road and television arrived in the 1980s and computer and internet are rarely known in the beginning of the 21st century and up to date technology are not seen.

Population

History

The village's original name is as obscure as its founding. A legend says that a "tzopani" (shepherd) and his "katsika" (goat) were traveling in what is now the village's present location and found a source of water, thus, naming the area "Atsicholos" (originally Atzi-Cholos). But this is far from the truth, for the original village was founded in the area of the Lousios Gorge as it proven by the remnants of very old spitakia (houses), kallivakia (huts) and keramidia (roof tiles). It is also believed that the original village of Atzi-Cholos (and at a far lesser extent the inhabitants of ancient Vrenthi [Karytaina] ) was the last remnant of the great Mycenaean city of Ancient Gortys or Gortynos, named after the eponymous hero-king, Gortys (Son of Stymphalos, Son of Elatos, Son of Arcas), of the Pelasgian line of Hellenic Kings.

The villagers of Atzi-Cholos moved and settled in the present area of what is now Atsicholos as a way of fleeing the Ottoman Turks during their oppressive ruler over Hellas for more than 400 years. Before the present area of Atsicholos was settled, it was a place for sheep grazing for the villagers of the old settlement and the people thought of this area as the best place to secretly rebuild a new village, without the Turks knowing about it. Somehow the Turks realized what was going on and they were ordered by the villagers to show them where this new village is. The villagers fooled the Turks and sent them to look into another location. The present area of Atsicholos is a strategic location, as is the village of Karytaina (Karitaina), which became valuable to fight the Turks during the Hellenic Revolution of 1821-1828. One famous individual who was supposedly born here was Gregorios Aggelopoulos, also known historically as Patriarch Gregorios V, who was martyred at the gates of the patriarcheio in Constantinople by the Turks.

The village used to have a large population before the beginning of the 20th century. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, the population began to decline as residents moved to larger towns and cities and outside of Greece. One exception was that the population lost by nearly one-third 1981 and 1991 but it slightly lost between 1991 and 2001.

Copyright © 2005-2007 by Arkadias Oupides Publishers, Inc.

Other

Atsicholos has a church, and a square ("plateia"), its nearest school and lyceum (middle school) and gymnasium (secondary school) are in Karytaina.

ee also

*List of settlements in the Arcadia prefecture

External links

* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=8528 Atsicholos on the GTP Travel Pages]
*Coordinates: coord|37|31|21|N|22|1|28|E|type:city(63)_region:GR