Kastellia

Infobox Greek Dimos
name = Kastellia
name_local = Kastelia
image_coa =


periph = Central Greece
prefec = Phocis
province =
population = 549
population_as_of = 2001
population_ref = [http://web.archive.org/web/20060413201756/http://www.statistics.gr/gr_tables/S1100_SAP_1_monimos2001.htm source]
pop_dens = 29
area = 47.4
elevation = 450
lat_deg = 38
lat_min = 42
lat_hem = N
lon_deg = 22
lon_min = 25
lon_hem = E
postal_code = 330 57
area_code = 22650
licence = ΑΜ
mayor = Athanasios Mananas
website = [http://www.kastellia.org.gr/ kastellia.org.gr]


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districts =
party =
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The town of Kastellia is part of the Municipality of Gravia of Prefecture Fokida. It is on the Lamia-Amfissa-Naypaktos road, 40 km from the city of Lamia and 35 km from Amfissa. The town is in the foothills of the Giona and Oiti Mountains, southwest of the Boiotikos basin.

Kastellia is served by the Bralos railway station, and is 2 hours by train from Athens. At the station you will find taxis to transport you to the town or the rest of the Municipality of Gravia. The oldAthens-Thessaloniki highway leads to Kastellia. From Kastellia, a new by-pass road leads to the mountainous villages of the Municipality of Sklithros which are Oinohorion Kaloskopi up to the villages of the next Municipality of Kallieon. Kastellia extents appx. 37.468 acres and a weighted average altitude of 450m. The ground is semi-highland and it consists of:1) 8.914 acres of cultivated land,2) 11.368 acres of partial-forestry land,3) 13.925 acres of forestry quality land,4) The remainder of the land is allocated for housing and roads. The 1928 census indicated that the town had 1,066 inhabitants, in 1961 it had 827 inhabitants, in 1971 had a population of 779, in 1981 it had a population of 770 and in 1991 it had 779 inhabitants. The latest census, in 2001, indicatedthe town had population of 549 onhabitants.

History

For the historic retrospection of our town, we will use Mr Panagiotis Th. Tsakris doctoral thesis, former Director of Pedagogic Academy in Lamia town, which is the most serious and unique study around the history of our town - Kastellia.

Several decades after the end of Trojan War, the Dorians (Dorics) arrived via the Thessaly and stteled in Dorida (Doris), which was used as the base of operations in order to occupy other areas of Greece. Dorida in the ancient period, was the state that is extended in the region of ex municipality of Dorians, in the province of Parnassida, where nowadays are the towns Kastellia, Gravia and Oinohori. It is bounded on the southeast by the mount Parnassos, at South West by the Giona mountain, at North East by Mount Kallidromos and at West by Oiti mountain.

The valley is 4x5 km dimensions and is crossed by two rivers, the Kanianitis (ancient Pindos) and the Apostolias, which are linked with Kifissos, near Polydroso. The Pindos river has its sources in the mountainous group of Giona and Oiti and flows through a narrow ravine for about 4 km when it descends to the valley.

Dorians along Pindos river, founded four small cities and by the ancient writer’s words, were poor and their residents were suffering from hunger. That stigmatized them with the name Lemo-Dorians.

Dorida in the ancient period was named also as Driopis. It’s about words that become from the same root, dris (oak) that means country wooded mainly from dris (oak). The biggest part of the region is covered by the various varieties of dris (Oak). Herodotos wrote that the nation of Dorians received the name Doricon, when people came to Peloponnesus from Dryopida, whilst in the beginning, when they lived in Pindos mountain, their nation was named "Macedonian Nation"(1,56).

The Dorians founded three cities, as Thucydides says: Voion, Kitinion and Erineos. The Geographer Stravon claims four cities: Erineos, Voion, Kitinion and Pindos and speak for Doric Tetra-polis. Diodoros from Sicily reports three cities: Kitinion, Voion and Erineos, as well as Thoukidedes. Latin sightseer and geographer Plenios, reports five cities: Sperhion, Erineos, Voion, Pindos and Kitinion. Plenios says that “Sperhion” belonged to the Dorians, while it was city of Malians or Oitians, in the Sperhios river valley. The Byzantine historian and poet Tzetzis as well as Pindaros reports that they had six cities: Kitinion, Voion, Erineos, Dryopis, Karfeon and Lilaion. It appears that the exact number of cities was not known and the ancient writers do not give us exact information about their locations.

Kastellia Today

Apart from the permanent inhabitants who live in Kastellia, a large number of Kastellian origin live in Athens, Piraeus, Lamia, Thessaloniki, Amfissa, Larissa, as well as abroad (mainly in America and Australia). Despite the fact that population inventories show that the Kastellian population is shrinking, the number of new houses being built and the refurbishment of older homes in recent years is remarkable.

The town provides a modern Community Hall where the ground floor serves the needs of the local council and the upper floor has been converted in a hostel of (6) rooms soon to be available to host visitors to Kastellia.

At a building site donated by K.I.Drosopoulos in 1972 and with the help of Paraskeyas and Nikolaos Chronis who have designed the architectural drafts, a community clinic was constructed, which provides health care to residents of Kastellia and also as the doctor’s residence.

Because the current rural activity is limited, an Agricultural and Fiduciary Association is present being housed in a big stone building which is also used as a repository. In 1910 it was running the Mutual Association, which was used for covering extraordinary damages of land produce. In Chlomos which was a separate community, it was running the Rural and Cattle Association with the same aims.

The livestock-farming islimited to flocks of sheep, goats and cattle. There is also a modern piggery farm east of the town.

In Kastellia there are professional craftsmen, such as carpenters, steelworkers, electricians and plumbers, and stockyards of building materials, earthmoving machinery and a modern unit of treatment and trading timber. For entertainment purposes there are coffee houses, cafeterias and taverns.

Cultural Associations

The Progressive Association «Kastellia» which is based in Athens, was founded in 1950 and is a pioneer brotherhood. Members are people of Kastellian origin and reside in Athens, Piraeus or elsewhere.

The Association publishes the newspaper «The Kastelliotika Nea» with news and events that deal with our town and its children in diaspora. In the last 15 years the Association organized an event where the young people from Kastellia who succeed in the Pan-Hellenic examinations are rewarded with a commemorative diploma and a pecuniary reward. Mr. Ioannis Moscholios is the founder.

The decision of Amfissa Court (no 297/87), approved the statute of the foundation of Kastellia Cultural Association. Its main aims are: The study and protection of natural environment of Kastellia and the revelation and distribution of cultural heritage in parallel with further growth of the cultural level of the population. Members of the Cultural Association continue to organize cultural events in Kastellia.

Links

* [http://www.kastellia.org.gr www.kastellia.org.gr]
* [http://www.kastellia.eu www.kastellia.eu]
* [http://www.kastellia.gr www.kastellia.gr]
* [http://www.kastellia.com www.kastellia.com]