Megali Vrysi, Heraklion

Megali Vrysi (Μεγάλη Βρύση ) Heraklion

Megali Vrysi is a village in the municipality of Gortyna in the Regional Unit of Heraklion in Crete, with 624 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. It is built at an altitude of 620 meters, with an amphitheater view, 3 km east of Agia Varvara. In the past it belonged to the province of Monofatsi. It is 31.2 km away from Heraklion. The inhabitants are engaged in olive growing and viticulture, as well as in animal husbandry and poultry farming. P. Theodoulakis, who founded the Pananeio Hospital in Heraklion in 1895, comes from Megali Vrysi. Many inhabitants of the village took part in the Battle of Crete, led by Ioannis Bandouvas.

In the village there is a wind farm, which produces a power of 5 MW. There is a kindergarten and a primary school. In the community of Megali Vrisi belongs the settlement of Preveliana and Vorou which is currently uninhabited. In this area, the men of A EOKA were trained in 1950. The oldest families are Tzagarakidis, Arvanitakides, Desdenakides, Antonakakis, Athanasakides, Daskalakides, Papadakides, Koumianakekides, Anagnostakis and.

M.D. Great Fountain

In the Municipal Department of the village, which was established with the Kapodistrias Plan, Preveliana was also subdivided, built at an altitude of 580 m. And with 191 inhabitants in 2001. It is a traditional settlement and it is preserved in the houses, which can be seen from the main road.
Historical data

The village owes its name to the fountain located in its center, which was once really large and provided plenty of water. It is mentioned in the province of Monofatsi according to the Venetian censuses of 1577 (referred to as Megalivrissi metochio), by Kastrofylakas in 1583 with 71 inhabitants, where it is mentioned as Megali Vrissi, and by Francesco Basilicata in 1630. It is also mentioned in 161 in Turkish 47 engravings, while according to the Egyptian census of 1834 it numbered 27 families (25 Christian and 2 Turkish). In 1881 and 1900 it was the seat of the homonymous Municipality with 239 inhabitants (227 Christians and 12 Turks) and with 307 people respectively. One of the mayors who had served during the period of the unification of Crete with Greece where he had the right to vote in the Cretan state was Antonis Doulgerakis (see: Patrice Cretan State p. 59). From 1928 to 1998, when it joined the Municipality of Agia Varvara, it was a community. The aforementioned censuses from 1834 onwards also mention Preveliana. In the census of 1834 we find Perveliana, something that was corrected by Chourmouzis Byzantios, in 1842, when he mentions them with the current name. The name of the small settlement comes from the surname of its first settlers, who was Prevelis.

Population margin according to censuses: [1]
Census 1900 1920 1928 1940 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 1991 2001 2011
Population 307 374 511 619 666 750 655 689 771 624

Battle of Agios Konstantinos

At the entrance of the village dominates a cathedral of the Royal Rhythm building of the 17th century. In the area around the church during the Turkish occupation, 20 anonymous volunteers were slaughtered in a battle with the Turks, who came to Crete from the rest of Greece to help the Cretan revolution, where they were buried. In this battle, the captain of the village, Zacharioudakis Konstantinos of Nikolaos, who had inherited the captaincy from his father, stood out and killed a Liapis. His actions were known throughout Mesara against the Turks and he was buried at public expense. Characteristic are the following excerpts from the book "Michael Korakas" by Reader Ch. Zachariadis, comrade-in-arms and fellow citizen of Captain Korakas:

... With the big run, the agades went to the church, twenty acorns entered ... the unfortunates were frightened, they had nothing to give birth to, they entered the church because they were being chased ... Turks and theologians were caught in the war and Korakas was then caught with the agades. ... Zacharias arrived when they were slaughtering a Liapi with the knife, he killed that Arab ... he took his mare and Coca-Cola a black man and Romanos killed a Turkish lad ... who were in their church, the The Turks were there as if they were demon-possessed ... that's where the Cretan agades ended up wanting them ... the Corax is loyal to the great Fountain because he didn't have the strength to fight the Turks .... Saint Annan, the bairakis of the Turks were very happy .....

Democritus Democritus Arvanitakis was a person of great importance for the resistance against the Germans. He was only 20 years old when he joined the Bandubomanol guerrilla group. Being an old lad and smart, he was famous for his speed, which is why he was the messenger of the guerrillas. The day he was brutally murdered by the German, he carried valuable documents with the katsifaris from the holy barbarian to the smooth. After much trouble, they sat down to lie in the center of Kentristakis in the village of Symi, where, betrayed by locals, the Germans surrounded the house. river and there to "eat" the documents do not find the Germans. Thus, Democritus of Democritus Arvanitakis cooled down 20 years after the death of his father (Democritus of Zacharias Arvanitakis) where he had been killed by the Turks in Asia Minor and for this reason he brought the name of his father in his honor. So father and son with the same name fell for the money of our homeland.

Churches

In the settlement are the churches of the Holy Cross, Panagia Almyri (Ascension of the Savior and the Birth of the Virgin Mary), the apostles Constantine and Helen, St. Anne, the Life-Giving Spring, St. George, St. Nektarios, St. Anastasia and St. Charalambou.

The church of Panagia Almyri was built during the first Christian years when the Apostle Paul arrived in Crete. [Citation needed] When a shipwreck was found on the southern coast of Crete, he began teaching Christianity and had his place of residence and teaching center as his residence. where the church is built. His stay and all his presence angered the lord of Phaistos, who, by sending his son and because he wanted to get rid of him, set a condition for him to strike his stick and get salty water. And so it happened, the apostle Paul struck with his staff and salty water came out. Then the son of the lord, shocked by the incident, like the locals, lived the rest of his life in a cave as an ascetic in today's church of Agia Paraskevi. Around the salty spring the lord built the church. At the source today is a well, where during the Divine Liturgy on the day of the Ascension, the day that this holy monastery celebrates, a holy water appears.

Another church, Byzantine, is that of St. Anastasia. It is said that at some point in the church there was holy water, which, as it is said, when the Turks passed by, stopped running. There is also the church of Saints Ten It is said that a woman saw in her dream the exact location where the church was built. When they started digging, they found two tombs of Saints. The cathedral of Megali Vrisi is the oldest church of Agios Konstantinos, which is said that any thief passing by was immobilized until the morning, when the people saw him.

References

Spanakis, Stergios (1993). Cities and villages of Crete over the centuries, volume V. Heraklion: Graphic Arts G. Detorakis. pages 520–1.

Bibliography

Heraklion and its Prefecture, published by the Prefecture of Heraklion.

External links

Villages in the Municipality of Agia Varvara

Municipal unit Agia Varvara
Municipal Community Agia Varvara
Agia Varvara (Αγία Βαρβάρα, η)
Kato Moulia (Κάτω Μούλια, τα)
Keratokefali (Κερατοκεφάλιον, το)
Peirouniana (Πειρουνιανά, τα)
Community Agios Thomas
Agios Thomas (Άγιος Θωμάς, ο)
Community Ano Moulia
Ano Moulia (Άνω Μούλια, τα)
Community Douli
Genna (Γέννα, η)
Douli (Δούλιον, το)
Kolena (Κόλενα, η)
Community Larani
Larani (Λαράνιον, το)
Community Megali Vrysi
Vorros (Βορρός, ο)
Megali Vrysi (Μεγάλη Βρύση, η)
Preveliana (Πρεβελιανά, τα)
Community Prinias
Πρινιάς, ο

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