Administrative Region : Epirus
Regional unit : Ioannina
Chouliarades (Χουλιαράδες) Ioannina
Chouliarades is a mountainous village in the prefecture of Ioannina and now belongs to the municipality of North Tzoumerka. They are built at an altitude of 1,050 meters on the slopes of Tzoumerka. Administratively, the village belongs to the Municipality of North Tzoumerka while it was the seat of the former Municipality of Tzoumerka. According to the 2011 census, their population is 140 permanent residents and 600 registered voters. Many live in Ioannina but also in Arta, Preveza, Athens, Kavala, Thessaloniki. They are 32 kilometers from Ioannina. The permanent residents are engaged in livestock farming and small-scale agriculture.
Geography
It is geographically defined as the area enclosed between the Arachthos River and its gorge on one side, the Douviakas or Kalarritikos tributary of the Arachthos and the Lapata peak of the homonymous mountain. Chouliarochoria includes all the villages of this mountain.[1]
Village name, older reference & occupation of residents over time
Chouliarades took their name from the kochliario, the spoon we know today, as the residents were engaged for years, in the past, in the manufacture of wooden household utensils and spoons.[1]
Older reference to the existence of the village.
Church hill and bell tower, community store, square, clock. Strongoula peak is visible in the background.
In the church of the Taxiarches of Katsikas, Ioannina, built in 1411, there is an inscription by the builder Chouliaras which states: "Dimitris Anagnostis 1411 from the commune of Chouliar". The word "come" in ancient Greek means a small town, the current town. The writing was identified as Byzantine by archaeologists and is the oldest reference to the current Chouliarades, then Chouliar.
Professional occupation of residents.
Over the years, the residents of the village became intensely involved in stonework, a material in abundance in the Epirus region, and the village became known as a village of craftsmen. As stonemasons, the Chouliarades built various types of works, churches, bridges, bell towers, schools, public buildings, residences, watermills, road support walls and more. A particularity of the houses of the village and the region of Chouliarochoria is the construction of the houses with white stone, in contrast to most Epirus houses which are built with black stone. This is due to the abundance of white stone reserves in the region compared to black.[1]
Now a recognized village of craftsmen, Chouliarades will experience another partial transition in the professional orientation of several villagers. Many turn to letters and specifically become teachers: it is characteristic that during the decades of 40-50 around 65-70 villagers practice this profession. Many of them teach in the neighboring area of Katsanochoria, in Tzoumerka and Ioannina as well as throughout Greece, where there were demands. At the same time, there are not a few who are successfully employed as doctors.[1]
Christos Soulis (or Vasiliou), Headmaster of the Zosimaia School in 1932, was born in Chouliarades in 1892. You will find his biography on the website of the Zosimaia Library: Christos Soulis, Headmaster of the Zosimaia School of Ioannina
The stone craftsman village is becoming a modern craftsman village, the stone craftsmen are evolving into specialized professionals in modern constructions, continuing, one could say, one of the traditions of the village. Many villagers practice a profession related to the construction sector.[1]
It is worth mentioning that the Chouliarades, as in all of Greece, were separated from their villagers who sought their fortune in foreign countries. In addition to their main profession, they were engaged in livestock farming and small-scale agriculture as much as the natural location with its few cultivable areas allowed.[1]
Settlements of Chouliarades
The main settlement of the village has remained the same since at least 1400. At the same time, however, permanent and temporary settlements developed on the slopes of the mountain and in the natural passes around it.
The largest of these settlements was the current village-community of Baptistis with the old name 'Goura'. Baptistis was a settlement of Chouliarades until 1946, when it became an independent community. Relations between the two communities are close even today. Baptistis is located 5 km by road from Chouliarades on the slope that descends to Kalarritiko after Kampos Chouliarades.
On the slope that extends southeast of the village along the Arachthos River, there are houses from older settlements that were used alongside the main settlement mainly during the winter due to the milder climate of the slope near the river. At the same time, on the river bank below the settlement, there were fields that the residents sowed and irrigated with river water through an irrigation ditch that they created, while a watermill operated with the same water from the same ditch. Today, the small houses of the settlements are preserved, all dry stone structures.
In total, there are three settlements on the slope, with one of the three being inside caves in the slope. The houses that survive belong to the traditional type of the so-called 'Hamospito' and are single-room with a small area, without windows, which also had a skylight on their tiled roof for lighting the interior. They therefore differ significantly architecturally from the probably newer houses of the main settlement which are larger, with windows and jointed.
Lysias or Korovesios Suspension Bridge
The Lysias or Korovesios Suspension Bridge as seen from the bank of Chouliarades.
On the southeastern slope of Chouliarades, within the Arachthos ravine, is the Lysias or Korovesios Suspension Bridge.
The bridge extends over the Arachthos for a length of approximately 70 meters. On one bank it touches the area of Chouliarades and Chouliarochoria and on the other bank it touches the area of the village of Elliniko and Katsanochoria. It connects the two areas and the respective paths that lead to the villages. It is located at an altitude of approximately 317 meters.
This bridge seems to be very old. In its current form, the bridge hangs from fixed points on both banks, on the Chouliarades side from a stone tower with an integrated staircase and on the Elliniko bank directly on the rock of the slope. Five wire ropes with the help of metal connectors create the shape of the bridge and a wire mesh is created on which the passerby steps. The crossing requires attention, slow movement and avoidance of strong oscillations.
The bridge from the Elliniko bank.
Ambush at the bridge during the Occupation and double burning of Chouliarades
During the Occupation by Nazi troops, a German detachment passing through Katsanohoria attempted to cross the bridge with the intention of climbing to Chouliarades, at night.
Villagers from Chouliarades had set up an ambush at the bridge. In the ten-minute battle that followed, the German detachment was forced to retreat towards Katsanohoria with one wounded man.
The next day, as a result of the ambush, a reinforced military detachment would move through the Tsimovo pass and reach Chouliarades where it would burn the houses of the village. The residents, apparently aware of the movement of the reinforced detachment, would have left the village upon the arrival of the detachment and consequently there would be no casualties. The invaders will return to Chouliarades at a later time and burn the village for the second time. The inhabitants were again informed in time of their approach and will temporarily abandon the settlement.
Religion
The holy Church of Agia Paraskevi is noteworthy, built in 1745 by craftsmen from Gouriya next to the central square of the village. The catholicon of the monastery is a three-aisled basilica with two inner domes. The main church was recorded according to an inscription on the lintel in 1804.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the priests of the church were Father Thanasis Papathanasiou and his son Father Giorgakis, who also officiated in the Holy Church of Agia Paraskevi in Valtsiora-Pigadion, Ioannina, as well as in other neighboring villages that did not have a permanent priest.
In the 1950s-1970s, Father Thanasis Mantzilas officiated in the church. There is also the chapel of Agios Dimitrios, located at the edge of the village square.
Festivities - Music, Song & Dance
Summer has many social events, the most important of which are the feast on Easter Sunday with a traditional orchestra at the community cafe of Giorgos Kitsios, the one-day festival at the chapel of the prophet Elias and the three-day festival on September 7-8-9 in honor of the Virgin Mary. On the third day, the established Kykles or Kageli or Kageli are held in the middle of the village, it is a special dance with the men of the village leading and the women following all in a single line. You perform without music with specific songs whose words are sung successively by the men and women.
Chouliarades Associations
The following associations are active in the village:
Philoproodos Brotherhood of Chouliarades "I Agia Paraskevi"
Chouliarades Dance Club - Children's and Adult Sections
Chouliarades Athletic Association - Amateur Football Team and Football Academy
Philoproodos Brotherhood of Chouliarades "I Agia Paraskevi"
The Philoproodos Brotherhood of Chouliarades "I Agia Paraskevi" was founded on April 24, Holy Thursday, 1908 in Chouliarades. The soul and inspiration of the idea of its establishment was Dimitris I. Konstantis, a merchant tailor by profession who maintained a tailoring shop in Athens for many years. He was also assisted by patriotic teachers of the time I. Soulis, D. Papantoniou, A. Mastorakis and prominent figures of the village D. Mantzilas, N. & K. Malamos, K. Dimoulikas, H. Demos, then president of the village, and other notable figures of Gouras & Chouliarades, were the founding members of the association under the name "Chouliarades Philanthropic Educational Brotherhood Agia Paraskevi".[1]
The association's income was initially allocated for national purposes, the borders of the Ottoman Empire and the new Greek State were defined by the tributary of the Arachthos, Douviakas or Kalarritinos, which flows on the outskirts of Chouliarades.[1] Along with its income, it maintained the school board and founded the first girls' school in 1909, unique in the Chouliarochoria region at that time, which was housed in the ancient school of 1700. It pioneered charitable works, supported the poor and orphans, and granted a one-time dowry to needy girls.[1]
To contact the Chouliarades Brotherhood or find out their news, visit their website: www.chouliarades.gr and their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/chouliarades.gr/
Chouliarades Dance Group
The Chouliarades Dance Group has been reviving the local and wider music and dance tradition since 1993 by organizing and participating in events both in Greece and abroad, and contributing with proposals and actions to culture.[2] To get in touch with XOX, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/xoreftikos.omilos.xouliaradon/ . Finally, you can watch various music and dance videos on the Group's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/XoreftikoXouliaradon
Athletiki Enosi Xouliaradon
The Athletic Enosi Xouliaradon was founded in 1982. It consists of the amateur football team that competes in the A' EPSIP as well as a football academy. It competes at the "Stathis Tsanaktsis" stadium.
Information about the Club and the seasons from 2014 onwards can be found on the EPSIP website: http://www.epsip.gr/teams/display_team.php?team_id=79
References
«Filoproodos Brotherhood of Chouliarades "I AGIA PARASKEVI"». www.chouliarades.gr. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
Chouliarades, Dance Club. «Epirotic Tradition X.O.X». Retrieved 4 September 2018.
Sources
NTUA - Municipality of Tzoumerka, Municipal District of Chouliarades
Filoproodos Brotherhood of Chouliarades 'I Agia Paraskevi'
Zosimaia Public Central Historical Library of Ioannina
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