Elatofyto, Achaia

Greece Greece

Administrative Region : West Greece
Regional unit : Achaia

Elatofyto, better known by its old name Mazi, is a village in Achaia in the former Kalavryta District. It is located on the slopes of Mount Helmos at an altitude of approximately 1,140 to 1,205 meters[1] and borders the villages of Planitero, where the springs of the Aroanios River are located, Kastria, Valtos, Arbounas and the Prefecture of Corinth. It is the most mountainous village in the former Kalavryta District[2] and is considered, after the livestock settlement of Ovriokampos in Panachaikos, to be the second most mountainous settlement in Achaia[3].

Its population according to the 2011 census is 4 inhabitants[4][5].

History

It remains unknown when Mazi was first inhabited. According to Dionysius Zakythinos, in 1320 the Byzantines granted lands in Helmos for settlement to Arvanite soldiers of the empire, and it is possible that some of them settled in Mazi[6]. On the contrary, an oral tradition says that the first settlers came here from Zakynthos for an unknown reason[6]. The first version is considered more likely, as the toponym Mazi has Albanian origin and is also found in other areas of Arvanite settlement during the Middle Ages.

The village is first mentioned in a Venetian document of 1700 with 19 families, while it flourished during the Ottoman occupation, where in the 18th century it is mentioned that it was a commune with a primary school[6].

During the Ottoman occupation, Mazi is mentioned with a purely Christian population, the only presence of Ottomans was when Spais passed by to collect taxes[6]. Administratively it belonged to the Kazas of Kalavryta and the Semti of Katsana[6]. The Chondrogiannis family came from Mazi. Yannis Chondrogiannis was the one who, together with his children, on March 16, 1821, set up an ambush in "Chelonospilia" to kill the Turkish tax collector Seidis Laliotis, in one of the first attacks of the rebellious Greeks[6]. After the liberation, the story of the whole family was tragic, as they were hunted by the family of N. Tampakopoulos and the Greek state and became bandits, losing their lives at some point[6].

The Chondrogiannis family is mentioned as fighters from Mazi, with father Ioannis and sons Ilias, Anastasios, Androutsos, Georgios and Sotiris. With them in "Chelonospilia" was Mazaios Ioannis Dimopoulos[6]. Another family of fighters was the Papadaios with Sotirios, Giorgos, Ilias who served as a member of parliament for Kalavryta and Georgios who after the liberation became Mayor of Klitoria and a member of parliament for Kalavryta[6]. Another well-known family with contributions to the struggle was Dafalia with Athanasios, Panagiotis and Ioannis. The Karkoulia, Economou families etc.[2].

In the area of Mazio there are many caves, some of which have been used by the Chondrogiannaios as a hideout while it is reported that a cave in Mazio was used as a hospital in the Battle of Levidio[6].

After the liberation, the inhabitants of the village settled in a lower position, abandoning the village, in a plain where they had properties and huts, the "Mazeika Kalivia", or simply Mazeika as they were called[6]. Nevertheless, the village continued to be used as a summer residence and also as a permanent one, since in 1906 it is mentioned with 42 residents[2]. The new village experienced great prosperity and developed into the current head village of Klitoria. Mazeoi are reported to have settled after the revolution in Riolo where the settlement of Mazeika is mentioned[7].

In 1943, Maze, like many other villages of the Kalavryta District, was burned by the German occupation army during the "Kalavryta Operation" and specifically by the battle group of Captain Hans Kockert of the 117th Hunter Division[8]. On December 12, 12 Mazaean men were executed at the "Magerou" position as retaliation for the executed German soldiers[9]. The revelation of the execution of the members of the German Sober company was made the day after the event (8-12-1943) by the surviving Alsatian Roger Walter, resulting in the beginning of the holocaust of the Kalavryta District with the destruction of Rogoi[10].
Administrative development

From 1835 to 1912 it was a settlement of the Municipality of Kleitoria[11]. In 1912 it was a settlement of the Community of Mazeika (or Kato Klitoria as it was renamed in 1930) until 1997 when it became a settlement of the Municipality of Lefkas[12] (or Klitoria, as it was renamed in 2008)[13]. Since 2011 it has been a settlement of the Local Community of Klitoria, of the "Kallikratiko" Municipality of Kalavryta.
Personalities

Athanasios Kostopoulos
Sotirios Papadeos
Athanasios Fefes
Giannis Chondrogiannis

See also

Mazaiika or Mazeika
Mazaiika Riolou

References

It is reported to be located at an altitude of 1,300 meters. See Dimitrios Georgiou Panopoulos, Chondrogiannei. The tragedy of the first revolutionaries of 1821, Ioannis Pikramenou Publications, Patras 2009.
Papandreou 1906.
There is also the settlement of Vereiiki in Panachaiko at an altitude of 1,185m.
EL.STAT. - Permanent Population of Greece. Census 2011
«Official Gazette of the results of the PERMANENT population Archived 2017-11-24 at the Wayback Machine», p. 10704 (p. 230 of the pdf), and in Excel format "Results table of PERMANENT Population-Census 2011 Archived 2015-11-13 at the Wayback Machine." on the ELSTAT website Archived 2018-07-06 at the Wayback Machine.. Archived 24/11/2017. Retrieved 09/01/2018.
Dimitrios Georgiou Panopoulos, Chondrogiannai. The tragedy of the first revolutionaries of 1821, Ioannis Pikramenou Publications, Patras 2009. ISBN 978-960-92482-2-8
Kostas N. Triantafyllou, Historical Dictionary of Patras, Volume A, Petrou Chr. Printing House. Kouli, Patras 1995, Third Edition, Mazaika item
Municipality of Kalavryta 1943 - "Operation Kalavryta" Archived 2009-11-19 at the Wayback Machine.
"Municipality of Kalavryta". Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
Hermann Frank Mayer, From Vienna to Kalavryta. The bloody traces of the 117th Expeditionary Division in Serbia and Greece, translated by Giannis Mylonopoulos, Hestia Bookstore, Athens 2003. ISBN 9789600511123
Annuals of the Kingdom of Greece for the year 1837
EETAA Community of Mazeika administrative changes

eetaa.gr-Administrative changes of the Municipality of Lefkas (retrieved on 29/04/2014)

Sources

Results of the Population-Housing Census 2011 concerning the Permanent Population of the Country, Government Gazette of the Hellenic Republic, vol. 2, p. 3465 (28 December 2012).
Dimitrios Georgiou Panopoulos, Chondrogiannai. The tragedy of the first revolutionaries of 1821, Ioannis Pikramenou Publications, Patras 2009. ISBN 978-960-92482-2-8.
Papandreou, Georgios (1906). Kalavrytine Yearbook: namely a treatise on the historical province of Kalavryta. Athens: Michael I. Saliveros.
Kostas N. Triantafyllou, Historical Dictionary of Patras, Volume A, Petros Chr. Koulis Printing House, Patras 1995, Third Edition, entry Mazaika.