Mytikas, Arta

Mytikas is a settlement in the Municipality of Arta with 171 permanent residents based on the Census (2021) and is approximately 16 kilometers from the city of Arta.[1]

According to the Kapodistrias Plan, Mytikas was from 1997 until the end of 2010 part of the Municipality of Amvrakikos with its headquarters in Aneza. Based on the new administrative division provided for by the Kallikratis Plan, Mytikas was incorporated into the Municipality of Arta.[2] Mytikas together with Aneza and Apomero form the local community of Aneza with a total population of 1,241 residents.

History

One of the first sources that informs us of the existence of the village is a map created by Vincenzo Coronelli in 1691 and records the village as the property of a Turkish bey.
Mytikas on a map by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1691.

An important source is also the archives of Venice,[3] which inform us that in 1696 Mytikas, along with many other villages of Arta, paid a tax to the Venetian administration in exchange for protection from pirate raids. Specifically, Mytikas, along with Aneza, Genitsari and Maratou, paid 43 reales per year.

According to Spyridon Aravantinos' work, "History of Ali Pasha of Tepelenlis", Mytikas was a manor of the Pasha of Ioannina, who owned most of the plain, while based on the work of Kon. Diamantis entitled "Arta and its surroundings during the times of the revolution", Mytikas was a settlement with 30 families at the time of the outbreak of the Greek Revolution of 1821.[4][5]

Panagiotis Aravantinos in his work "Chronography of Epirus" of 1856 makes reference to the village and informs us that 23 Christian families lived in Mytikas. The report of the Russian Vice-Consulate of Arta in 1877 informs us that 24 families lived in the settlement, which was a tsifliki of the Muslims Jalal Bey and Liambi.[6][7]

Ifikratis Kokkidis also refers to the village in his work "Travels of Epirus and Thessaly" published by the Greek Ministry of Military Affairs (Athens 1880) and gives us the information that approximately 100 people lived in the village. I. Kokkidis informs us that the province of Arta was divided into 2 regions: the region of Arta and the region of Preveza. The region of Arta was in turn divided into 7 sections: the Potamia section, the Vryseos section, the Radovizi section, the Tzoumerka section, the Kampos section, the Karvasaras section and the Lakka section. Mytikas was part of the Kampos division.[8]

An equally important source is the "Historical Essay on Arti & Preveza" (published 1884) by Seraphim Xenopoulos, Metropolitan of Arta. According to this source, at that time the inhabitants of the village attended church in the church of Agios Nikolaos Aneza. In front of the church there was a co-educational school, taught by one teacher and attended by approximately 180 students from Gavria, Mytikas, Aneza, Apomero and Kalogeriko. The Metropolitan of Arta tells us that according to the beliefs of the residents, there was a Christian church in the area and it was located in a location with towering trees and dense vegetation and no one dared to approach because there was a rumor that a resident years ago had attempted to remove a slab from the ruins of the church and suffered misfortune.[9]

Another notable source is the Ottoman census of 1895, published under the title “Bin üc yüz on bir sene-i maliyesine mahsus Yanya salnamesi. Yedinci defa olarak” (Ioannina Salnames for the fiscal year 1311, seventh edition). Based on this census, 8 families (khanedes) lived in Mytikas with a total population of 98 people (49 men, 49 women).[10] The lieutenant colonel of the Engineers, Nikolaos Schinas, in his work "Odoiporikon Epirou", published by the Greek Ministry of Military Affairs (Athens 1897), informs us that at that time 30 families of fishermen lived in Mytikas and the village was a manor of Katsidimas and Liambis.[11]

During the unfortunate Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the village was temporarily liberated. As reported in the "History of the Greek Nation", the Greek army had liberated the villages of Mytika, Gavria, Psathotopi, Keramates, Aneza, Kalogeriko, Vigla, Rahi, Kalovatos, Plisioi, Kirkizates, Strongyli, Zavaka, Kalomodia, Agia Paraskevi, Kostakioi, Akropotamia, Neochori, Anthotopos, Chalkiades, Rokka, Agios Spyridonas, Eleftherochori, Kampi and the city of Philippiada by the evening of 23 April 1897.[12] Finally, with the mediation of the European powers and Russia, on 20 September the hostilities ceased and peace was signed. The final liberation of Mytikas took place between October 6 and 9, 1912, when the first Greek battalions crossed the Arta bridge and at 2 pm they repelled the Turks and established themselves in Kostakios and the Maratios area.

In 1910, the Metropolis of Nikopolis and Preveza published the census data that it carried out that same year throughout the ecclesiastical region and informed us that Mytikas was part of the Louros district and that 203 people lived in the village.[13]

Location and Access

Mytikas is adjacent to Aneza, Apomero, Psathotopi and Gavria.[14] It is connected by road to Arta via the Arta - Koronisia Provincial Road. The village is served by the Arta - Mytikas line of the Arta Urban Bus Service.[15]
Demographic data

Today the population amounts to 171 permanent residents (2021). The first time the village exceeded 300 residents was in 1940, while the maximum number of residents was recorded in 1961 with 395 residents.

Population fluctuations are reflected in the table below.[16]

Production and Employment

The main occupations of the residents of the settlement are livestock farming, fishing and agriculture. The main local production includes oranges, tangerines, corn and clover.[17]

Community structures, education and culture

Primary and secondary education is covered by the Elementary, Middle and High School of Aneza. Mytikas has a central square in which there is a centuries-old plane tree and the old fountain. The settlement has an active cultural association, which organizes excursions and cultural events every year.[18]

The parish church of Mytikas is dedicated to Saint Paraskevi and celebrates on July 26. Mytikas is ecclesiastically affiliated with the Metropolis of Nikopolis and Preveza.[19]

References

"Greek census 2011". Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
"Administrative division of the Municipality of Arta according to the Kallikratis Plan". Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
Arta in the archives of Venice, "Skoufas" magazine of Arta, issues of 1955-56.
History of Ali Pasha of Tepelenlis / Sp. P. Aravantinou. Written based on an unpublished work by Panagiotos Aravantinos, 1895, p.601
Arta and its surroundings during the times of the revolution, Skoufas Magazine/ Year 5th/ 1960 – Volume 2 p.266
Chronography of Epirus: of the neighboring Greek and Illyrian countries, running through the events in them in order from the year of salvation until 1854. / Compiled by Panagiotos Aravantinos, p.320, published 1856.
Archives of the Russian Vice-Consulate of Arti - Preveza, 1858 - 1881 [dead link]
Travelogues of Epirus and Thessaly / by the Ministry of Military Staff Office, I. Kokidis, Athens 1880.
"Historical Essay on Arti and Preveza (ed. 1884)". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
The Turkish statistics of Epirus in the 1895 yearbook, M. Kokolakis
Travelogues of Epirus, Nikolaos Th. Schinas, p. 198.
History of the Greco-Turkish War: from the beginning of the last Cretan revolt to the end of the war, written on the basis of official documents and the most reliable information with many images and topographic maps / Elias I. Oikonomopoulou, 1897, p.462.
The late Giannio Pasaliki: area, administration and population in Turkish-occupied Epirus (1820-1913), Michalis Kokolakis, p.492 [1]
Driving distances in kilometers between cities, villages, countries
Urban KTEL routes
"Archive of the National Statistical Service of Greece - N.S.Y.E". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
"Local Products of Amvrakiko Prefecture". Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
"Mytikas, data on the settlement". Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
Parishes of the Holy Metropolis of Nikopolis and Preveza

Municipal unit Amvrakikos
Community Aneza
Aneza (Ανέζα, η)
Apomero (Απόμερο, το)
Mytikas (Μύτικας, ο)
Community Vigla
Vigla (Βίγλα, η)
Community Gavria
Gavria (Γαβριά, η)
Community Kalogeriko
Kalogeriko (Καλογερικό, το)
Community Koronisia
Koronisia (Κορωνησία, η)
Community Polydroso
Palaioskamia (Παλαιοσκαμιά, η)
Polydroso (Πολύδροσο, το)
Community Rachi
Rachi (Ράχη, η)
Community Strongyli
Strongyli (Στρογγυλή, η)
Community Psathotopi
Psathotopi (Ψαθοτόπιον, το)

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