Ververato, Chios

Greece Greece

Administrative Region : North Aegean
Regional unit : Chios

Ververato is a village in the Chios Regional Unit in the North Aegean Region, on the island of Chios, in its central part, with a population of 231 inhabitants (2011 census).[2] It is built at an average altitude of 95 meters above sea level, at a road distance of 8 kilometers southwest of the city of Chios.

Geography-demography

The geographical coordinates of the village are latitude 38°20' North and longitude 26°05' East. It is built southwest of Korakaris, at the far western border of the Chios Plain and is considered a lowland village. The nearest villages in a straight line are respectively Zyfias and Chalkios, 1 kilometer to the southwest and east of Ververato respectively, and Dafnonas, 1.5 kilometer to the north-northwest. It is 5 kilometers from the sea in a straight line, to the east (Kontari). The inhabitants of the village are mainly engaged in agriculture, especially horticulture

Administratively, Ververato is currently part of the homonymous local community (of which it is the only settlement), of the Municipal Unit of Kampochori of the Municipality of Chios, in the Regional Unit of Chios of the North Aegean Region. Previously, completely correspondingly, it was the seat and sole settlement of the homonymous community, of the District and Prefecture of Chios. The community had an area of 2 square kilometers, of which 1.1 (1100 acres) was arable land and 100 acres of forest. The postal code of the village is 821 00.

The evolution of the population of Ververato in the official censuses is shown in the table below.

Population of Ververato
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
225 187 210 340 225 231

Toponymy-history

The name of the village comes from the surname "Ververis", which is mentioned since 1620. In its place there was a farm with a very tall and old tower, probably Ververis's. Before the great earthquake of 1881 it had more than 80 houses, spacious and all two- or three-story. The old districts of the village are Livadi, Livadaki, Koxari and Tsoukalina. There was a tower in the center of the village.

The parish church (the "village church") of Ververito has always been the church of Agia Marina, at the northwestern end and today almost in the center of the village, while at the eastern end there was the church of Agios Nikolaos, where the old cemetery of the village is located. Today the village is ecclesiastically under the archpriestly jurisdiction of Chalkio of the Holy Metropolis of Chios, Psara and Oinousses. Five minutes on foot from the settlement is the chapel of the Taxiarches, while at three times the distance, high on the slope west of the village is the location "ta Petrana", with a wonderful view of Kampos, where the chapel of Panagia Petranousaina is located. This has a marble slab built into the lintel with a lily-bearing coat of arms with a cross and above it an inscription with the date 1754, which states that the church was erected by Georgios-Michael Arfanis. However, it is known that around 1800 Petrana and their church belonged to the Sinful Petrokokkinos. There are also scattered ruined houses, while graves with many fragments of clay pots were discovered. Higher up on the ridge, called Trypa, there are the foundations of a fort, the "Kastellia", and the "Ellinospita", three ruined buildings. An equally enchanting location as Petrana is "the Seven", near the village, and further on was the large estate of the Kanavoutsatas with springs with plenty of water. There were several towers there, the most important of which were Foutros, Thalassos and Pori. The last was the most magnificent, probably four-storeyed initially, with a courtyard, tanks, a peristyle and a private church, of Saint Constantine. To the north of Verberato is another remarkable tower, that of Pikros, of a Greek or Genoese family, with a church of Saint George. Next to the road to Daphnon is the aqueduct ("bridge") and the large medieval water tank (6 by 6 meters) "adjacent to the spring of the village, constantly flowing abundant and sweet water"[3]. In addition to supplying the village with water, the water from the tank also irrigated the many orchards in the area. From there, one climbs to the verdant hill of Kanavoutsa and their church ("Paliopanagia"). In Kanavoutsata, the individual toponyms Skepa (ta), Dragasis, Paliopyrgos (further up the mountain, a tower with a height of 12 meters or more), Markis, Avdullah or Aftoullas, and others are found. There was also the Tower of the Fountain, named from another source on its northern side, three-story and with the equipment of a manor house. His estate was bounded to the south by the stream of Prophet Elias, whose banks are overgrown.

To the south of the village is the area of Mesovouno or Mesovounos, where the location of Lazaretto is located. In the area of Ververato there are also the ruins of two chapels, of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and of Agios Thomas, from which the place name Agiothomitika, corrupted as "Agiothymítika".

References

(Greek) Database of the Hellenic Statistical Authority.
Population - Housing Census 2011. PERMANENT Population. Hellenic Statistical Authority.

Zolotas, p. 572

Sources

The corresponding entry in the Modern Greek Encyclopedia "Haris Patsis", volume 8, p. 308
Georgios I. Zolotas: History of Chios, volume 1 ("Historical Topography and Genealogy"). Typis P.D. Sakellariou, Athens 1921, pp. 570-573.

Municipal unit Kampochoria
Community Agios Georgios Sykousis
Agios Georgios Sykousis (Άγιος Γεώργιος Συκούσης, ο)
Community Vaviloi
Vaviloi (Βαβίλοι, οι)
Community Vasileonoiko
Vasileonoiko (Βασιλεώνοικον, το)
Community Ververato
Ververato (Βερβεράτον, το)
Community Dafnonas
Dafnonas (Δαφνών, ο)
Community Zyfias
Zyfias (Ζυφιάς, ο)
Community Chalkeio
Chalkeio (Χαλκειόν, το)