Agrafa

Agrafa is a mountainous region in northwestern Thessaly in mainland Greece. It is mainly comprised of small villages, including Krioneri, Morfovouni (Vounesi), and others. The Agrafa is famous for being autonomous throughout the entire 400 years of Ottoman Turkish occupation. The word agrafa literally translates to "unwritten." Because the Turks were unable to conquer this region, the area and its population were not recorded in the Sultan's tax register.

Related Topics:
Thessaly - Greece - Krioneri - Morfovouni - Ottoman - Sultan

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The Agrafa region has been populated for approximately 2,500 years. The fiercely independent spirit of its people, known as Agrafiotes, is matched by a harsh and forbidding landscape. The central Agrafiotis River valley is surrounded on three sides by a steep 2000-meter wall of mountains, and on its south side it drains via a series of narrow and often impassable gorges into the man-made Lake Plastiras.

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Most of the surrounding forests in the region were controlled by Greek Orthodox monasteries for many hundreds of years and throughout the Turkish occupation of the Balkans. The residents of the Agrafa purchased tracts of land from the monasteries hundreds of years ago and these forests remain in the communal hands of the current inhabitants. Ironically, the Agrafa was a center of literacy during the 400 years of domination and slavery by the Turks. Since the monasteries were independent from the Sultan, it was here that the Greek language was kept alive; reading and writing were taught in secret generation after generation as the Turks forbid the general population to learn how to read and write their own language. Unlike the majority of Greeks many inhabitants of the Agrafa can trace their family histories back for generations since they were free to read, write, and record births, baptisms, and deaths.

Related Topics:
Greek Orthodox - Monasteries - Balkans - Greek language

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