Flambourou: The quest for a village

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1 Flambourou: The quest for a village The settlement The present village of Flambouro is the old settlement of Bayraktar Mahalle, which was renamed in There is no mention of this settlement in the known historical sources before the mid-1870s; at that time, however, it was already a village with 80 families. 2 The scant reference to it in local historiography also supports the relatively recent creation of the settlement: Initially the area of this village was full of waters and there was a çiflik of a Turkish official; the Greeks of the region, who worked in his fields, also built the first huts. These same huts were the first houses of the subsequently founded village. 3 In the above excerpt D.E. Papathanasiou implies that the existence of stagnant water on the site of Flambouro was the basic reason for the delay in people settling here permanently. But A. Liapis mentions later that the absence of stagnant water on this same site was the reason for the founding of the village here: The present village was created by the inhabitants of the old settlements of Trigono, Kara Orman (Black Wood) and Georgoulas. The floods and the marshy ground of the afore-mentioned settlements impelled the creation of the new settlement. 4 These rather conflicting views on the role played by water in the founding of Flambouro are explained by the wider region s unstable relationship with the watery element in the past. The River Strymon formed along the length of its course Lake Achinos, which increased in size in times of flooding. 5 As a result of this undisciplined flow, as the Serraian historian P.Th. Pennas explains, whole villages 1 Κεντρική Ένωσις ήµων και Κοινοτήτων της Ελλάδος (publ.), Στοιχεία συστάσεως και εξελίξεως των ήµων και Κοινοτήτων, vol. 43, Νοµός Σερρών, Athens 1962, 9. 2 Specifically, the earliest mention of the settlement is in the statistics of the population of the administrative region of Serres, of 1876, which were published recently by L. Papadaki in her article «Στατιστικοµανίας παρεπόµενα: Εθνολογικές κατηγοριοποιήσεις του πληθυσµού των οθωµανικών Σερρών (1876)», Ίστωρ 13 (2002) Ε.. Παπαθανασίου, Ιστορία της Νιγρίτης και της επαρχίας Βισαλτίας, Nigrita 1970, Α. Λιάπης, «Συµβολή στην ιστορία. Τέσσερα χωριά της Βισαλτίας. Θερµά, Φλάµπουρο, Πατρίκι, Σιτοχώρι», Μακεδονική Ζωή 246 (November 1986) The author notes at the end of his article that exclusive source of his information was the personal narrations of elderly villagers. 5 See briefly Γ. Μπαρτζούδης, «Αναφορά στις λίµνες του Στρυµόνα», Χρονικά Πεθελινού 1 (1996) 15.

2 were trapped and flooded under the waters and vast areas were rendered useless and turned into a sea, and each time men and animals were endangered, and the continuous toil of the farmers was destroyed. 6 Until the early 1930s, when Lake Achinos was drained, the life of the lacustrine inhabitants was affected by its seasonal fluctuations. These conditions were not of course conducive to the establishment of permanent lakeside settlements and allowed only temporary installations of fishermen-farmers. 7 Bayraktar and the neighbouring villages were obviously of this kind. The present inhabitants of Flambouro, when speaking of the life of their forefathers, confirm the aforesaid hypotheses: They were fishermen by occupation. Wherever what we would call an island existed, there was dry land, they made their huts. They lived in groups. Three or four families here, others further in for example, in the area of what we call Kara Orman. That is, the village was gathered together later. It seems that as the Strymon created large waves, or whatever, I don t know, the people withdrew. 8 The inhabitants of Flambouro nowadays maintain that the site of the their village changed two or three times. 9 Its immediately previous site was to the northwest of the present one, at the locality Trigono, and this preceding settlement was also called Bayraktar. 10 This explains the fact that in a table of the villages of the region, dated 23 6 Π. Θ. Πέννας, «Ο Στρυµών και τα παραγωγικά έργα της πεδιάδος των Σερρών επί τουρκοκρατίας», Σερραϊκά Χρονικά 7 (1976) 94. For a thorough discussion of the floods see Ν. Η. Αναγνωστόπουλος, Ο κάµπος των Σερρών. Μελέτη συγκριτικής γεωπονικής, Athens 1936, Cf.. Λαφαζάνη, «Μικτά χωριά του κάτω Στρυµόνα: Εθνότητα, Κοινότητα και Εντοπιότητα», Σύγχρονα Θέµατα 63 (Απρίλιος-Ιούνιος 1997) 96-97, where the author refers to the settlements of perishable local materials and temporary character, in the lower Strymon. 8 Testimony of V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1426). 9 Testimonies of K. P. (Α.Α. 1204), Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206), V. Κ. και V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208, 1426) and V. Ph. (Α.Α. 1472). 10 Testimony of V. Ph. (Α.Α. 1472): Outside that village, because the lake carried on, it was then way beyond, when they were finishing the last houses of today s village, beyond was something a sandy place, it had sand, all the land was sand down to two or three metres, sandy, and because they found the place sandy, not muddy, they made their huts there. And that is called Bayraktar, it s an old mahalle. There, where they left from the waters, they settled there, in the dry place. [ ] And afterwards, as things went, there were draining works, afterwards the village moved back towards here.

3 January 1913, recorded after the çiflik Bayraktar is another çiflik with the name Neon (= new) Bayraktar. 11 It seems that the new çiflik-village was soon renamed Simaiophoros, in order to distinguish it more easily from the old settlement. This concurrently symbolized the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Greek State, by translating the Turkish toponym Bayraktar into Greek. Thus, the Greek census of the same year mentions both the settlement of Baraktiar and the settlement named Simaiophoros. 12 The settlements of Bayraktar and Simaiophoros are also entered as different çifliks in a contemporary economic study. 13 That these two settlements are identified as one a few years later is confirmed by the 1920 census, in which one settlement is recorded with the dual name Bayraktar (or Simaiophoros). 14 So we may assume that before 1913 the inhabitants had already begun to move away from 11 Historical Archive of Macedonia (henceforth H.Α.Μ.), Archive of the General Administration of Macedonia, file 55, Statistics of the population and education of Serres and Nigrita, Table showing the names of the villages of the Administrative District of Nigrita, the local authorities found there, those who were appointed, and the full names of these. Nigrita, 23 January 1913, with the signature of the Administrative Commissioner of Nigrita M. Zapheiropoulos. A photocopy of the document is published in the study by Ε. Κωνσταντίνου or Τέγου-Στεργιάδου, «Σχολεία και εκπαίδευση της περιοχής Νιγρίτας κατά την περίοδο », Η Νιγρίτα - Η Βισαλτία διά µέσου της ιστορίας, Πρακτικά Β Επιστηµονικού Συµποσίου (Νιγρίτα Οκτωβρίου 1996), Thessaloniki 2000, , but without comment on the information about Bayraktar. 12 Μ. Γ. Χουλιαράκης, Γεωγραφική, διοικητική και πληθυσµιακή εξέλιξις της Ελλάδος, , τ. 2, Αθήνα 1975, 94. Cf. Λιάπης, op. cit., 35, where the author mentions that after the annexation of the region to the Greek State, Flambouro was initially named Simaiophoros. The village of Simaiophoros is attested also in the documents District of Nigrita. Qualifications and salary of the teaching personnel. School year and Qualifications and salary of teaching personnel. Simaiophoros, of the same year. See H.Α.Μ., op. cit. Photocopies of the recto of the first document and of the verso of the second are appended by Κωνσταντίνου or Τέγου-Στεργιάδου, op. cit.,. 390, 393. The author notes that in her study she deals only with the schools in the villages in the district of Nigrita, for which there is information in the registers in the National Archive of Macedonia (op. cit., 377). These registers furnish corresponding information on Simaiophoros too, but the author does not discuss this particular village at all. 13 Γ. Παλαµιώτης, Γεωργική έρευνα της Μακεδονίας, ήτοι µελέτη της γεωργικής καταστάσεως, του κτηνοτροφικού πλούτου, των δασών και της βιοµηχανικής παραγωγής κατά περιφερείας, α της υτικής Μακεδονίας και β της Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας, Athens, March 1914, Στοιχεία, op. cit., 9.

4 old Bayraktar to settle in Neo Bayraktar/Simaiophoros, that is on the site of modern Flambouro. 15 The history of the two neighbouring settlements of Georgoulas and Kara Orman appears to be related directly to that of Flambouro. In village lore, these two settlements are presented as places of origin of some of the inhabitants or as the original locations of the village. 16 The latter claim cannot be true, since in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century the existence of Bayraktar is recorded in parallel with the existence of the other two settlements. However, the possibility that, as time passed, the population of Georgoulas and Kara Oman dwindled to the benefit of Bayraktar and that these villages were thus gradually abandoned, cannot be ruled out. The validity of this hypothesis could be checked by parallel examination of demographic developments in the three settlements. The relevant numerical data are compared in the following table. TABLE 1 Comparison of the population of the villages of Georgoulas, Kara Orman and Bayraktar Year Georgoulas Kara Orman Bayraktar On the map of the Army Geographical Service, for 1928, the settlement of Bayraktar is marked to the northwest of the settlement of Flambouro (Bayraktar Mahalle). See Επιτελικός χάρτης της Ελλάδος, 1/ , fol. Νιγρίτα, If the map does not copy an earlier edition, then this means that there were still some people living in the old village until the late 1920s. 16 Testimonies of V. Ph. (Α.Α. 1201, 1472, 1506), K. P. (Α.Α. 1204), A. M. (Α.Α. 1206) and V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208, 1210, 1426).

5 Source: 1876: Λ. Παπαδάκη, «Στατιστικοµανίας παρεπόµενα: Εθνολογικές κατηγοριοποιήσεις του πληθυσµού των οθωµανικών Σερρών (1876)», Ίστωρ 13 (2002) : Ανώνυµος, «Η επαρχία Σερρών κατά την εκκλησιαστικήν διαίρεσιν και την εκπαιδευτικήν κίνησιν», Ηµερολόγιον της Ανατολής, 1886 (Constantinople 1885), 166. The same data are cited a few years later by Papageorgiou. See Π. Ν. Παπαγεωργίου, Αι Σέρραι και τα προάστεια, τα περί τας Σέρρας και η Μονή Ιωάννου του Προδρόµου (Συµβολή ιστορική και αρχαιολογική), with introduction by Ch. Bakirtzis, (Series of Publications on the Town and Prefecture of Serres, no. 1), Thessaloniki, 82, 84. Schinas gives approximately the same number (70) of inhabitants in Georgoulas, in the early 1880s. See Ν. Θ. Σχινάς, Οδοιπορικαί σηµειώσεις Μακεδονίας, Ηπείρου νέας οροθετικής γραµµής και Θεσσαλίας συνταχθείσαι τη εντολή του επί των Στρατιωτικών υπουργού, Οδοιπορικόν Μακεδονίας, Athens 1887, : S. Gopčević, Makedonien und Alt-Serbien, Vienna 1889, The Serb author also estimates the number of houses in Bayraktar and Georgoulas as 62 and 27 respectively. 1900: D. M. Brancoff, La Macédoine et sa population chrétienne, Paris 1905, Brancoff republishes part of the population data of V. I. K nčov. I do not use the numerical data of the actual works by K nčov, because in the case of Bayraktar they deviate considerably from one another, perhaps due to a printing error. Specifically, the second author mentions in one of his travel texts (1891), 80 houses in Bayraktar, whereas his statistics (1900) note only 70 inhabitants in the same village; his corresponding estimates from Georgoulas are 18 houses and 230 inhabitants. See V. I. K nčov, Izbrani proizvedenija, Sofia 1970, vol. 1, 69, vol. 2, : Μακεδονία. Βιλαέτια Θεσσαλονίκης - Μοναστηρίου, Athens 1910, This Greek statistical table, published many times, was compiled in 1902 by the Macedonia Association. 1912: Staff Service of the Greek Army (publication), Στατιστικοί πίνακες του πληθυσµού κατ εθνικότητας των Νοµών Σερρών και ράµας, Athens 1919, 7-8. The specific numerical data are pre the 1912 war. 1913: Μ. Γ. Χουλιαράκης, Γεωγραφική, διοικητική και πληθυσµιακή εξέλιξις της Ελλάδος, , vol. 2, Athens 1975, 94. More precisely, the number of inhabitants in Bayraktar is the sum of the population of the settlements of Bayraktar (151 inhabitants) and Simaiophoros (361 inhabitants). However, the document Qualifications and salary of the teaching personnel. Simaiophoros, for the school year , mentions 115 inhabitants in Simaiophoros. See Ι.Α.Μ., Archive of the General Administration of Macedonia, file 55. The deviation in the numerical data is great, unless it is due to a census error and the number of inhabitants of Bayraktar is the number of inhabitants of Simaiophoros and vice-versa. 1915: Στατιστικοί πίνακες, op. cit., 7-8. This census was made in August : Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (publication), Στοιχεία συστάσεως και εξελίξεως των ήµων και Κοινοτήτων, vol. 43, Νοµός Σερρών, Athens 1962, 9. From these numerical data we surmise the following: a. The earliest of the three settlements, Georgoulas, 17 was not the largest in terms of size already by the 1870s. 17 Georgoulas is attested as χωρίον or ζευγηλατείον του Γεωργηλά in Athonite documents from the early 14th century and is recorded as Jorgile in Ottoman registers of the 15th century. See Μ. Ζαφειρίου, Ζητινός - Ζίντζος - Τζίντζ(ι)ος - Σιτοχώρι. Ιστορικογεωγραφικά της νοτιοανατολικής Βισαλτίας, Σερρών,

6 This position was held by Bayraktar. b. Kara Orman is mentioned only from the early 1910s and, unless it was known previously by another name, was therefore a shortlived settlement. 18 c. Prior to the 1912 war, the population of Bayraktar decreased by half, but after the annexation of the region to the Greek State it tripled. On the contrary, Georgoulas was virtually deserted during the Balkan Wars and its population only increased slightly and briefly before August 1925, due to the settlement of 25 refugees. 19 Similar demographic developments are observed in other neighbouring settlements at that time. 20 It seems that a large part of the population left the area during the Balkan Wars and returned home, in part, when hostilities ceased. In fact, the population increase in many villages in the area, in the two years , was due primarily to the settlement of Greek refugees from Thrace. 21 The agronomer G. Palamiotis wrote about the advent of refugees in the area of Nigrita: Refugees arrive daily from Western Thrace, entering the heart of the district via Mt Tsagezi. They are excellent farmers and come bringing with them their livestock and all the wherewithal for agricultural tasks; the settlement of them and suitable backing and training can be considered as a major factor in the agricultural progress of the region. 22 Nonetheless, the Greek census of 1915 does not mention the settlement of Greek refugees in Bayraktar as in Georgoulas and the population growth in the village then could perhaps be explained by the settlement of inhabitants of nearby hamlets, which might in its turn have been prompted by the influx of the refugees. The area of Nigrita was a theatre of military operations during the First World War ( ). The inhabitants of Bayraktar left the village and made their home in the (Historico-geographical Studies, no. 4), Athens 2000, especially 91-92, where the author has collected all the bibliography on Georgoulas. 18 In 1927 the settlement of Kara Orman was renamed Mavrolongos and is mentioned for the last time in the 1928 census (81 inhabitants). See Στοιχεία, op. cit., Στατιστικοί πίνακες, op. cit., 7.Georgoulas is also entered in the 1928 census (21 inhabitants) and the 1940 (7 inhabitants. See Στοιχεία, op. cit., Π. Β. Αγγελόπουλος, Βισαλτία - Νιγρίτα. Χώρα και πόλεις µε ιστορία στους αγώνες του Έθνους, (Macedonian Library, no. 87), Thessaloniki 1997, 24. Μ. Ζαφειρίου, «Ιστορικογεωγραφικά της περιοχής Χουµνικού», Σερραϊκά Χρονικά 13 (1998) 73. Idem, Ζητινός, op. cit., Cf. the numerical data of the censuses before the Balkan Wars (Στατιστικοί πίνακες, op. cit., 7-8). 22 Παλαµιώτης, op, cit., 136.

7 environs of lakes Volvis and Langada for a couple of years. Those who were fishermen continued this occupation there, while the rest worked as navvies in road building. The aged inhabitants of Flambouro still recount their parents adventures: When they were taken from here by the war the British had dug trenches here, they were fighting the Turks, they took them from here, this village and they left and went down to Langada, one part, down in Bisikia. They went there and they had over there this job, fishing, they settled there, they worked, until they d stayed some three years there and afterwards they came back to the village. 23 They all left, those who were fishermen went to Volvis. [ ] Some who didn t know fishing broke stones from the white stone, granite, and laid roads forced labour [ ] For a crust of bread. For a crust of bread, they broke stones and laid roads. 24 In conclusion, we would say that Flambouro as continuation of the Ottoman Bayraktar does not constitute an old settlement fixed in space and time. Nevertheless, its present inhabitants define themselves as dopioi and insist on the longevity and stability of their presence in the region. 25 We shall endeavour to interpret this contradiction in the following pages, by distinguishing the inhabitants from the settlement and examining their own relationship with the space and time. The inhabitants a. The ethno-cultural belonging 26 The earliest information on the ethno-cultural belonging of the inhabitants of Bayraktar goes back to the late nineteenth century. Specifically, I. Papakostopoulos, the Serb S. Gopčević and P.N. Papageorgiou note that this specific settlement is inhabited exclusively by Gypsies (Αθίγγανοι, Zigeuner). Their contemporary, the Bulgarian V. I. K nčov, also considers the inhabitants to be Gypsies (Cigani) in his 23 Testimony of A. M. (Α.Α. 1206). 24 Testimony of V. Ph. (Α.Α. 1472). 25 Testimonies of Ch. T. (Α.Α. 1100), Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206, 1207, 1428, 1429) and V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208). 26 For the Greek rendering of the French term appartenance and the English belonging see. Λαφαζάνη, op. cit., 96.

8 statistics, but in his travel text he mentions that 10 of the 80 houses in the settlement are lived in by Bulgarians. 27 In the early twentieth century, Bulgarian and Greek statistics agree that the inhabitants of Bayraktar as a whole are Gypsies (Tsiganes, Aθίγγανοι). 28 A different assessment of the ethnic composition of Bayraktar appears after the annexation of the region to the Greek State, in the statistics of the Greek Army Staff Service. Specifically, according to these statistics the majority of inhabitants of the settlement before the 1912 war, and their total in August 1914, were Grecophone Greeks. Nevertheless, before the war there were 12 Muslims residing along with the 168 Grecophone Greeks. 29 Several decades later, in 1970, the author of the first monograph on the area of Nigrita, although considering the inhabitants of Bayraktar to be Greeks, writes that they reinforced their Greek consciousness over the years. 30 Fifteen years later, the Nigritan A. Thilykos clarifies the issue in his article about the villages of Flambouro and Anthi: These villages [ ] would have been of little interest if they had not happened to have this notable and intriguing point: That their local (dopios) population, their first original inhabitants, are of the race that bears the common name Gypsies. There is no doubt that these Gypsies in their physical origin belong to that kind and category of the so-called Athinganoi or Tsiganoi and of course that their root comes from this Athinganiki or Tsiganiki family dispersed throughout Asia, North Africa and virtually the whole of Europe. 31 Even so, in the following year, A. Liapis, studying the origin and the provenance of the inhabitants of Flambouro and three other neighbouring villages, does not distinguish anything special in Flambouro and refers generally to the today pure Greek populations of the villages. 32 The question of the ethno-cultural belonging of the specific population continued to be vague in the local historiography. Indicatively, 27 Gopčević, op. cit., 380. Παπαγεωργίου, op. cit.,. 84. K nčov, op. cit., vol. 1, 69, vol. 2, 479. Παπαδάκη, op. cit., Brancoff, op. cit., Μακεδονία, op. cit., Στατιστικοί πίνακες, op. cit Παπαθανασίου, ό.π., σ Α. Θηλυκός, «Το Φλάµπουρο και η Ανθή», Πανσερραϊκό Ηµερολόγιο 11 (1985) Λιάπης, op. cit.,

9 I. Bakas, commenting in a footnote on Papageorgiou s reference that the settlements of Georgoulas, Bayraktar and Fitol (mod. Anthi) were inhabited by Aθίγγανοι, wrote in 1933: This is probably due to confusion. These villages were not inhabited by Athinganoi, but by a race which the locals (dopioi) call, rightly or wrongly Gyftoi. 33 The previous references are certainly hetero-definitions by the inhabitants of Flambouro. The same inhabitants define themselves today once they are familiar with their converser as Gypsies (Gyftoi) and distinguish their own ethno-cultural group by using the terms our people, our folk and our race. 34 For them the term Tsiganoi is derogatory and denotes affined ethno-cultural groups with a nomadic way of life. We know our name Gyftoi [ ] The Tsiganoi are others, the Gyftoi are us, we who live in the villages. They weren t settled permanently [ ] And we have always been settled. They have always moved about Ι. Μπάκας, Η Νιγρίτα και η περιοχής της στα τέλη της Τουρκοκρατίας. Εκπαιδευτική και εκκλησιαστική δραστηριότητα του Ελληνισµού της περιοχής ( ). Τα γεγονότα του Μακεδονικού Αγώνα, graduate dissertation in the Department of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Νιγρίτα 1993, 16-17, n. 65. For the racial character and the origin of the inhabitants of the villages of Georgoulas, Fitok and Bayraktar, M. Zapheiriou refers to the articles by A. Thilykos and A. Liapis, and to the post-graduate dissertation by I. Bakas, but does not comment on their views. See M. Ζαφειρίου, «Ιστορικογεωγραφικά», op. cit., 70, n. 77. On the contrary, in 1991, Petroyannakis wrote that the greater part of the population of Flambouro and Anthi is Gypsies (τσιγγάνοι). See Γ. Πετρακόγιαννης, «Οι τσιγγάνοι του νοµού Σερρών», Flash στις Σέρρες 3 (June-July 1991) 46. Modern local guidebooks refer to the inhabitants of Flambouro as locals and Sarakatsans (Ντόπιοι και Σαρακατσαναίοι). See Γ. Γούδας, Γνωριµία µε την επαρχία Βισαλτίας (Τα 29 χωριά της και ο ήµος της Νιγρίτας), 3rd edn, with introduction-editing by S. Mouratidou, n. d., 136. Β. Αγκαθά (ed.), ήµος Νιγρίτας. Ιστορικός - πολιτιστικός - τουριστικός οδηγός, [2002], Testimonies of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206, 1207, 1428, 1429), V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208) and V. Ph. (Α.Α. 1472). 35 Testimony of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1207). In Northern Greece in general the term Gyftos is not derogatory in relation to Tsiganos. For the different significance of these terms in the Rom groups in Greece see summarily Μ. Τερζοπούλου Γ. Γεωργίου, Οι Τσιγγάνοι στην Ελλάδα. Ιστορία Πολιτισµός, Athens 1996, The inhabitants of Flambouro specifically look down on the nomadic way of life of the Tsiganoi. The same informant mentions characteristically: We, although we are poorer than them, they have money, but we look upon them as inferiors, Because when they have no routine, when he comes to a village, he sleeps there, he works there, he moves around They have money but when they still go around barefoot, since years back even their children went around barefoot, they are uncivilized. They have money. E, he has a motorcar five yards long. But what good does it do them,

10 b. The Rom in the wider area of Flambouro The history of the Rom in the Plain of Serres interested S. Mertzidis, even from the late nineteenth century. He ascertained grosso modo that the so-called Christianogyftoi (Christian-gypsies) were living antiquity. Specifically, the physician from Meleniko, on studying the mores and customs of this ethno-cultural group, had no qualms about considering these identical with those described by Herodotus and which are incontrovertible traces of the various ethne of Antiquity, which Xerxes abandoned here in 478 BC, on returning to Greece after his unsuccessful campaign. 36 In the mid-twentieth century, the Serraian N. Petrovitz, knowing the relevant reference of Mertzidis, accepts the view that the Romiogyftoi were remnants of Xerxes army and, making his own leap through the centuries, considers the Turkogyftos custom of Duduladoi the continuity of the ancient Greek invocations to Zeus for rain. 37 Three decades later, A. Thilykos acknowledges simply the time depth of appearance and settlement of this particular population group in the region and adds that when how the presence of these Gyftoi came about in Flambouro and Anthi, as well as in other villages in the Plain of Serres, is a question to which no one has given a clear answer. 38 The same questions are asked today by the inhabitants of Flambouro, who on the one hand consider themselves dopioi and on the other believe that they came from some other homeland and settled in the area a very long time ago: 39 This race of ours now, we don t know where we come from. We re from Pakistan, of those black ones, the Third World, we re brought from there. But we don t know exactly when we came, when the ancestors came over here. 40 they are uncivilized. For the derogatory meaning of the term Tsiganos and its identification with the nomadic way of life in another village in the lower Strymon see Λαφαζάνη, op. cit., Σ. Μερτζίδης, Οι Φίλιπποι. Έρευναι και µελέται χωρογραφικαί υπό αρχαιολογικήν, γεωγραφικήν, ιστορικήν, θρησκευτικήν και εθνολογικήν έποψιν, Constantinople 1897, Ν. Πέτροβιτς, «Λαογραφικά σύµµεικτα Σερρών», Σερραϊκά Χρονικά 1 (1953) Θηλυκός, op. cit., 135, 137. Cf. Πετρακόγιαννης, op. cit., 46, where it is mentioned that there is no information on the initial place of origin of the Gypsy (tsiganes) inhabitants of Flambouro and Anthi. 39 Testimonies of Ch. T. (Α.Α. 1100), Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206, 1207, 1428) and V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208). 40 Testimony of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206).

11 We, we re not from here. We re brought from somewhere with black races. And as our kids when talking, they re all right in Athens (i.e. Flambouriot immigrants to the capital), our language is very like that of the Pakistanis. From way over there, India, Pakistan, how do I know, from those parts, there was a great famine and they left then. And wherever they found work they settled. 41 The earliest testimonies of the presence of Rom in the Serres area are encountered in early sixteenth-century Ottoman registers. Specifically, we know that in 1530 there were in the kaza of Serres 20 Muslim households, 168 Christian households with an adult male head and 21 with a widowed female head. 42 If we take into account the numerical data for the town of Serres in the years 1523 and 1540, most of the Christian households were probably in the villages of the kaza, whereas all the Muslims were in its capital. Specifically, in 1523, 20 Muslim households, 19 Christian households with an adult male head and 4 with a widow as head are recorded in the town; in 1540 the corresponding numbers of households are 19, 35 and The numerical data of the Ottoman registers are without doubt a terminus ante quem for the long history of the Rom in the Strymon Valley. But their precise places of settlement in the wider area of Lake Achinos cannot be identified prior to the late nineteenth century. This identification is possible from the relevant information given by I. Papakostopoulos, the Serb S. Gopčević, N.P. Papageorgiou, the Bulgarians V. I. K nčov and M. Brancoff, and the Greek Association of Macedonia. The collecting and collating of these details led to the compilation of Table 2. What is striking first of all from the juxtaposition and comparison of these demographic data, is the authors lack of agreement on the existence of Rom inhabitants in most villages, as well as the significant deviations in numerical estimates of them in the total of settlements. These discrepancies and deviations cannot be explained solely by Balkan authors of the period cooking the population data to the benefit of one or other ethnic propaganda. Indeed, it is evident from 41 Testimony of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1428). 42 A. Akgündüz, Osmanlı Kanunnâmeleri ve Hukukî Tahlilleri, vol. 6, Istanbul 1993, A. Stojanovski, Gradovite na Makedonija od krajot na XIV do XVII vek, Skopje 1981, 72.

12 K nčov and Brancoff that the same discrepancy and numerical deviations characterize even data of authors of the same ethnicity. The linguistic and religious diversity of the Rom groups makes their classification by an outside researcher extremely difficult. 44 This diversity probably interprets better the differences in population data. Despite the differences, however, certain ascertainments can be made from the data in the table: a. Bearing in mind the land-ownership regime of the settlements, we ascertain that the Rom of the lower Strymon valley at that time lived exclusively in çiflik villages, 45 in which they were presumably the mainstay labour force, as D. Lafazani also points out. 46 b. On examining the geographical distribution of these çiflik villages, we observe that they represent, at that time, all the settlements on the north bank and most of the settlements on the west bank of Lake Achinos, thus confirming what the Flambouriots say: And they (i.e. their ancestors) they were always going close to the lakes and lived there. And to the other villages where there is our race. 47 Thus, it is not fortuitous that an early twentieth-century study on fishfarming in Macedonia notes that the fishermen of Lake Achinos were in the majority Gypsies. 48 c. On comparing the numbers of inhabitants, we find that the most important Rom communities in the wider area of Lake Achinos were at that time, in order, Bayraktar, Ali Bay Köy (mod. Alibekio), Fitok (mod. Anthi), Neochori and Vernar (mod. Paralimnio). But Bayraktar presents one further notable peculiarity. It is the only one of the 32 villages for which all six statistics agree, not only that it is inhabited by Rom but also that all its inhabitants are Rom. So, can we assume that Bayraktar was the only Rom community south of Serres, in which at least until the early twentieth century no ethnic propaganda took place? Albekio, Anthi, Neochori and Paralimnio are included even today in the most important neighbouring settlements in which, according to the inhabitants of Flambouro, our own people live. Also mentioned together with them are 44 Τερζοπούλου Γεωργίου, op. cit., For the fact that these particular villages were then çifliks see Παλαµιώτης, op. cit., 133, 140, , where the çifliks in the districts of Nigrita, Zichni and Serres are enumerated. However, the villages or Orliak (mod. Strymoniko) and Kakara (mod. Mesokomi) are not mentioned among them. 46 Λαφαζάνη, op. cit., Testimony of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206). 48 Ν. Κ. Γερµανός, Έκθεσις περί των ιχθυοτροφείων της Μακεδονίας και περί των εφαρµοστέων µέτρων και µέσων προς αύξισιν και βελτίωσιν της παραγωγής, Athens 1914, 15.

13 Mavrothalassa (Pyrgos) and Valtotopi (former Beylik Mahalle), where, however, according to Ottoman sources, Rom did not live. Two of the most important Rom communities north of Serres, Herakleia and Pontismeno, do not seem to have had particular relations with the Flambouriots, even though the latter consider these settlements places in which their race lives. 49 Flambouro s relations with the nearby Rom communities are such that they annul easily the picture of the closed society through time. These relations are not limited only to marital exchanges 50 and common festivals and religious feasts (panigyria), 51 but extend also to the movements of families now and again from one settlement to the other. 52 These movements are documented also by the surnames of Flambouriots which denote provenance from another village: Doxoboglis or Doxbozlis (from Myrkino), Kakaraskalis (from Aghia Eleni), Koulelis or Koulialis (from Pyrgos), Fetoklis or Fitoklis (from Anthi). 53 To recapitulate, from the complex network of relations that apparently exists between the Rom communities of the area, we conclude that Flambouro as a community not only has deep roots in the area but also has roots which spread over a large part of the lower Strymon valley Testimonies of Α. Μ. and V. F. (Α.Α. 1206, 1207, 1428), Μ. Ch. et alii (Α.Α. 1427). 50 See, e.g., the testimonies of V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1209) and V. F. (Α.Α. 1506), which mention marital exchanges with Anthi and Valtotopi. 51 See, e.g., the testimonies of M. Ch. et alii (Α.Α. 1427), Α. Μ. and V. F. (Α.Α. 1428), which mention the customary visits of the carnivals of Flambouro to Valtotopi and of Anthi to Flambouro, the participation of Flambouriots in the panigyri of St Marina at Pyrgos and the miracles of St Anne of Flambouro for pilgrims from Anthi, Alibekio and Valtotopi. See also today the customary visit of the Idilia to Anthi. 52 See, e.g., the testimonies of Α. Μ. (Α.Α. 1206), V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1209) and V. F. (Α.Α. 1472, 1506), in which there is mention of families moving from Anthi and Mavrothalassa to Flambouro, particularly after the finding of the icon of St Anne, as well as from Valtotopi and Skoutari to Flambouro, and from Kara Orman to Paralimnio and Flambouro. 53 G.S.A.. Archives of Prefecture of Serres Archive of Municipality of Nigrita, Register of Males of Flambouro, Georgoulas, Kara Orman (1913) and Municipal roll of the village of Bayraktar as well as of the refugees of Nigrita (1920). 54 It should be noted however that D. Lafazani distinguishes the Rom of the lower Strymon valley into two groups, the Turkogyftoi, on the west bank, and the Bulgarogyftoi, on the east bank of the river, and considers that these groups do not have particular relations between them. See D. E. Lafazani, Appartenance culturelle et différenciation sociale dans le bassin du bas-strymon: Etude d intégration

14 c. The Language According to an anonymous Greek report, Bayraktar was in the late nineteenth century one of the six Gypsy-speaking (αθιγγανόφωνα) villages in the district of Serres. The other five were Vernar (mod. Paralimnio), Neochori, Ali Bey Köy (mod. Alibekio), Fitok (mod. Anthi) and Georgoulas. 55 The weird Romany language of these villages had then attracted the interest of S. Mertzidis. The medical doctor from Meleniko had collected, together with the mores and customs of the Christianogyftoi of the region, their words too, influenced perhaps by the earlier studies of another medical doctor, the Chiot A. Paspatis, on the Rom of Constantinople, and particularly by his view that the true history of the Gyspy race lies in the study of their language. Unfortunately, Mertzidis s studies, unlike those of Paspatis, were never published: had they been, they would have placed the Melenikan physician among the pioneering students of the Rom and their language in the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, even S. Mertzidis s laconic reference to Romany in his work Philippi is especially important, since he writes that the Christianogyftoi of the Serres Plain use their language in their invocations. 56 From this we may assume that already from the late nineteenth century Romany was not the principal spoken language of the Rom hereabouts. The Rom in the Ottoman Empire are known to have spoken Turkish well. 57 In the case of Bayraktar, archival documents confirm that the inhabitants of the village were fully conversant in Turkish and that they communicated with other ethno-cultural groups in this language. For example, in a contract between inhabitants of Bayraktar and Nigrita, after the annexation of the region to the Greek State, the following is noted: [ ] inhabitants of the village of Bayraktar of Nigrita [ ] not knowing Greek, nationale d une région macédonienne, διδακτορική διατριβή, Université de Sorbonne - Paris IV, Institut de Géographie, Paris, April 1993, 117, 176, Anonymous, op. cit., , Μερτζίδης, op. cit., 34. Paspatis s early studies were published in the 1850s. See Α. Γ. Πασπάτης, «Μελέτη περί των Ατσιγγάνων και της γλώσσης αυτών», Πανδώρα 8 ( ) , , , Idem, Memoir on the language of the Gypsies as now used in the Turkish Empire, Journal of the American Oriental Society 7 (1861) Idem, Etudes sur les Tchinghianés ou Bohémiens de l Empire ottoman, Constantinople For a synopsis of the history of studies on the Rom and their language in the wider Greek region see Τερζοπούλου Γεωργίου, op. cit., Τερζοπούλου Γεωργίου, op. cit., 34.

15 for which reason they communicated through a Turkish-speaking interpreter. 58 That the inhabitants of Ottoman Bayraktar were Turcophone is attested today by the old people of Flambouro: Our people were speaking Turkish, they knew Turkish, but they also knew our own language [ ] but even those who were speaking our language had mostly Turkish words in it. It was mixed up. 59 Until the early years of the twentieth century, there was no school in the village 60 and consequently it was not a place of propagandist activity through the educational system and the learning of a particular language. Certainly this state of affairs could not have lasted long. It would have been impossible for Bayraktar to remain unaffected by what was going on around it. So, the Greek Consulate of Serres, which from 1886 had been financing the Greek school network in the region under its jurisdiction, made provision in its relevant budget for the year , for a sum to set up a school in Bayraktar. This rather delayed decision seems to be also an indication of the difficulties the Balkan nation states were up against in their efforts to create props in the village. It is worth adding that the same budget included sums for setting up a school in Ali Bey Köy (mod. Albekio), the most important Rom centre of the town of Serres, and a school for Gypsies at Kato Jumaya (mod. Herakleia), one of the most important Rom centres north of Serres. A school had operated in another northern Rom centre, Erniköy (mod. Pontismeno), since G.S.A. Archives of Prefecture of Serres, Archive of the notary Makridis, no. 16/ Testimony of A. M. (Α.Α. 1428). See also relevant testimonies of the same person and of V. F. (Α.Α. 1206, 1207, 1429). 60 Σ. Ι. Παπαδόπουλος, Εκπαιδευτική και κοινωνική δραστηριότητα του Ελληνισµού της Μακεδονίας κατά τον τελευταίο αιώνα της Τουρκοκρατίας, (Μακεδονική Βιβλιοθήκη, no. 31), Thessaloniki 1970, Μπάκας, op. cit., Α. Ε. Καραθανάσης, «Ηµερολόγιον Νιγρίτης», Η Νιγρίτα - Η Βισαλτία διά µέσου της ιστορίας, Proceedings II Scientific Conference (Nigrita October 1996), Thessaloniki 2000, 303, Γ. Ν. Αψηλίδης, «Χρηµατοδότηση και επιθεώρηση ελληνικών σχολείων στην περιοχή των Σερρών στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα», Σίρις 6 ( ) 88, , 128, especially , where the budgets for the school years and are published. Specifically, at Erniköy there were only the first and second grades at that time and the school had perhaps been opened no more than a year.

16 These first props of the Greek State in Bayraktar seem to have been short-lived and the school, if it opened at all, did not continue in operation in the year The situation was the same at Ali Bey Köy. On the contrary, the Greek schools in the Rom communities north of Serres functioned normally. These conclusions are based on the fact that in the relevant budget of the Greek Consulate of Serres for the year , there is no provision for a contribution for a school at Bayraktar and Ali Bey Köy, as there was for the rest of the schools in the region and, of course at Kato Jumaya and Erniköy. 62 There was certainly a Greek school, with one class, at Bayraktar in , that is, immediately after the annexation of the region to the Greek State. The school building belonged to the community and was characterized at that time as being in a maintainable condition. By the following year there were already three classes, that is Infant and Preliminary combined, First and Second Primary, with 20 boy pupils and 3 girl. 63 It is noteworthy that the number of pupils represented about one-quarter of the total of boys aged between 5 and 15 in the village. 64 In contrast to the statistics of the Greek Army relating to education, contemporary Greek administrative documents do not mention Greek as the language of the inhabitants of Bayraktar but Romany (Romiogyfti). 65 Romany is to this day a living language in Flambouro, with many Greek elements of course (now we speak half- 62 Ibidem, op. cit., Ι.Α.Μ., op. cit., «Προσόντα και µισθός διδακτικού προσωπικού. Σηµαιοφόρος». A photocopy of the verso of the document is published without commentary by Κωνσταντίνου ή Τέγου-Στεργιάδου, op. cit., 390. Indirect information on the operation of the school in is drawn from data in the same document about the schoolteacher, the seventeen-year-old, unmarried Chrysanthi Nikolaidou from Serres. Specifically, the following is noted: Graduated with diploma from the Grigoriada Parthenagogeion (Serres Girls School) in 1912, came directly as a teacher to this village, with the duty to teach in our God-saved district during the school year , in strict compliance with the teaching of the Orthodox Church and abstaining from everything religiously, morally and politically inappropriate. 64 This budget is based on the fact that 89 boys were born between 1898 and See G.S.A. Archives of the Prefecture of Serres Archive of the Municipality of Nigrita, Register of Males of Flambouro, Georgoulas, Kara Orman (1913). 65 H.Α.Μ., op. cit.

17 Greek, half-gypsy), 66 but in parallel Greek is also used, which has taken the place of Turkish. This fact was expressed clearly a few years ago by the Nigritan author A. Thilykos: [ ] mother tongue, also corrupted and degenerated by many intrusions of words and phrases from the Turkish and the Greek language, both of which they learnt of necessity, because of the direct contact they had with Turks and with Greeks daily [ ]. 67 The compulsory learning of Greek was not due, however, to the direct contact with Greeks. The Flambouriots memories about the prohibiting of their language during the Metaxas dictatorship are still vivid: If you used the language, if you spoke the language, castor oil (i.e punishment-torture) It was forbidden. Only Greek. We had here folks who knew Bulgarian, others who know Romany (Gyftika), others new various languages. Not only here, in the other villages too [ ]. The women didn t come at all to go to the bazaar, since they didn t know (Greek). We were obliged to go, we who knew Greek. Castor oil and kipper. You d drink the castor oil, and then eat a kipper on top, salty, once to go there where it ought to go. 68 d. Religion As mentioned already, the numerical data in the Ottoman registers attest that in the first half of the fifteenth century the Rom in the kaza of Serres were primarily Christians and that the few Muslims probably lived only in the town of Serres. Later, in the early twentieth century, demographic data show that Muslim Rom (Μουσουλµάνοι αθίγγανοι, τουρκοαθίγγανοι) lived together with Christians in the villages of the kaza as well. Specifically, south of Serres Muslim Rom are mentioned at Neochori and Fitok (mod. Anthi). 69 That Christian Rom (Ρωµηόγυφτοι, 66 Testimony of A. M. (Α.Α. 1207). See also relevant testimonies of the same person (Α.Α. 1206, 1428). 67 Θηλυκός, op. cit., Testimonies of V. F. and A. M. (Α.Α. 1429). 69 Μακεδονία, op. cit.,

18 Χριστιανόγυφτοι) and Muslim Rom (Τουρκόγυφτοι) existed in the sanjak of Serres during the Ottoman period, is considered a fact in the local bibliography too. 70 Nonetheless, the local bibliography considers that the inhabitants of Bayraktar and Fitok were exclusively Christians. 71 Yet the same authors narrate an event from the activity of the Macedonian freedom-fighter Kapetan Yorgis Yaglis, which informs us indirectly of Muslims settled in Bayraktar. Specifically, it is mentioned that Y. Yaglis expelled from Bayraktar which was a çiflik, that is an estate the Muslim (Turk) tenant farmers whom the owner of the çiflik (bey) had installed, sequestrating the land-holdings of his Christian (Greek) tenant farmers. 72 The same authors mention the case of the Muslim (Turk) inhabitant of Bayraktar, Karasali, who was later baptized a Christian and honoured by the Greek State with a medal and diploma of a Macedonian freedom-fighter because he drove out Bulgarian soldiers from Nigrita in 1913, by threatening to set fire to the building in which they were billeted. 73 The inhabitants of Bayraktar are considered Orthodox, or simply Christians, by the Greek sources of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. 74 The Bulgarian and Serbian sources of the same period in general do not define the Rom religiously Πέτροβιτς, op. cit., Γ. Καφταντζής, Η ιστορία της Ηράκλειας Νοµού Σερρών, Herakleia 1973, especially Α.. Τολούδη, «Ρωµιόγυφτοι. Καταγωγή εγκατάσταση στο Σιδηρόκαστρο, Ηράκλεια, Ν. Πετρίτσι», Πανσερραϊκό Ηµερολόγιο 3 (1977) Ρ. Κοψίδης et al., «Ροµ», Γιατί (November-December 1990) Παπαθανασίου, op. cit., Π. Θ. Πέννας, «Η ιστορική παρουσία της Βισαλτίας και της Νιγρίτας και η προσφορά τους στους εθνικούς αγώνες», Σερραϊκά Χρονικά 7 (1976) 213. Θηλυκός, op. cit., 138. Λιάπης, op. cit., 35. Μπάκας, op. cit., 24, Παπαθανασίου, op. cit., Πέννας, op. cit., 213. Μπάκας, op. cit., 90. The way in which the event is narrated in the bibliography is confusing regarding the regime of land ownership in Bayraktar too. 73 Παπαθανασίου, op. cit., Πέννας, op. citi., 217. Μπάκας, op. cit., Specifically, Papathanasiou and Pennas write that Karasali was from Fitok (mod. Anthi), and only Bakas writes that Karasali was from Bayraktar, even though he refers to Papathanasiou and Pennas. Bakas s information is correct, since the Karasali family is entered in the municipal role of Bayraktar. See G.S.A. Archives of Prefecture of Serres Archive of Municipality of Nigrita, Municipal roll of the village of Bayraktar and of the refugees of Nigrita (1920). 74 Anonymous, op. cit., 166. Μακεδονία, op. cit., 52. Παπαγεωργίου, op. cit., Gopčević, op. cit., 380. K nčov, op. cit., vol. 1, 69, vol. 2, 479. Brancoff s demographic data concern only the Christians and therefore give no information on whether there were Muslim Rom too. See Brancoff, op. cit.,

19 However, the Greek Army statistics, a few years later, mention Muslim inhabitants, albeit few, in Bayraktar. Specifically, this settlement had 168 Grecophone Greeks and 12 Mohammedans before the 1912 war. 76 Muslims were living there also after the annexation of the region to the Greek State. Specifically, of the 277 entries in the register of males in Bayraktar in 1913, 7 are of Muslims, from the names of which it seems that only two were father and son, and consequently there were certainly 6 Muslim families living in the village. One of these probably converted to Christianity, since he is recorded in the register as a Muslim in the column for religion and as Orthodox in the column of remarks. Seven years later, only one inhabitant with a Muslim name, whose daughter in fact has a Christian name, is entered in the municipal roll of Bayraktar. 77 The inhabitants of Flambouro today confirm the testimonies of the sources, stating that apart from the Karasali family other Muslim (of Turkish blood) families lived in the village, some of which converted to Christianity after the annexation of the region to the Greek State. 78 Irrespective of the existence of Muslim Rom in Bayraktar, the relationship of the Christian Rom with Christianity, in general in the area of Serres, seems to have been superficial at that time, if we bear in mind the relevant testimony of S. Mertzidis: having strange mores and customs, which, passed on hereditarily from parents to children, were saved and preserved so vitally that, apart from minimal changes and variations brought little by little by Christianity, are identical to those described by Herodotus. Thus, according to the Melenikan doctor, Christianity had by the late nineteenth century brought very few changes to the very weird mores and customs of the Christian Gypsies of the Plain of Serres. 79 On the contrary, N. Petrovits, in the mid-twentieth century, although he cites the relevant passage from Mertzidis in his study on the custom of Duduladoi, considers that the Romiogyftoi as Christians did not dare to keep the this pagan custom because it would have come into conflict with 76 Stastical Tables, op. cit., G.S.A. Archives of Prefecture of Serres Archive of Municipality of Nigrita Register of Males of Flambouro, Georgoulas, Kara Orman (1913) and Municipal roll of the village of Bayraktar and the refugees of Nigrita (1920). 78 Testimonies of V. F. (Α.Α. 1472, 1506). Cf. also testimonies of V. Ch. (Α.Α. 1208, 1426) referring to Turkish amalgams and faults in the Ottoman period in Christian Bayraktar. 79 Μερτζίδης, op. cit., 34.

20 the Orthodox Church. He argues, therefore, that the custom was kept only by the Turkogyftoi until But Thilykos, speaking about the Rom of Flambouro and Anthi, on the one hand notes, like Mertzidis, that as a race and as a people they continue still to have their beliefs and their secret cult activities, such as for the Indian deity Ababas, and on the other hand observes: This phenomenon remains strange and inexplicable, how even in the terrible Turkish repression and Muslim ferocity they lived through, they kept their Christian faith. 81 A century after S. Mertzidis, the traditional customs of the Rom in the Serres area are no longer considered in the local bibliography as weird but as significant, since they have acquired a different interpretation: The local traditions confirm the national action of the inhabitants against the Turks. So, the custom of Jamala in Flambouro has acquired a special meaning because it is a re-enactment of the way in which the freedom-fighters in the Ottoman period came into contact with their relatives. 82 According to oral tradition, Bayraktar did not have a church, but after the finding of the icon of St Anne, the place in which it was kept and venerated was also the locus sanctus of the settlement. Opinions vary as to the form of the locus sanctus: Some maintain that it was a makeshift construction of reeds, and others that it was a room in the house of the woman who saw the icon in a dream and who took it out of the earth. All agree, however, that the icon was venerated in secret and was hidden from the Turks, Bulgarians, Germans, British, Greek nationalist extremists, guerrillas in the National Liberation Army, wicked people. In fact, the woman who had the icon is said to have slept with it and to have carried it with her on her back whenever she left the house. In general, the icon is presented in the narratives of the inhabitants as following the migratory movements of their forebears to their places of settlement, thus constituting a moveable church: depending on where people went, they carried it 80 Πέτροβιτς, op. cit., Θηλυκός, op. cit., 138. For a thorough discussion of the Ababas see Y. Hunt, The Ababas: A Rom Ritual, Οι Ροµά στην Ελλάδα, Athens 2002, Μ. Τερζοπούλου, «Με τα τύµπανα και τα όργια της Μητέρας: Η γυναικεία λαϊκή λατρεία ως πολιτική µεταφορά σε ένα συγκρουσιακό περιβάλλον», in the collective volume Χ. Βλαχούτσικου L. Kain Hart (eds), Όταν γυναίκες έχουν διαφορές: Αντιθέσεις και συγκρούσεις γυναικών στη σύγχρονη Ελλάδα, Athens 2003, 334ff. 82 Λιάπης, op. cit., 35. Μπάκας, op. cit., 24. For Jamala and the customs in general of the village today see Τερζοπούλου, op. cit., 340ff.