Περίληψη : Settlement of Cappadocia built on high altitude with Greek-Orthodox and Muslim population. The number of its population amounted to 2,500-4,000 by the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the Greek-Orthodox male population immigrated to Constantinople, Smyrna and Samsun, where they worked as grocers. Άλλες Ονομασίες Melekopi, Mala Kopia, Malıkköy Γεωγραφική Θέση Central Asia Minor Ιστορική Περιοχή Cappadocia Διοικητική Υπαγωγή Kaymakamlık of Nevşehir, mutasarrıflık of Niğde, vilayet of Konya Γεωγραφικές Συντεταγμένες 1. Anthropogeography Historical Background Settlement in Cappadocia, built on a plateau 1,280 m above sea level. The soil is sandy and, as a result, not particularly fertile, while the climate is cold with heavy winters lasting up to 8 months. The settlement was built on the road Mersin Adana Niğde Malakopi Nevşehir Ankara, which crossed the market of Malakopi. Minor roads connected it with several settlements of the wider region, such as Flogita, Misti and Anaku. The names Melekopi and Mala Kapia are also reported. It has been maintaned that the settlement was the Malakopia mentioned by Strabo, or the Byzantine Melagia. 1 Malakopi had a mixed population including Greek-Orthodox and Muslims. The Christians of Malakopi spoke a Greek idiom similar to that of Anaku. They also spoke Turkish and, as a result, their dialect had lots of Turkish elements. The earliest estimate of the population was made in 1815, when Malakopi was inhabited by 250 families. 2 According to statistics from the diocese of Ikonio, published in 1905 on the journal Xenofanis, there were 1,700 Christians and 800 Muslims in Malakopi. 3 Antonopoulos talks about 380 Christian families in the same period. 4 Kontogiannis suggests a total population of 4,000, half of whom were Christians, which changes the proportions between the ethno-religious groups. 5 Finally, in 1924, the Christian population of Malakopi amounted to 765, distributed among 220 families. 6 The Christians and the Muslims of the village lived in separate quarters. The earliest houses were carved on the rock. Many of them communicated with each other through galleries, thus forming extensive complexes of underground houses. This period of the settlement, which local tradition attributed to the lack of safety conditions because of bandits acting in the area, finished about the mid-19 th century when the carved houses were abandoned. 7 A new house above the ground was then usually built beside the underground house, which was used as a storehouse from then on. The new houses had usually one or two floors. It is worth mentioning here that similar architectural developments in houses were also known in several other Cappadocian settlements of about the same period. 2. Economy Δημιουργήθηκε στις 15/10/2017 Σελίδα 1/5
The sandy and infertile soil resulted in limited agricultural production, mainly intended for domestic use. Besides, production was often low and the inhabitants had to supplement it by purchasing products. Rye, wheat, barley, Roman rocket, pulses and greens were farmed in Malakopi, while there were some vineyards as well. In addition, every family had a small number of animals sheep and cows, as well as a small number of beehives for their own nutritional needs. Malakopi had a market, covering mainly local needs. A relatively small number of professionals craftsmen and merchants are also reported. The celebrations held on the occasion of a religious feast mainly of St Anargyroi on the 1 st November and, secondarily, of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel as well as of St Theodoroi promoted commercial transactions with the inhabitants of nearby villages, who took the opportunity to visit Malakopi. Finally, caravans passed through the city, a fact thet also increased commercial activity. 8 However, the main economic activity for the majority of the active male population was emigration. The following quotation by an informant of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies is indicative: all the men without exception went to Constantinople and opened their own groceries there. 9 Others became cheese mongers, caviar sellers and cooks. It is an emigration model common to several Cappadocian settlements. Other destinations of emigrants from Malakopi were Smyrna and Samsun and later America and Australia. 3. Administration Malakopi was a muhtarlık under the kaymakamlık of Nevşehir, the mutasarrıflık of Niğde and the vilayet of Konya. In World War I it was upgraded to the seat of a müdürlük, including the settlements of Silata, Flogita, Dila, Anaku and Axo, and was commanded by a Muslim müdür. Each of the ethnol-religious communities of Malakopi was commanded by a separate muhtar. As regards Christians, their muhtar was elected by the members of the community every March and served an annual term. His duties were assisted by a board with 5-6 members called metzilides (from Ottoman Turkish meclis, council) or dimogerontes. The board was also elected in the same elections that appointed the muhtar. There were also an church committee and two school boards, one in Malakopi and another in Constantinople (Istanbul). The local school board had five members elected by the general assembly of the inhabitants and served an annual term. 10 4. Religion Malakopi belonged ecclesiastically to the diocese of Ikonion. The two main churches of the settlement were dedicated to the Taxiarchs Michael and Gabriel and to St Theodoroi. Apart from these two churches there were a few older ones, some of which were rock-carved, the most important being that of St Anargyroi, where the allegedly miraculous icon of the same name was kept. The rest of the churches held religious services only on the name day of the saint after whom the church was named. 5. Education The earliest reference to the operation of a school comes from 1856, when a building was constructed to house the allilodidaktikon school (a school that used the monitorial teaching system) and the ellinikon school of Malakopi. 11 In 1888 the city had a boys school, a girls school and a nursery school, all housed in a large building specially offered to the community for this reason. 12 In 1894 the girls school moved to a separate building, constructed on the inhabitants expenses and donated by the notable S. Ch. Fotiades. 13 According to statistics of the diocese of Ikonio, published on the journal Xenofanis, a seven-grade boys school with 4 teachers and 180 students as well as a four-grade girls school with 2 female teachers and 100 students operated in Malakopi in 1905. 14 The expenses required for the operation of the schools were covered by fund-raising and contributions of both inhabitants and emigrants. Δημιουργήθηκε στις 15/10/2017 Σελίδα 2/5
6. Clubs As it happened in many other places of the Ottoman Empire after the period of the Tanzimat reforms, educational and charitable clubs were founded in Malakopi as well. In 1888 the funds required for the restoration of the building that housed the boys' school, the girls school and the nursery school were given by the Charitable Fraternity Malakopi. 15 In 1894 the Charitable and Educational Fraternity was founded in Malakopi, aiming to back the girls school and promote the spread of the Greek language through education. 16 Finally, in 1912 immigrants from Malakopi founded in Constantinople the Pious and Educational Fraternity Orthodoxy, which backed a department of cutting and tailoring in the girls school of Malakopi. 17 1. Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. 173, Μαλακοπή, Κεφ. Α, Όνομα. Φαρασόπουλος, Σ., Τα Σύλατα: Μελέτη του νομού Ικονίου υπό γεωγραφικήν, φιλολογικήν και εθνολογικήν έποψιν (Athens 1895), p. 61. 2. Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, Ιστορική περιγραφή του εν Βιέννη προεκδοθέντος χωρογραφικού πίνακος της μεγάλης αρχισατραπίας Ικονίου (Constantinople 1815), p. 19. It is not stated with clarity, but probably it is about the Christian population of the settlement. 3. «Στατιστική της Επαρχίας Ικονίου», Ξενοφάνης [Xenofanis] 3 (1905), p. 46. 4. Αντωνόπουλος [Antonopoulos], Σ., Μικρά Ασία (Athens 1907), p. 219. 5. Κοντογιάννης [Kontogiannis], Π., Γεωγραφία της Μικράς Ασίας (Athens 1921), p. 152. 6. Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. 173, Μαλακοπή, Κεφ. Β, Κάτοικοι. 7. Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. 174, Μαλακοπή, Κεφ. Η, Εσωτερική Μορφή του Οικισμού. 8. Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. 174, Μαλακοπή, Μέρος Α, Κεφ. Ι, Σχέσεις Συναλλαγές and Μέρος Β, Κεφ. ΣΤ, Οικονομία. 9. Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. 173, Μαλακοπή, Κεφ. Δ, Δελτία με Ποικίλο Περιεχόμενο. 10. Σολδάτος, Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922) (Athens 1989), vol. II, pp. 87-88. 11. Σολδάτος, Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922) (Athens 1989), vol. I, pp. 76-77. 12. Μαμώνη, Κ., «Η σωματειακή οργάνωση των Ελλήνων της Μικράς Ασίας. Γ : Σύλλογοι της Καππαδοκίας και του Πόντου», Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών 6 (1986-1987), p. 180. 13. Σολδάτος, Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922) (Athens 1989), vol. II, p. 168. 14. «Στατιστική της Επαρχίας Ικονίου», Ξενοφάνης [Xenofanis] 3 (1905), pp. 46-47. 15. Μαμώνη, Κ., «Η σωματειακή οργάνωση των Ελλήνων της Μικράς Ασίας. Γ : Σύλλογοι της Καππαδοκίας και του Πόντου», Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών 6 (1986-1987), p. 180. 16. Σολδάτος, Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922) (Athens 1989), vol. II, p. 220. 17. Σολδάτος, Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922) (Athens 1989), vol. II, p. 220. Δημιουργήθηκε στις 15/10/2017 Σελίδα 3/5
Βιβλιογραφία : Μαμώνη Κ., "Σωματειακή οργάνωση των Ελλήνων της Μικράς Ασίας Γ : Σύλλογοι της Καππαδοκίας και του Πόντου", Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, 6, 1986-7, 155-225 Αντωνόπουλος Σ., Μικρά Ασία, Αθήναι 1907 Κοντογιάννης Π., Γεωγραφία της Μικράς Ασίας. Φυσική σύστασις της χώρας, πολιτική γεωγραφία, φυσικός πλούτος, Αθήναι 1921 Φαρασόπουλος Σ., Τα Σύλατα: Μελέτη του νομού Ικονίου υπό γεωγραφικήν, φιλολογικήν και εθνολογικήν έποψιν, Αθήνα 1895 Σολδάτος Χ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μικράς Ασίας (1800-1922), Α': Η γέννηση και η εξέλιξη των σχολείων, Αθήνα 1989 Κύριλλος πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Ιστορική περιγραφή του εν Βιέννη προεκδοθέντος χωρογραφικού πίνακος της μεγάλης αρχισατραπίας Ικονίου, Κωνσταντινούπολη 1815 Γλωσσάριo : kaymakamlık Ottoman administrative unit that replaced the kaza during the late Ottoman Period, after the administrative reforms of 1864. monitorial system Teaching method developed by Joseph Lancaster, under which the older students (in Greek: protoscholoi ) taught the smaller children some skill or activity. müdir (müdür) Lower official of provincial administration in the late Ottoman Empire, head of a subdistrict (müdirlik). müdürlük Small administrative unit in the late Ottoman Empire, subdistrict of a kaymakamlık, under the jurisdiction of a müdür. muhtar Elected communal official, head of a quarter or a village community. muhtarlık Small administrative unit in the late Ottoman Empire, mostly a quarter or a village, that was under the jurisdiction of a muhtar. mutasarrıflık A medium-sized Ottoman administrative unit that replaced the sancak during the Late Ottoman Period, after the administrative reforms of 1864. tanzimat The 19th-century reforms in the Ottoman Empire, which were inaugurated in 1839 with the edict of Hatt-i Şerif and came to an end with the Constitution of 1876. The reforms, which were considered an effort for the modernization and liberalization of the state, concerned every aspect of the political, social and economic life in the Empire. Of particular importance were the ones that equated legally Muslim and non-muslim subjects. vilayet (valilik) The larger administrative unit in the Ottoman provincial administration system. The large provinces of the Ottoman Empire were previously called eyalet. The new regulation of 1864 introduced the vilayet as an equivalent of the French départment - albeit of smaller size. The governor of the vilayet was called vali and had extensive authority. Πηγές Δημιουργήθηκε στις 15/10/2017 Σελίδα 4/5
Α.Κ.Μ.Σ., ΚΠ. and 173, Μαλακοπή Δημιουργήθηκε στις 15/10/2017 Σελίδα 5/5