Markos Botsaris
Markos Botsaris ( el, Μάρκος Μπότσαρης c. 1788 – 21 August 1823) was a chieftain of the Souliotes and hero of the Greek War of Independence, and general of the Greek army.Brigands with a Cause, Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece 1821–1912, by John S. Koliopoulos, Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1987. p. 53. He played a key role in relieving the First Siege of Missolonghi in 1822–1823 and was awarded the title of General of Western Greece by the revolutionary Greek government. He was killed during the Battle of Karpenisi and was buried in Missolonghi with full honors. Today Botsaris is among the most revered national heroes in Greece. Family and early life (1788–1820) Botsaris was born into one of the leading clans of the Souliotes, the Botsaris ( el, Μποτσαραίοι, sq, Boçari) in the region of Souli, Epirus.Katherine Elizabeth Fleming''The Muslim Bonaparte: diplomacy and orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece'' Princeton University Press, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Souli
Souli ( el, Σούλι) is a municipality in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town of Paramythia. Name and History The origin of the name Souli is uncertain. In the earliest historical text about Souli, written by Christoforos Perraivos in 1803, an oral tradition of the locals is recorded. According to this, the first settlers of Souli were shepherds who came from a village called Gardiki trying to avoid the Ottoman oppression. A certain Muslim ("Turk" in the text) named Soulis attempted to expel the early Souliotes from there but the latter resisted with arms. In the battle they killed Soulis and since then the area was named Souli. Another theory suggests that the name comes from Albanian and means 'mountain summit'. The municipality owes its name to the villages of Souli that are located in the southern part of this region. Those villages were originally settled by the Souliotes, a warlike Orthodox community who sought refuge in the mountaino ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Karpenisi
The Battle of Karpenisi took place near the town of Karpenisi (in Evrytania, central Greece) on the night of 21 August 1823, between units of the Greek revolutionary army and Ottoman troops. Background After the Ottoman failures of 1822, the Sultan Mahmud II devised a plan of invading Greece in 1823. An army was destined to invade Peloponnese not by the eastern side of Central Greece, but by its west side and Patras. The leadership of this expedition was taken over by the pasha of Shkodër, Mustafa Bushati. Mustafa assembled his army at Ohrid, and it consisted of 10,000 Albanian mercenaries (according to others there were 8,000 or 13,000). During July, the Ottoman forces headed south, but instead of following the direct road, from Ioannina to Missolonghi, they moved diagonally, arrived at Trikala, continued their march through Pindus, and encamped at Karpenisi. Woodhouse Montague, ''The War of Greek Independence'', pp. 130-131, 1952, Publications ''Papadopoulos'' (Greek ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Botsaris (clan Leader)
Philadelphia's Greek Mob, also known as the Philadelphia Greek Mafia or simply the Greek Mafia, are a low-profile criminal organization of ethnic Greek Americans in Philadelphia with alleged connections to the Italian Philadelphia crime family and the Greek Velentzas crime family of New York city. History The Greek Mob was formed in southern Greece by the original boss Steve Pattakos. Pattakos also had strong ties with the Karakostas and Efthimiades families of Macedonia in Northern Greece. When the Karakostas family was run out of power in the 1960s, Pattakos decided to move his operations to the culturally diverse America. When Pattakos was sentenced to jail to serve life for murder, mobster Chelsais "Steve" Bouras of Upper Northeast Philadelphia took over. Throughout the 1970s until 1981, Bouras headed the Greek Mob in Philadelphia, participating in mostly loansharking, extortion, methamphetamine trade, and illegal gambling. Bouras directed the mob efficiently, and he carr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Donatus Of Euroea
Saint Donatus of Euroea ( sq, Shën Dhonati, el, Άγιος Δονάτος) was a Greek saint, who is revered in both by both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics, mostly in Albania and Greece. Donatus was born in Euroea, Epirus Vetus (northwestern Greece) and lived during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I. According to the 5th-century historian Sozomen, Saint Donatus was Bishop of Euroea, identifiable with Glyko in Epirus, Greece. The saint is said to have accomplished several miracles, such as successfully fighting a dragon, purifying well waters, saving the emperors' daughter, and reviving the dead. Saint Donatus of Butrint died in 387 and his remains were transferred to Kassiopi in Corfu in 602 in order to be saved from barbarian invasions. However this led to a problem of jurisdiction and custody for the holy relics, which was resolved by Pope Gregory I. Donatus's cult was widespread in the Middle Ages. His feast day is April 30. Umbriatico Cathedral in Calabria in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paramythia
Paramythia ( el, Παραμυθιά) is a town and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus (region), Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 342.197 km2. The town's population is 2,730 as of the 2011 census. Paramythia acts as a regional hub for several small villages in the Valley of Paramythia and features shops, schools, a gym, a stadium and a medical center. Primary aspects of the economy are agriculture and trade. The town is built on the slopes of Mount Gorilla and overlooks the valley, below. The Castle of Paramythia was built on a hill in one of the highest points of the town during the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period and today is open to tourists. The modern Egnatia Odos (modern road), Egnatia Highway which links Igoumenitsa with Ioannina, goes through the valley, north of the town of Paramythia. Name During the Byzantine and m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich Kiepert, 1902 , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Present status , subdivision_name = Divided between Greece and Albania [Baidu]   |
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National Heroes
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero'' is often used to refer to any gender, though ''heroine'' only refers to women. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of glory and honor. Post-classical and modern heroes, on the other hand, perform great deeds or selfless acts for the common good instead of the classical goal of wealth, pride, and fame. The antonym of ''hero'' is ''villain''. Other terms associated with the concept of ''hero'' may include ''good guy'' or ''white hat''. In classical literature, the hero is the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through ancient legends of a people, often striving for military conquest and living by a continually flawed personal honor code. The definition of a hero has changed thr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albanian Language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe and Oceania. With about 7.5 million speakers, it comprises an independent branch within the Indo-European languages and is not closely related to any other modern Indo-European language. Albanian was first attested in the 15th century and it is a descendant of one of the Paleo-Balkan languages of antiquity. For historical and geographical reasons,: "It is often thought (for obvious geographic reasons) that Albanian descends from ancient Illyrian (see above), but this cannot be ascertained as we know next to nothing about Illyrian itself." the prevailing opinion among modern historians and linguists is that the Albanian language is a descendant of a southern Illyrian dialect spoken in much the same region in classical times. Alternativ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greek Language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting impo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kostas Botsaris
Kostas (Kitsos) Botsaris ( el, Κώστας (Κίτσος) Μπότσαρης, it, Costa Bozzari, c. 1792–1853), also known as Constantine Botzaris, was a Greek general and senator. He was also a captain and a hero of the War of Greek Independence. He fought at the Battle of Karpenisi and completed the victory of his brother, the renowned Markos Botsaris. Early life Kosta Botsaris was born in 1792 near Paramythia. Greek War of Independence In 1803 Kostas Botsaris and the remnants of the Souliotes crossed over to the Ionian Islands, where they ultimately took service in the French-raised Albanian Regiment. In 1814, he joined the Greek patriotic society known as the ''Filiki Eteria''. In 1820, he fought to the end on Ali Pasha's side against the Ottoman army. On the night of 21 August 1823 Kostas, under the leadership of his brother Markos participated in the celebrated attack on Karpenisi by 350 Souliotes, against around 1000 Ottoman troops who formed the vanguard of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kitsos Botsaris
Kitsos Botsaris (; 1741 in Missolonghi – 1813, in Arta), was a leader of the Souliotes, an autonomous community in Ottoman-ruled Epirus. He played a leading role in the aftermath of the last war between the Souliotes and the Ottoman ruler of Ioannina, Ali Pasha. He was the father of Kostas Botsaris and Markos Botsaris, who fought in the Greek War of Independence. At the war against Ali Pasha K. Botsaris was a prominent figure of the ''Botsaris'' (or ''Botzaraioi'') Souliotic clan, who originated from ''Dragani'', or else ''Ampelia'' village, south of Paramythia. He was the head of the Souliotes during the wars against Ali Pasha at the end of 18th century. In 1792 Ali Pasha planned a second expedition against Souli. He tried to deceive and arrest the Souli warriors, pretending that he is going to attack Argyrokastro and he needs their assistance. Ali sent a letter to K. Botsari written in Greek, which was published in its entirety by W. Eton in 1799: :“''My friends Captain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |