Vourgareli ( el, Βουργαρέλι) is a Greek village in
Arta prefecture. It is located in the north-east of Arta prefecture, built at a height of 900 meters in the slope of
Tzoumerka
Tzoumerka ( el, Τζουμέρκα) is a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality North Tzoumerka, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit ...
Mountains. The village is the seat of
Central Tzoumerka
Central Tzoumerka ( el, Κεντρικά Τζουμέρκα) is a municipality in the Arta regional unit, Epirus, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Vourgareli. The municipality has an area of 509.231 km2. The municipality is na ...
municipality and
Athamania municipal unit. Its population is 301 inhabitants according to 2011 census.
The symbol and monument of the village is the
Red Church.
History
Vourgareli is initially referred in a
Venetian document of 1696. The derivation of this name is unknown. It is believed that it derives from local lumberjack named Vourgarelis or from
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
lumberjacks that were settled in this area in the past.
In the late of 18th century the
Souliote chieftain
Giorgos Botsaris and other 170 Souliote families were settled in Vourgareli. After the fall of
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 b ...
to
Ali Pasha in 1803 many Souliotes fled to
Seltsou Monastery and fought with the Turks. Most were captured and only few managed to escape.
[
The last years of ]Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
the area of the village was a fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
of a Turk, named Abram Karakehaya. After the annexation of Arta to Greece in 1881, the residents of Vourgareli bought the fief, paying 4.416 Ottoman lira
The lira (sign: LT) was the currency of Ottoman Empire between 1844 when it was replaced by the Turkish lira. The Ottoman lira remained in circulation until the end of 1927, as the republic was not in a position to issue its own banknotes yet in ...
s. A local rich landholder, named Karapanos, helped to gather the money, in exchange for the exploitation of this area for 40 years.
During the Greek Resistance, the headquarters of the Greek guerrilla group EDES
The National Republican Greek League ( el, Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος (ΕΔΕΣ), ''Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos'' (EDES)) was one of the major resistance groups formed during t ...
was established in Vourgareli. The Germans bombed the village on 5 May 1943.[
]
Historical population
Places of interest
*Red Church (κόκκινη εκκλησία): A Byzantine church, built in 1281.
*Saint George Monastery (Μονή Αγίου Γεωργίου): Old monastery, built at the beginnings of 18th century.
References
External links
Site about the village
{{Central Tzoumerka div
Populated places in Arta (regional unit)