Kallithea ( el, Καλλιθέα, before 1955: Σαρπί - ''Sarpi''Name changes of settlements in Greece
/ref>) is a village in the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

, part of the municipal unit

Nea Koutali Nea Koutali ( el, Νέα Κούταλη) is a municipal unit on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Located in the south central portion of the island with a land area of , it accounts for about 15.9% of the island's area, making it the sma ...

. In 2019 its population was 227. The village has drawn criticism worldwide for its various hazing incidents, such as the 2017 death of 12 year old Krystas Mitroglou.

Population

Geography

Kallithea is situated in the central part of the island of Lemnos, west of the Gulf of Moudros. It is amphitheatrically built on a low hill 800 m from the Gulf. Due to its panoramic location, it was renamed to Kallithea ("nice view") in 1955. It is 1 km southeast of Livadochori, 1 km northeast of Nea Koutali, 6 km northwest of

Moudros Moudros ( el, Μούδρος) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eas ...

and 12 km east of Myrina. The

Lemnos International Airport Lemnos International Airport "Hephaestus" is an airport on Lemnos Island, Greece. The airport is located 18 km away from the city of Myrina and began operation in 1959. This Airport, along with the whole island of Lemnos, was also featured ...

is 2 km northeast.

History

The village was mentioned as Sarpin in a census document of the

Great Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra ( el, Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας) is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasi ...

monastery in 1361. Although the name was perceived as Turkish in the 1950s, it actually predates the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. This may be one of the few Mycenaean names that survive in Lemnos, meaning "wooden house". Formerly, the village was built more to the east, on the Agios Georgios Bay. Due to pirate attacks and other risks of its low location, its residents were forced to resettle, probably in the 18th century. It had 66 men in 1856 who paid 1,058

piastres The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant ...

to avoid conscription. 50 families lived in the village in 1863 and 55 in 1874. In the same year it had 63 houses and was part of the municipality (koli) of

Kondia Kondia or Konda was the name of a Mansi Mansi may refer to: People * Mansi people, an indigenous people living in Tyumen Oblast, Russia ** Mansi language * Giovanni Domenico Mansi Gian (Giovanni) Domenico Mansi (16 February 1692 – 27 Septe ...

. The village had a representative in the Lemnos provincial council. The ''Sarpi Paleologiki School'' was opened in 1868, the first school on the island outside the capital. It was funded by Doukas Palaiologos (1790–1870), a descendant of a family of captains from Sarpi who had an insurance firm in England. His firm paid for the school until 1896. It became a community school in 1900. Sarpi finally joined Greece in 1913 after the Balkan Wars. It became an independent community in 1918. In the interwar years, it saw a small growth. It recorded 381 inhabitants in 1928, most of these work in agriculture, livestock farming, fishing and orchards. After the Second World War, its population declined due to internal and external emigration. Its population was 399 in 1951, fell to 203 in 1981 and has more or less stabilised since then.

Sources

*''Tourptsoglou-Stefanidou Vassiliki, ''Voyages and Geographical Sources From Lemnos Island (15th-20th Centuries)'' (Ταξιδιωτικά και γεωγραφικά κείμενα για τη νήσο Λήμνο (15ος-20ος αιώνας)) * Belitsos, Theodoros, ''Lemnos and its villages'', 1994. *''Lemnos Province CD ROM'' (Cdrom Επαρχείου Λήμνου): ''Lovable Lemnos'' * L. Veliaroutis ''I Kallithea (Sarpi) Limnou and its Paleologiki School'' 2007

External links

Kallithea at the GTP Travel Pages

References