Merbaka ( ( n.) or (m.)) is a village and local community of the municipal unit of Midea, in the municipality of

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

, in the regional unit of

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese penin ...

, in the Peloponnese region.

Name

Merbaka is the village's traditional name, but officially it is called ''Agia Trias'' () in

Katharevousa Katharevousa (, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contemporary vernacular, Demotic ...

, or in

Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used t ...

). The village was officially renamed on December 29, 1953, in keeping with a broader program of Hellenization of geographical names in Greece. While the village was considered historically to be inhabited by

Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

who speak

Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika was brought to Southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by Alb ...

, today it is considered more assimilated, in comparison to the Arvanitika villages of Midea and Manesis. Merbaka is thought to have been named for

William of Moerbeke William of Moerbeke, Dominican Order, O.P. (; ; 1215–35 – 1286), was a prolific medieval translator of philosophical, medical, and scientific texts from Greek into Latin, enabled by the period of Latin Empire, Latin rule of the Byzanti ...

, a 13th-century

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

and

Philhellene Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron, Charles Nicolas Fabvier and Richard Church to a ...

from

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. A roughly contemporaneous Byzantine-Gothic Church of the

Dormition of the Mother of God The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the '' Theotokos'' ("Mother ...

(, popularly known as Παναγία της Βούζης, ''Panagia tis Bouzis'', "Our Lady of Bouzis") in the village may have been built under his auspices.Prof. Gary Reger, ''An Athenian Diary'' Retrieved May 10, 2010. The church's popular name is held to have come from a prominent

Lemnian The Lemnian language was spoken on the island of Lemnos, Greece, in the second half of the 6th century BC. It is mainly attested by an inscription found on a funerary stele, termed the Lemnos stele, discovered in 1885 near Kaminia. Fragments of ...

family of landowners who donated the land for a mediaeval monastery nearby; their name and social position is attested by contemporaneous documents with the seal of

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...

. The monastery was sited further inland from its existing twin, the Monastery of Areias near

– popularly known as "The Holy Mountain" — to protect the monks and ecclesiastical property from piratical raiding. Merbaka's official name likely stems from the inclusion of three "saints" on a re-used Classical pediment on the thirteenth-century church: villagers likely interpreted these figures as a representation of the Holy Trinity, and unofficially renamed the church to reflect this; in time, the name was applied to the new church, and later, to the village itself. The older church includes other recycled antiquities like a Roman dedication, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, to

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (c. 114 BC – late 50s BC) was a politically active member of the Roman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death. He was consul in 69 BC along with Quintus Hortensius Hortal ...

, a Roman

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

in Greece who was noted for his suppression of piracy.

History

From the end of the Sixth Ottoman-Venetian War to 1770, when it was attacked by bandits, Merbaka was the seat of the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Metropolis of Nauplion and Argolis, due to the Venetian imposition of a

bishop at Argos. Orologion merbaka

The modern church of the Holy Trinity, first erected in 1898, was torn down and rebuilt in 1934.The Reverend Oeconomos Anastasios Salapatas, Μέρμπακα: Η Εκκλησία της Αγίας Τριάδο�

18 September 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2010. A plaque on the front of the belltower says that the clock was donated in 1952. Merbaka is part of the municipal unit of Midea. According to the 2001 Greek

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the village had a population of 1,267 inhabitants. Before the ''Kapodistrias'' plan, and the ''Kallikratis'' Programme, the village was part of the Nafplia Province in the nome (

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

) of

, in the geographic region of the Peloponnese.

Notable people

* Theofanis Tombras - former general manager of OTE and alleged participant in the "Koskotas scandal", for which he was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

; born in Merbaka, he became engaged in the fruit-processing business in Argolis, which continued after his retirement from public life

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Argolis Nafplion Arvanite settlements