Exarchos is a village in

Phthiotis Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece. The capital is the city of La ...

prefecture, central

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is located in the southern part of Phthiotis, in

Locris Locris (; ; ) was a region of ancient Greece, the homeland of the Locrians, made up of three distinct districts. Locrian tribe The city of Locri in Calabria (Italy), also known in antiquity as "Epizephyrian Locris", was a colony founded by the ...

, 18 km west of

Atalanti Atalanti ( ''Atalantē'') is the second largest town in Phthiotis, Greece. It is located southeast of Lamia (city), Lamia, north of Livadeia and northwest of Chalcis. In 2011, it was incorporated into the municipality of Lokroi (mu ...

. The village is located on the slope of Mount Chlomo at a height of about 300 meters. Its population is 524 inhabitants according to 2021 census. Exarchos belongs to Lokroi municipality. Most of the inhabitants of Exarchos are engaged in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The wider area of the village consists of agricultural lands and the majority of crops include

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and

cereals A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, suc ...

History

Near Exarchos, there are the ancient

Phocian Phocis was an ancient region in the central part of ancient Greece, which included Delphi. A modern administrative unit, also called Phocis, is named after the ancient region, although the modern region is substantially larger than the ancient o ...

cities (

Polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

)

Abae Abae (, ') was an ancient town in the northeastern corner of ancient Phocis, in Greece, near the frontiers of the Opuntian Locrians, said to have been built by the Argive Abas, son of Lynceus and Hypermnestra, and grandson of Danaus. This bit ...

and

Hyampolis Hyampolis (Ὑάμπολις ''Iabolis'') was a city in ancient Phocis, Greece. A native of this city was called a ''Hyampolites''. Some ancient authors record that the city was also called simply ''Hya''. Mythology and situation In the ancient tr ...

. The cities flourished during

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times. Ruins of these cities are located in the north and west of Exarchos. The date of depopulation of two cities isn't known. Likely, it happened the late Roman period or the early Byzantine. The today village Exarchos was built after the dereliction of the ancient cities. The name possibly derived from someone

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

, a bishop of the eastern churches. However, inhabitants of the village suggest that the name comes from a time when the present site of the village was chosen as a place to amalgamate 6 villages in the area. Prior to its present name, it was called "Bogdanou" or "Vogdháni". Likely it was for a while an episcopal see. Near the village there are several churches from 13th century and later that show the continuous habitation of the area until now. Today, Exarchos is a small agricultural village, part of the Lokroi municipality.

Archeological Findings

Excavations carried out in the area of Exarchos confirm the fact that the ancient city of Ava was located there. The most important archaeological finds come from tombs in this area and are kept in the Archaeological Museum of Atalanta. Equally important is the finding of a tombstone from Roman times, which represents an androgynous in frontal position and a balanced arrangement with two children. This tombstone is now housed in the museum of Thebes . The acropolis of Abes, according to the excavations, is located in Smixi, southwest of Exarchos. In addition, relics of Middle Helladic buildings were found there, as well as a number of stone tools, clay flywheels, a copper plate and a beetle-shaped vessel made of ash clay.

Local customs and events

Interesting carnival events exist on Halloween with folk events based on current topics. During the summer months, the Exarchos cultural association "Yampolis" mainly organizes theatrical performances as well as dance nights with live music and dance clubs from all over Greece. The village festival takes place on May 10. In the area of Exarchos there are 9 churches and chapels: Saint Nikolaos (famous church with exceptional frescoes of the 12th century outside the settlement that operates on the Sunday of Thomas), Saint George in the central square of the village, Saint Ioannis north of the settlement, Panagia north of the central square, Panagia whose memory is celebrated on the Friday after Easter (Zoodochou Pigis), Metamorphosis tou Sotiros, Ag. Brigadiers, Agios Georgios, Saints Taxiarches, and Agios Athanasios.

Historical population

Places of interest

, archaeological site near Exarchos. *

, archaeological site near Exarchos. *Church of Agios Nikolaos, an old church of 13th century.

References

External links

{{Lokroi div Populated places in Phthiotis Lokroi (municipality)