Kefalovryso (Greek:Κεφαλόβρυσο, ) is a village in Trikala regional unit,

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 ...

. In 2021 Kefalovryso had a population of 777. It is located 7 kilometers northwest of

Trikala Trikala () is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios. According to the Greek Natio ...

in the

Thessalian Plain The Thessalian plain () is the dominant geographical feature of the Greek region of Thessaly. The plain is formed by the Pineios River and its tributaries and is surrounded by mountains: the Pindus mountain range to the west, which separates The ...

and close to the river Pineios.

Population

Early history (1163-1881)

Kefalovryso's initial name was Mertzi or literally Mertzion (Greek: Μέρτζι/Μέρτζιον). The word Mertzi -by olders sometimes still in use as Mertsi- probably derives from the old Slavic word ''мрч'', which means dark/black and might refer to the dark color of the soil. The first official reference to Mertzi is in an 1163 document of the Holy Bishopric of Stagai, and it is again found in several 14th-century monastic property deeds. Mertzion, just like all

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

, was initially part of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. In 1204, after the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, Thessaly was assigned to Boniface of Montferrat and in 1225 was conquered by

Theodore Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas (, ''Theodōros Komnēnos Doukas;'' Latinized as Theodore Comnenus Ducas; died 1253) or Theodore Angelos Komnenos was the ruler of Epirus and Thessaly from 1215 to 1230 and of Thessalonica and most of Macedonia and we ...

, ruler of

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. From 1271 to 1318 it was an independent despotate that extended to

Acarnania Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...

and

Aetolia Aetolia () is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia from Acarnania to the west; on ...

, run by a branch of the Epirote Komnenos Doukas dynasty. In 1309 the

Almogavars Almogavars (; ; ; ; originally ) is the name of a class of light infantry soldier originated in the Crown of Aragon used in the later phases of the Reconquista, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving fr ...

of the

Catalan Company The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (; , , , or ) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian b ...

of the East (''Societas Catalanorum Magna'') settled there for a time. Later it was occupied by the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

until 1393, when it fell under Ottoman rule. In 1821 Thessaly participated in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. In 1823 during the Greek Revolution, one of the important battles took place near the village. On the 8th of August

Markos Botsaris Markos Botsaris (; 1790 – 21 August 1823) was a Souliot chieftain, general of the Greek revolutionary army and hero of the Greek War of Independence.Brigands with a Cause, Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece 1821–1912, by John ...

with 450 fighters from

Souli Souli () 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 ...

attacked the Turkish forefront and killed many of them. But eventually they did not become part of independent Greece until 1881. Today there is a monument dedicated to Markos Botsaris in the village.

Recent history (since 1881)

When Thessaly joined Greece in 1881, Mertzion, with 450 inhabitants, became part of the municipality of

till 1912, when it became an autonomous community as Mertsi-Mikro Community. The newly formed community also included the settlements of Lesteno (now Dipotamos) and Rongia. In 1919 Lesteno and Rongia were extracted from the community of Mikro Mertsi and formed the community of Lesteno. In 1924 the Mikro Mertsi community was renamed into Kefalovryso Community. The modern name of the village is Kefalovryso (derived from ''kefali''=head, main and ''vrysi''=spring, fountain).

Myth

According to the unwritten tradition, the modern name comes from a brigand who was active in the region around

Metsovo Metsovo (; ) is a town in Epirus (region), Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east. The largest centre of Aromanians, Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large regio ...

. He used to throw his loot into a stream that led from Metsovo, and let the current carry them to the lake near Mertsi, where his aide gathered them, thus avoiding any checks by the Gendarmerie. One day however a villager saw his aide returning laden from the lake, and notified the gendarmes. They then seized the brigand, cut off his head and threw it into the stream, whereupon his aide found it in the lake. Since 1999, the village has been a municipal department of the Municipality of Faloreia, also being its seat until November 2010. After the prefectural elections of November 2010 the village has become a part of the Municipality of the town of Trikala.

Economy

The Kefalovryso residents are mainly occupied in the field of agriculture, particularly in the production of corn, wheat and cotton. Many of them are also working in the nearby city of Trikala in a variety of private enterprises or as civil servants. A few are also working in the iron and timber factories of Kefalovryso.

Sports

Kefalovryso is the home of amateur football club A.O. Kefalovrysou, currently participating in the 3rd division of Trikala Amateur Football Championships. The club was founded in 1974 and its major achievement is the participation in the 1st division. In the past few years a basketball club named A.S.K. Faloreia was also founded in Kefalovryso and is currently participating in the Trikala Amateur Basketball Divisions.

Notable people

Evangelos Averoff Evangelos Averoff-Tossizza (Greek: Ευάγγελος Αβέρωφ Τοσίτσας) (Trikala, 17 April 1910 – Athens, 2 January 1990) was a Greek politician, leader of the New Democracy party (1981–1984), member of parliament, and author. ...

, Politician, born in Kefalovryso in 1910 * Jorgo Papavassiliou, Film director in Germany, origin from Kefalovryso

References

{{Trikala div Trikala Populated places in Trikala (regional unit)