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Syvota Σύβοτα
Municipal unit
View of Syvota.
SyvotaLocation within the regional unit
Coordinates: 39°24′N 20°15′E / 39.400°N 20.250°E / 39.400; 20.250
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Epirus
Regional unit	Thesprotia
Municipality	Igoumenitsa
Area
• Municipal unit	72.4 km (28.0 sq mi)
Population
• Municipal unit	2,693
• Municipal unit density	37/km (96/sq mi)
• Community	1,089
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Vehicle registration	ΗΝ

Syvota (Greek: Σύβοτα, pronounced [ˈsivota], before 1927: Βώλια - Volia, 1927-1940: Μούρτος - Mourtos) is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 72.439 km. The population in 2021 was 1,089 for the village, and 2,693 for the municipal unit. The municipal unit has four main settlements: Syvota, Argyrotopos, Faskomilia, and Plataria. The seat of the municipality was in Plataria.

History

The earliest recorded inhabitants of the region are the Thesprotians, a Greek tribe of Epirus. In antiquity, the location was called Sybota and was the site of the Battle of Sybota. During the Middle Ages, Syvota, like the rest of Epirus, was part of the Byzantine Empire and the Despotate of Epirus, the Republic of Venice and in the 15th century it became part of the Ottoman Empire. The first local Muslims of Syvota are recorded in Arvenitsa and Nista as early as 1613.

It became part of Greece in 1913, following the Balkan Wars, and was previously used as an Ottoman naval base during the Greek War of Independence.

Like all other Muslim Cham Albanian communities, the population was affected by the annexation of the region by Greece and many left the area. In 1913, the population of Arvenitsa (Albanian: Arvenicë) dropped from 439 to 389, Mourtos (Albanian: Murto or Vola) from 970 to 659 and Nista (Albanian: Nistë) from 511 to 358. The Chams of Plataria (Albanian: Pllatare) were designated by Greece for expulsion to Turkey in 1925. Albania protested against the plan in the League of Nations. A further wave of emigration towards Turkey is documented in Mourtos in 1932 and Arvenitsa (renamed to Argyrotopos in 1928) in 1934. Greece settled Greek Orthodox refugees from Turkey in Mourtos after 1922, following the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. By 1926, there were 30 refugee families from Turkey in Arvenitsa, 90 in Nista, 5 in Plataria, 150 in Mourtos. Albanian was taught again for Albanian children in the region in Nista (renamed to Faskomilia in 1928) as of 1936.

The Chams of Syvota lived in the village until 1944, when they were expelled for collaborating with the Axis Powers. During the short term Italian occupation in Syvota (early November 1940) the village was burnt by Cham Albanian bands and Italian troops.

In Polyneri (Albanian: Kuç, renamed to Polyneri in 1955), a tiny Muslim Cham community resides, and until recently, the last imam in Epirus lived in this village. The mosque was blown up by a Christian villager during the Regime of the Colonels.

Today, Syvota town is a well-developed resort, owing largely to the numerous pristine beaches with clear waters located on several islets immediately offshore.

Population

See also

• Battle of Sybota

References

1. ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
2. "Πανδέκτης: Volia -- Mourtos". pandektis.ekt.gr. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
3. Name changes of settlements in Greece
4. "ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
5. ^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece.
6. Balta, Oğuz & Yaşar 2011, p. 364.
7. Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους. Vol. ΙΒ’. Athens: Εκδοτική Αθηνών. 1975. p. 243.
8. ^ Isufi 2002, p. 404
9. Baltsiotis 2009, p. 182.
10. Baltsiotis 2009, p. 249.
11. "Pandektis: Arvenitsa -- Argyrotopos". pandektis.ekt.gr.
12. Baltsiotis 2009, p. 367.
13. Baltsiotis 2009, p. 253.
14. Baltsiotis 2009, pp. 354–56.
15. Vickers, Miranda and Pettifer, James. The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans. I.B. Tauris, 2007, ISBN 1-86064-974-2, p. 238.
16. Manta, Eleftheria (2009). "The Cams of Albania and the Greek State (1923–1945)". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 29 (4): 6. doi:10.1080/13602000903411424. S2CID 144176577. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
17. Baltsiotis. The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece. 2011. "One of the last acts of the“cleansing of history” is the blowing up of the mosque at the village of Polyneri (ex-Koutsi,) by a (Christian) villager, during the time of the Colonels’ Dictatorship.147 A tiny Muslim community and, until recently, the last imam of Epirus still survive in this village."
18. Μιχάλης Κοκολάκης, Η τουρκική στατιστική της Ηπείρου στο Σαλναμέ του 1895, στο Τετράδια Εργασίας, τεύχος 18, Κέντρο Νεοελληνικών Ερευνών, Αθήνα 2008, σελ 310.
19. "Βασίλειον της Ελλάδος, Υπουργείον Εθνικής Οικονομίας, Διεύθυνσις Στατιστικής, Απαρίθμησις των κατοίκων των νέων επαρχιών της Ελλάδος" (PDF). dlib.statistics.gr. 1913. p. 69. Retrieved 2 August 2015. (in Greek)
20. ^ Μιχαήλ Σταματελάτος - Φωτεινή Βάμβα-Σταματελάτου, Επίτομο Γεωγραφικό Λεξικό της Ελλάδος, Ερμής, Αθήνα 2001, σ. 724.
21. Kingdom of Greece - Ministry of National Economy - Hellenic Statistical Authority (1950). Πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφήν της 16 Οκτωβρίου 1940 (PDF) (in Greek). Athens: National Printing Office. p. 155.
22. Στατιστικά στοιχεία δ. Συβότων (in Greek)
23. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority.

Sources

• Balta, Evangelia; Oğuz, Mustafa; Yaşar, Filiz (2011). "Εthnic and Religious Composition of Ottoman Thesprotia in the 15th to 17th centuries". In Forsén, Björn; Tikkala, Esko (eds.). Thesprotia Expedition II. Environment and Settlement Patterns. Foundation of the Finnish Institute at Athens. ISBN 978-952-67211-2-5.
• Baltsiotis, Lambros (2009). The Muslim Chams from their entry into the Greek state until the start of the Greco-Italian war (1913-1940): the story of a community from millet to nation [Οι μουσουλμάνοι Τσάμηδες από την είσοδό τους στο ελληνικό κράτος μέχρι την έναρξη του ελληνοϊταλικού πολέμου (1913–1940): η ιστορία μιας κοινότητας από το millet στο έθνος] (Thesis). University of Panteion.
• Isufi, Hajredin (2002). Musa Demi dhe qëndresa çame: 1800-1947. Botime Dudaj. ISBN 9992750103.

• Populated places in Thesprotia
• Igoumenitsa
• Former Cham settlements