Vlachokerasia Explained

Vlachokerasia
Name Local:	Βλαχοκερασιά
Type:	community
Periph:	Peloponnese
Periphunit:	Arcadia
Municipality:	Tripoli
Population As Of:	2021
Population:	385
Elevation:	950
Coordinates:	37.3675°N 44.38°W
Postal Code:	220 16
Area Code:	271
Licence:	TP
Caption Skyline:	House in Vlachokerasia

Vlachokerasia (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Βλαχοκερασιά) is a village in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. According to the 2021 census, it had a population of 385 inhabitants. It is located 22 km from Tripoli and at an altitude of roughly 950 meters, in a region with cherry trees, chestnuts and apple trees, walnuts and plane trees. The numerous water mills serve not only Vlachokerasia but also towns as far as Tegea.

Toponymy

The name Vlachokerasia is a combination of the words Vlach and 'kerasia' (Greek for 'cherry tree'). It is comparable to the nearby village of Kerasia, formerly called Arvanitokerasia (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Αρβανιτοκερασιά), a combination of the words Arvanite and 'kerasia'. Natives refer to Vlachokerasia and Arvanitokerasia as 'western' and 'eastern Kerasia' respectively and some have suggested that the latter part of the name refers to the large amounts of cherry trees found in the area.^[1] The name Vlachokerasia is recorded as early as 1583 as Ivlahikerasya.^[2]

History

Ancient history

A town which dates from antiquity, Vlachokerasia was inhabited by the ancient Skiritai, a people dependent on Sparta and somewhat similar in class to the Perioikoi.^[3] Historical testimonials attest that the ancient name of the village was Oeum, also known as Oion, Ion, or Ium, (Ancient Greek: Οἰόν, Οἶον, Ἰόν). In war, the Skiritai formed a battalion which fought on the left wing of the Spartan army^[4] and, according to the 10th-century Souda consisted of six hundred men, which in wars engaged first and withdrew last.^[5] According to Xenophon, the Skiritai had been dependent on Sparta since before the time of Lycurgus.^[6] Oeum (modern-day Vlachokerasia), being the primary town of the rugged and mountainous Sciritis district, was located on the road between Sparta and Tegea, and thus was strategically important to the Spartans. The findings of archaeological excavations from the area are housed in the nearby Tegea Museum.

Early modern history

Through the early modern period the region of Arcadia and Peloponnesus in general was not well documented. As a part of Arcadia, Vlachokerasia had been in the possession of the Ottoman Empire since the 1460s. In 1661 the peninsula became a province within the empire known as the Eyalet of the Morea. Following the victory of Republic of Venice over the Ottomans in the Morean War in 1688, the peninsula fell into the hands of the Venetians who appointed an Italian governor-general to administer the new Regno di Morea (English: Realm of the Morea'). Morea was divided into four provinces; at this time, Vlachokerasia was under the authority of the district of Tripolizza in the northeastern province of Romania. The Venetians attempted to revitalize the Morean economy and produced a wealth of records which are preserved in the Venetian State Archives. For example, population records such as the census of 1700, undertaken under the direction of governor-general Francesco Grimani, shed light on local demography: in Grimani's 1700 census the village of 'Vlaco Chierasia' was recorded with a population of 200 people in 48 families.^[7] However, an ineffective tithe-collection system alienated the local population and forced large numbers of indebted villagers to flee - within the province of Romania, hundreds of families were recorded fleeing per year.^[8] The unpopularity of the Venetians among the local population meant that when the Ottomans recaputred Morea in 1715, the local population did not resist.

Administrative history

• In 1835, with 289 inhabitants (123 families), Vlachokerasia was designated the seat of the municipality of Manthyrea in the province of Mantineia.^{[9] [10]}
• In 1841, the 18 municipalities of the province of Mantineia were reduced to 9 and the municipality of Manthyreas was abolished. The settlement of Vlachokerasia was merged into the municipality of Kaltezon.^[9]
• In 1869, the settlement was split from the municipality of Kaltezon, and was designated as the seat of the reconstituted municipality of Manthyrea.^{[9] [11]}
• In 1912, it was decided that settlements with more than 300 inhabitants and an elementary school should become independent communities. Therefore, Vlachokerasia detached from the abolished municipality of Manthyreas and became an independent community.^[9]
• In 1997, with the implementation of the Kapodistrias program (law 2539/97), Vlachokerasia was designated as the seat of the newly established municipality of Skyritida.^[9]
• In 2010, with the implementation of the Kallikratis program (law 3852/2010), the municipality of Skyritida was abolished and the settlement was annexed to the municipality of Tripoli.^[9]

Population history

Year	1700	1829	1835	1844	1851	1856	1869	1879	1889	1896	1907	1920	1928	1940	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011	2021
Population	200	497	289	881	965	1097	1100	1383	1440	1509	1633	1482	1576	1576	1211	783	709	676	487	481	414	385
Sources		^[12]		^[13]	^[14]	^[15]		^[16]	^[17]	^[18]	^[19]	^[20]	^[21]	^[22]	^[23]	^[24]	^[25]	^[26]	^[27]	^[28]	^[29]

References

1. "Βλαχοκερασιά: Ιστορικά, Δημογραφικά και Λαογραφικά Στοιχεία". Vlahokerasia Digital Museum. Archived from the original on 23/04/2021.
2. Book: Balta, Evangelia . Population and Agricultural Production in Ottoman Morea . Isis Press . 2015 . Istanbul . 178-180.
3. [Thucydides]
4. [Thucydides]
5. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/615 Suda, sigma, 615
6. [Xenophon]
7. Panagiotopoulos, Vasilis (1985). Πληθυσμός και οικισμοί της Πελοποννήσου, 13ος-18ος αι (in Italian). Athens: Commercial Bank of Greece. p. 244. (Archived 19/04/2023.)
8. Davies . Siriol . 1994 . Tithe-Collection in the Venetian Peloponnese 1696-1705 . The Annual of the British School at Athens . 89 . 452-452 . JSTOR.
9. https://www.eetaa.gr/eetaa/metaboles/oikmet_details.php?id=10522 Βλαχοκερασιά (Αρκαδίας)
10. "ΦΕΚ Α16/1835" (Greek), pp. 104 and 107 (pp. 4 and 7 of the pdf). Published 05/24/1835. Archived 08/30/2018. Retrieved 08/30/2018.
11. "ΦΕΚ 25Α 25/08/1869" (Greek), p. 232 (p. 2 of the pdf). Archived 08/30/2018. Retrieved 08/30/2018.
12. Saint-Vincent, Bory de (1834). Expédition Scientifique de Morée, Section des Sciences Physiques, Géographie (in French). Vol. II. Paris: F. G. Levrault. pp. 92–93.
13. Stamatakis, Ioannis (1846). Πίναξ χωρογραφικός της Ελλάδος, Περιέχων τα Ονόματα, τας Αποστάσεις και τον Πληθυσμόν των Δήμων, Πόλεων Κωμοπόλεων και Χωρίων (in Greek). Athens: G. Vlassaridou. p. 68.
14. Ragavis, Iakovos (1853). Τα Ελληνικά, : ήτοι περιγραφή γεωγραφική, ιστορική, αρχαιολογική και στατιστική της αρχαίας και νέας Ελλάδος (in Greek). Athens: K. Antoniadou. p. 714.
15. http://www.vdm-vlahokerasia.gr/images/docs/population.pdf National Census by Prefecture, Province, and Municipality, 1856. Arkadias.
16. "Πληθυσμός 1879" (Greek), Part three p. 35 (p. 151 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 04/25/2017. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
17. "Πληθυσμός: απογραφή της 15-16 Απριλίου 1889" (Greek), p. 40 (p. 63 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 07/11/2017. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
18. "Στατιστικά αποτελέσματα της απογραφής του πληθυσμού κατά την 5-6 Οκτωβρίου 1896" (Greek), p. 64 (p. 118 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 07/11/2017. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
19. "Στατιστικά αποτελέσματα της γενικής απογραφής του πληθυσμού κατά την 27 Οκτωβρίου 1907" (Greek), p. 387 (p. 390 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 07/11/2017. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
20. "Πληθυσμός του Βασιλείου της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφή της 19 Δεκεμβρίου 1920" (Greek), p. 39 (p. 60 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 07/06/2015. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
21. "Πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφήν της 15-16 Μαϊου 1928" (Greek), p. 44 (p. 64 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 3/4/2016. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
22. "Πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφήν της 16 Οκτωβρίου 1940" (Greek), p. 48 (p. 72 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 4/25/2017. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
23. "Πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογαφήν της 7ης Απριλίου 1951" (Greek), p. 30 (p. 30 of the pdf), from ELSTAT . Archived 3/4/2017. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
24. "Αποτελέσματα της απογραφής πληθυσμού - κατοικιών της 19ης Μαρτίου 1961" (Greek), Table 1, p. 65 (p. 135 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 6/3/2017. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
25. "Πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφήν της 14ης Μαρτίου 1971" (Greek), p. 36 (p. 36 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 10/24/2014. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
26. "Αποτελέσματα απογραφής πληθυσμού - κατοικιών της 5ης Απριλίου 1981" (Greek), p. 198 (p. 198 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 1/8/2018. Retrieved 8/1/2018.
27. "Πραγματικός πληθυσμός της Ελλάδος κατά την απογραφή της 17ης Μαρτίου 1991 κατά νομούς, επαρχίες, δήμους, κοινότητες και οικισμούς" (Greek), p. 40 (p. 42 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 08/20/2017. Retrieved 08/01/2018.
28. "Απογραφή πληθυσμού - κατοικιών της 18ης Μαρτίου 2001" (Greek), p. 104 (p. 106 of the pdf), from ELSTAT. Archived 07/29/2017 . Retrieved 08/01/2018.
29. Web site: Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός . Hellenic Statistical Authority . el .