Vourvoura ( el, Βούρβουρα) is a village in the municipal unit of

Skiritida Skiritida ( el, Σκιρίτιδα, before 2001: Σκυρίτιδα - ''Skyritida'') is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. It was formed at the 1997 Kapodistrias reform; the seat of the municipality was in Vlachokerasia. Since ...

, Arcadia,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It is situated in the northwestern part of the

Parnon Parnon or Parnonas ( el, Πάρνων/Πάρνωνας) or Malevos (Μαλεβός) is a mountain range, or massif, on the east of the Laconian plain and the Evrotas valley. It is visible from Athens above the top of the Argive mountains. The we ...

mountains, at 1,000 m above sea level. In 2011, it had a population of 252. It is 5 km west of Agios Petros, 5 km north of

Karyes Karyes (Greek: Καρυές, before 1930: Αράχωβα - ''Arachova'') is a village of the Peloponnese peninsula, which is located in the southern part of Greece. The Peloponnese is made up of a number of states and Karyes belongs to the state ...

( Laconia) and 22 km southeast of Tripoli.

History

Ottoman Vourvoura

Vourvoura was founded sometime between 1600 and 1620. In 1715 Vourvoura was looted and pillaged by the Ottomans due to a high number of

klephts Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were kno ...

residing in Vourvoura. Vourvoura was liberated in early February 1770 by Greek rebels during the Orlov revolt. The Ottomans managed to reclaim Vourvoura and suppress the Orlov revolt on 17 June 1771.

Liberation of Vourvoura

The Greek war of independence began on 25 March 1821, and on 28 March 1821 a group of 40 soldiers defeated the five Turkish soldiers stationed at Vourvoura and liberated the village.

Greek Vourvoura

In 1822 three families escaped from

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

and fled to Vourvoura due to the

Chios massacre The Chios massacre (in el, Η σφαγή της Χίου, ) was a catastrophe that resulted to the death, enslavement, and refuging of about four-fifths of the total population of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops, during the ...

. In 1863 the Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Βουρβούρων was founded in Vourvoura. In 1917 the first car was brought to Vourvoura. In 1940 106 male

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

from Vouvoura volunteered to fight for the fatherland in the

Greco Italian war Greco may refer to: People * Greco (surname), a list of people with this surname * a masculine variant of Greca (given name), an Italian feminine given name * Greco Mafia clan, one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria Wi ...

. In 1941 life was tough as

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

had defeated

in the Battle of Greece and Germany sent

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

soldiers to Vourvorua to keep watch and occupy the village. Food and water were nowhere to be to found as the Germans and Italians confiscated and stole food out of houses and created a famine for Greece. When the Italians surrendered in 1943 the Germans came and killed anyone they saw on the streets including 80-year-old men and 6-year-old children. The Germans also burnt and destroyed houses and crops. The worst to happen was on 26th and 27th of June 1944 where the Germans killed 39 people. The day afterward, the Germans retreated from Vourvoura because the Allies had reached

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

. From the years 1946-1949 Vourvoura was embroiled in a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between royalists and communists, in which members of the communist andartes were hiding in Vourvoura and fighting in the nearby mountains. In 2011 Vouvoura was merged into the

municipality.

Population

Notable people

Sam Panopoulos Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos ( el, Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος; 20 August 1934 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of Hawaiian pizza. Early life Sotirios Panopoulos was born in Vourvoura ...

(1934-2017), inventor of the

Hawaiian pizza Hawaiian pizza is a pizza originating in Canada, and is traditionally topped with pineapple, tomato sauce, cheese, and either ham or bacon. History Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian, created the first Hawaiian pizza at the Satellite Res ...

, in Chatam, ON. * Charalambos Zouras, an Olympian during the 1896 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

Vourvoura at the GTP Travel Pages
at the

University of Patras The University of Patras (UPatras; el, Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών, ''Panepistímio Patrón'') is a public university in Patras, Greece. It is the third-largest university in Greece with respect to the size of the student body, the s ...

's Arcadia and Historic Arcadia section {{Authority control Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese