Anthousa (), known before 1927 as Rapeza () is a village in the municipality of

Parga Parga (, , ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza in Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on ...

, Preveza regional unit 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 ...

, in western

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 its population was 673 for the community, which also includes the village Trikorfo. Anthousa is situated 3 km northwest of the town Parga, under a Turkish castle on a hill, attributed to Ali Pasha. Remains and coins of the ancient city of Elaia have been found near the village.

History

Tombs of the Hellenistic and Roman era have been unearthed in the area of the municipal unit of Anthousa. In the 12th century the monastery of Virgin Mary of

Vlacherna Vlacherna () is a village and a former municipality in the Arta regional unit, Epirus, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land bo ...

was erected. Traces of a Venetian garrison are also visible. In 1814 Anthousa was plundered by units of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha and the local inhabitants fled to the nearby Parga. Ali Pasha then built a castle over Anthousa in order to plan a siege of Parga. Anthousa was one of the Christian

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

-speaking villages (),), which either due to the absence of Greek or for reasons of demographic importance, would see Greek education expanded through measures such as the establishment of kindergartens.Baltsiotis. ''The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece''. 2011. "Parallel measures were taken at the same time regarding the language in Christian Albanian speaking villages. The most important and easily confirmed measure consisted of opening kindergartens in villages selected either by the absence of knowledge of Greek or by their demographic importance. According to a 1931 document, these villages included Aghia, Anthoussa, Eleftheri Kanallaki, Narkissos, Psakka, Aghios Vlassios, Kastri (Dagh) and Draghani." In Anthousa and also

Kanallaki Kanallaki (, ) is a settlement in the regional unit of Preveza, Epirus in northwestern Greece. It belongs to the municipality of Parga and is simultaneous the seat of it. The number of inhabitants of the town amounts to 2,542 (2021). History Ka ...

, the closest existing variants of Souliotic Albanian are spoken. This dialect is spoken only by few people in modern times.

Population

References

Sources

* * ** {{Parga Populated places in Preveza (regional unit) Parga Albanian communities in Greece