Zarko (Greek: Ζάρκο, also: ''Zarkos'') is a village in the

Farkadona Farkadona (, ; before 1955: Τσιότι, , ) is a municipality in the southeastern Trikala regional unit, part of Thessaly in Greece. It is located about halfway between the cities Larissa to the east, and Trikala to the west, at about 30 km ...

municipality, 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 ...

. Zarko had a population of 957 in 2021. Zarko is located on the edge of 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 ...

, 5 km east of Farkadona proper, and 25 km west of

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

Population

History

Zarko's initial name was ''Fayttos'' (Φαϋττός), however still it is not clear at which exactly point the name changed to ''Zarko''. The name Fayttos reflects the ancient town of

Phayttos Phayttos () was a town in Pelasgiotis, ancient Thessaly, closely set with Atrax and Larissa. An inscription to Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderne ...

that was located within the bounds of the town. There is also much speculation regarding the source of the name Zarko. Some people say that many roe deer (zarkadia, Greek: ζαρκάδια) used to live around the area, while others believe that this is actually the name (Zarko) of a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n leader who ruled the area in the 14th century. The fact is that it all started thousands of years ago as

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavations in the wider area brought up buildings of a prehistoric settlement, probably of around 6500-5800 BC. During the Turkish occupation years Zarko was one of the main centres of the wider

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 ...

area. It had more than 5000 inhabitants and there was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, a Turkish and a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

area. Zarko's people were mainly working in the fields producing cotton and they were quite capable of producing fabrics of the highest quality; in the late 19th century the 'Zarkina pania' (cotton fabrics of Zarko) were well known in the area. Along with most of

, Zarko joined Greece in 1881. Nowadays you can still see the Turkish and the Greek forts that were built in the 19th century in order to define the borders between the two countries. In 1886, not far from the village, the battle of Koutras took place. The outcome of the battle was defeat to the Greek forces by the Turks. In the mid 1950s Zarko was the very first village in the area to start modernising the traditional way of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. It introduced the first ‘fabric made water-pipes’ that were used in order to water the cotton fields, as well as bringing in the area the first

tractors A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

. A special note needs to be done regarding the 12th century St. John’s

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

which is located around 2 kilometres north of Zarkos. Deserted for many years it is now reconstructed and occupied with nuns.

References

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

Population

History

See also

References