Argyroupoli (Rethymno)

Local community Argyroupoli
Τοπική Κοινότητα Αργυρουπόλεως (Αργυρούπολη)

Basic data

Greece

Crete

Lappa

Geographic coordinates

35 ° 17 ′ N , 24 ° 20 ′ E Coordinates: 35 ° 17 ′ N , 24 ° 20 ′ E

Height above d. M.

260 m
(average)

surface

6.124 km²

Residents

403 (2011)

Population density

65.81 inhabitants / km²

South-western district of Argyroupoli

Argyroupoli ( Greek Αργυρούπολη ) is a mountain village on the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete . As a local community, it belongs to the Lappa district of the municipality of Rethymno . The name Argyroupoli means silver city ( argyros άργυρος ' silver ' and poli πόλη ' city '). The place is at an average height of 260 meters above sea level and has 403 inhabitants (as of 2011). According to the 1981 census, there were 453 residents at that time. Argyroupoli was built in the area of the ancient city of Lappa , of which finds in various parts of the village testify.

location

The place Argyroupoli was until the Greek municipal reform in 2010 (part of the Kallikratis program ) within the municipality of Lappa with the main town Episkopi . The municipality belonged to the prefecture of Rethymno and bordered to the west on the regional district of Chania . The former prefectural borders are now the borders of the regional districts of the Crete region , Argyroupoli belongs to the Rethymno regional district as part of the city of Rethymno. The city center of Rethymno is 16 kilometers to the northeast.

The settlement area Argyroupolis nestles on the northwest slope of the Azona mountain above the fertile plain of the Mouselas (Μουσέλας), a small river that flows towards the north coast. This is about 7 kilometers away, to the south coast behind the Kryoneritis mountain range it is about 11 kilometers. The regional district border runs along the river in the west of the village. The village consists of an upper and a lower, southwestern district. About 50 meters below the built-up area are the Agia Dynami , ten sources of the Mouselas , whose water was used in the past to operate mills, including oil mills from the 19th century. Today there are cafes for visitors to the place. In addition to tourism , the residents of Argyroupoli live from the sale of olive oil, quality wine, citrus fruits and cereals.

history

The ancient city of Lappa (also Lampa, Lampai or Lampē) was located in the area of today's Argyroupoli . Its history goes back to the late geometrical epoch of ancient Greece , from which the earliest finds originate. According to archaeological evidence, Lappa experienced its heyday in the late Hellenistic and early Roman times, when an estimated 10,000 inhabitants settled in the domain of the Lappa polis . Coins minted in the city, with motifs like dolphins and trident , but also gods like Apollo , Athene and Britomartis , bear witness to the importance of the polis.

The first turning point in the development of the city was the Roman conquest of the independent Lappa in 67 BC. By Quintus Caecilius Metellus , which caused considerable damage. Under the rule of the emperor Augustus , whom the inhabitants of the polis had supported in the Roman civil war , Lappa became after 31 BC. Recognized as civitas libera . Then in the middle of the 4th century AD the city was destroyed by an earthquake. In and around Argyroupoli building foundations , building remains , a floor mosaic from the 3rd century AD and a necropolis in the Lamaniana area , northeast of the place at a tributary of the Petres (Πετρές), from the time of Lappas have been preserved. Numerous finds from the ancient polis can be found in the Archaeological Museum of Rethymno .

Remains of the necropolis of Lappa
Roman floor mosaic
Venetian portal in Argyroupoli

In Byzantine times, Lappa was initially a bishopric . The city's bishops participated in the ecumenical councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451). After the Arab occupation of Crete in 824 and the reconquest by Nikephoros Phokas in 960/961, the bishopric was moved to Kalamona. The Chortatzis family received the area of Argyroupoli as a fief . After an uprising against the Venetians who ruled after 1204 , during which the place was a base of the rebels, the fiefdom was given to the archon Alexis Kallergis in 1299. At that time, Argyroupoli was named in memory of the city of Lappa Stimpolis (Στίμπολις), which means something like 'in the city' (modern Greek: στην πόλη), later also just Polis (Πόλις 'city'). Some villas of the landowners from the Venetian period are still preserved and inhabited, others, as well as remains of the ancient Lappa, were reused as building material for today's buildings.

The names Gaidouropoli and Samaropoli for today's place Argyroupoli have been handed down from the Ottoman period from 1645/46 . The village is only known under Argyroupoli from the first half of the 19th century. In 1822 the village received this name during the Greek uprising against the Ottoman rule (1821-1829) by the Cretan "Revolutionary Committee". Since Crete remained under Ottoman rule, there were further uprisings of the population against foreign rule in the same century, during which the "general assembly" of the rebels moved their headquarters in Argyroupoli in 1867 and 1878. In April 1867 the place was destroyed by the Ottomans while fighting the uprising. During the uprising of 1878, an Ottoman command post in Argyroupoli was destroyed and the Cretans made the decision to unite with Greece, which, however, could not be implemented at the time.

Number of inhabitants
(source: Hellenic Statistical Authority, EL.STAT. )
year	1928	1940	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Residents	767	836	704	669	501	453	396	402	403

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Between the mountains and the sea - information sheet of the (former) municipality of Lappa
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Irini Gavrilaki: Lappa. Information sheet from the Rethymno Prefecture, Lappa Municipality, Ministry of Culture
^ Cassius Dio 51, 2 .
↑ Αργυρούπολις Ρεθύμνου - Αργυρούπολι. (No longer available online.) Www.hellenica.de, archived from the original on February 25, 2016 ; Retrieved December 16, 2010 (Greek).

Web links

Commons : Argyroupoli - collection of images, videos and audio files

Don Evely: Argyroupolis. American School of Classical Studies at Athens, February 15, 2011, accessed March 5, 2018 .
Don Evely: Argyroupolis. American School of Classical Studies at Athens, September 19, 2012, accessed March 5, 2018 .
Lappa - rescue excavations

[VZ2011-1] Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)

[Gemeinde_Lappa-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Between the mountains and the sea - information sheet of the (former) municipality of Lappa

[Gavrilaki-3] Irini Gavrilaki: Lappa. Information sheet from the Rethymno Prefecture, Lappa Municipality, Ministry of Culture

[4] Cassius Dio 51, 2 .

[5] Αργυρούπολις Ρεθύμνου - Αργυρούπολι. (No longer available online.) Www.hellenica.de, archived from the original on February 25, 2016 ; Retrieved December 16, 2010 (Greek).