Koxare
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Local community Koxare Τοπική Κοινότητα Κοξαρές (Κοξαρέ) |
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| Basic data | |||
| Country |
 Greece
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| region | Crete | ||
| Regional district | Rethymno | ||
| local community | Agios Vasilios | ||
| Geographic coordinates | 35 ° 14 ' N , 24 ° 28' E | ||
| Height above d. M. |
270 m (average) |
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| surface | 15.295 km² | ||
| Residents | 404 (2011) | ||
| Population density | 26.41 inhabitants / km² | ||
| LAU-1 code no. | 931106 | ||
| Local division | 4 settlements | ||
Koxare ( Greek Κοξαρέ ( f. Sg. )) Is a village on the Greek island of Crete . It belongs to the municipality of Agios Vasilios and the regional district of Rethymno . The village is located at an altitude of 270 meters near the junction of the road to Plakias from the Rethymno - Spili road in front of the northern entrance of the Kourtaliotiko Gorge in the Koxare plain, an agriculturally fertile area rich in water.
Local division
Koxare has a total of 404 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. The village itself has 225 inhabitants, the small neighboring villages of Atsipades (Ατσιπάδες) with 31 inhabitants, Katsogrida (Κατσογρίδα) 16 inhabitants and Pale (Παλέ) 132 inhabitants.
Pale was laid out as a settlement north of Koxare on the main road in the 1990s to accommodate the people from the double village of Katsogrida and Atsipades, which is threatened by landslides on the northern slope of the Kouroupa . The two closely neighboring villages are at an altitude of 350 to 420 meters about 1.4 km west of Koxare. The village church of Atsipades was renovated in the early 2000s despite the resettlement program. The gravel road leading to the summit of Kouroupa , which begins at Katsogrida, is not allowed to be used in the dark and in winter.
In Koxare there is the only grammar school (in Greece the secondary school form for grades 7 to 9) of the municipality of Finikas. The main church of Koxare, located on a small hill above the village, is dedicated to the 'Dormition of the Mother of God' ( Kimitheos theotokou Κοιμηθέος θεοτόκου).
There are two monasteries in the Koxare parish: North of the main road is the Timiou Prodromou monastery (Μονή Τιμίου Προδρόμου), on the southern edge of the village on the slope of Kouroupa the Axion esti monastery (Μονή Άξιον Εστί).
history
The earliest traces of settlement in the area of Koxare date from the Middle Minoan period; In 1989 British archaeologists located and excavated a Minoan summit sanctuary at Kouroupas at an altitude of 735 meters.
The name of the settlement is derived from its presumed first inhabitant, a Koxaris (Κόξαρης) from the Byzantine family.
Koules Castle
Koxare south of the ruin of 1866 by which is Ottoman built Military, with 44 × 30 meters relatively large surface fort Koules ⊙ on a survey could be controlled by the entire area, and the path through the gorge to the south coast. The otherwise typical Turkish fort has a special structural feature on the long sides with vaulted rooms that are architecturally reminiscent of the Venetian arsenals in the port of Chania . The almost square inner courtyard is accessed through two opposing gatehouses. On the south wall, the building was covered over its entire length by a double barrel vault . A simple vault was built along the north wall. Both vaults have fallen into disrepair except for the edge areas near the wall. All the walls around are provided with loopholes in close succession. The ruins of a Byzantine chapel are located in front of the eastern main entrance of the fort, which used to be passable. It was only abandoned together with the fort, although it was militarily "in the way". This fact is remarkable because it suggests a phase of peaceful coexistence between the Ottoman occupation and the Orthodox Church and population, at least for this region.
The village, which is centrally located on an important thoroughfare, also played a role during the German occupation of Crete in World War II . ELAS resistance fighters fought north and south of Koxare with German troops who were supposed to secure the way to the coast. Because of its central location, Koxare was a refuge for resistance fighters and British agents. The village church and parts of the village were burned down by German troops on February 2, 1944, and the church was rebuilt in 1955.
Since 2007 there has been a folklore museum next to the local church.
economy
Koxare is still an economically purely agrarian village, the booming tourism of the Cretan south coast cannot gain a foothold because of the great distance to the sea. On the one hand olive cultivation and on the other hand sheep and goat farming are dominant.
literature
- Oliver Rackham, Jennifer Moody: The making of the Cretan landscape . 1996, Manchester University Press, ISBN 0-7190-3647-X .
- Giorgos Psychoundakis / Patrick Leigh Fermor : The Cretan Runner . John Murray 1955, Penguin Books 1998, ISBN 978-0-14-027322-9 .
Web links
- Presentation of Koxares on the website of the municipality of Finikas (Greek)
- Koxare on the Crete Wiki
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)