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Oropos

Stuck on the border of Attica and Boeotia, where today is Skala Oropou, was the ancient Oropos, a port of particular importance in ancient times for communication with the opposite Evia, especially for the Athenians who had buildings on this island. The importance it had for the supply of Athens from Evia and the fact that the area of ​​Oropos, as many times as it was occupied by Athens, served as an advanced defensive post of Attica towards Boeotia, was the reason that for centuries Oropos was the cause of controversy between the Boeotians and the Athenians.
Originally Oropos was called Graia, the area of ​​Graiki and its inhabitants Graei or Graios. Colonians of Graia settled in Lower Italy together with Evia and from them the Romans named all the Greeks Graeci. As a municipality it belonged to the Pandionida tribe.
The embrace of Oropos was called Delfinion and to the east it was called Pafis, in the present place Revithia of the Holy Apostles (Kalamos). Dafides were the inhabitants who belonged to the municipality of the Aiantid tribe.

Middle Helladic settlement (1900-1550 BC) and Mycenaean (1550-1100) has been found east of Nea Palatia and, at a short distance, Mycenaean tombs near and NE
Amphiareiou. Mycenaean remains were recently excavated in Palio Oropos, the medieval village, while the next historical phases, protogeometric, geometric, archaic, can be found in Skala
Oropos.

 

Linguistic indications and testimonies prove that until the end of the archaic era Oropos was under the direct influence of Eretria. The name of Oropos himself, according to a more recent historical point of view, is nothing but the Eretrian form of the name Asopos (Asopos / Aropos / Oropos - Ionian dialect with Eretrian rhetoric: change of σ to ρ eg public instead of public).
It is not known when Oropos escaped from Eretrian rule and came under the occupation of Athens, probably in 506 BC, after the victorious campaign of the Athenians against the Boeotians or after the alfalfa, so Eretria, still powerless from the destruction he had suffered, he was forced to hand him over to Athens or perhaps to some other conflict. Around 360 BC. Oropos acquires complete freedom, but the battle of Chaeronia, in 338 BC, has unpleasant consequences for him, because the victor Philip of Macedonia or his son Alexander gives it back to the Athenians, who immediately divide his territory into Athenian tribes.
From 295 BC. (or in 287 BC) Oropos becomes an equal member of the Boeotian Common, and this period, until 146 BC, is perhaps the happiest in its history.
146 BC, the year that the Roman high priest Mommios destroyed Corinth and enslaved Greece, is a milestone in the history of the city, because the conquering general dissolved all the political federations, and therefore the Common of Boeotia. As the years go by, in the years of the Roman emperor Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD), Oropos becomes the final possession of Athens.
The predominance of Christianity resulted in the gradual disappearance of the ancient religion, but in the place of the declining ancient city is built the early Christian and early Byzantine Oropos, as evidenced by dense relics (buildings and a basilica), coins and tombs. The abandonment of the beach will take place later and for many years the current Old Oropos, west of Skala and at a distance from the sea, will replace the ancient city.
Two Byzantine churches are preserved in Sykamino and in the same village it was built in the 12th century. Frankish castle by the Knights of St. John of Rhodes. It was then occupied by the Florentine barons of Athens, the Atzagioloi.
In 1456 the Turks occupied Athens and in 1458 and Sykamino with its strong fortress.

 

Only after the middle of the 19th c. Oropos will begin to be inhabited under the name Skala Oropos, as a port of the medieval village.
During the Revolution, at the beginning of July 1824, Omer Bey of Karystos with 3,000 soldiers, 2,000 of whom were janissaries, looted the area and fought with 600 Greeks under Gouras. Later it became a supply base for the Turks and in 1829, when the Greeks attempted to recapture Central Greece, there were clashes with the Turks.
After the liberation, it became a municipality with all the surrounding villages (Salesi, Kalamos, Agioi Apostoli, Malakasa, Bouga, Markopoulo, Milesi, Sykamino, Chalkoutsi, Oropos, Skala). In 1912 the Municipality of Europe was abolished and communities were created which in turn gave their place, since 2002, in the current Municipality of Europe. On July 20, 1938, a catastrophic earthquake occurred that flattened the entire village of N. Palatia. The state quickly started building new houses and rehabilitated all the earthquake victims.
During the dictatorship of Papadopoulos, earthworks are carried out up to 40-50 m. In the sea, as a result of which the beach grows and becomes a place for a walk. This work was done for the rapid loading and unloading of ammunition from the warehouses of Malakasa, in case of war. Since 2004 the beach changes its appearance with the creation of the Fishing Shelter (Marina) of New Palaces.

 

THE AMFIARIO

Oropos's political adventures would not be enough to give him a fairly important place in history and
archeology, if it has not survived to this day, in its area, the most important in antiquity sanctuary of the mythical hero, seer and healer Amfiaraou, Amfiareio, whose ruins are located among plane trees, pines and oleanders, in a small valley that crosses a dry river (Gorge was called by the ancients).
Today it is very easy to go to Amfiareio, either from Kalamos or from Markopoulos Oropou.
Amphiareio tou Oropos was founded at the end of the 5th BC. ai., after the decline and abandonment of the known by Herodotus
Amfiareio of Thebes and according to an oracle given was transferred and founded here.
Amfiareio throughout its operation stood the national sanctuary of Oropos and shared its political fate. Whenever Oropos was independent or a member of the Common of the Boeotians, the administration of the Sanctuary was under the control of the Oropos, but when Athens was acquired, it was taken over by the Athenians.
Amfiareio was the seat of the highest religious authority of the small state. But because it was also a place where many people gathered, in this sanctuary the Europeans published their important decisions, public documents of general interest, the conditions, the announcements, the resolutions with which they honored someone. Hundreds of such documents were saved engraved on the pedestals of the statues. The space includes the baths, the large portico, the theater, the altar, the small and large temple and the sacred fountain.
The Europeans honored Amphiaraus by organizing every five years music, sports and equestrian competitions (Amphiareia the Great) in which scholars, actors and athletes from all over Greece, Italy and Asia Minor took part.

 

THE NEW PALACE (NEA PALATIA)
On the island of Marmaras (Prokonnisos) is the village of Palatia whose inhabitants, after the Asia Minor Catastrophe, first settled in Chalkida, and then, in 1924, founded Nea Palatia in Skala Oropou, which was a separate community which according to repeated the congratulations of the Prefecture of Attica for its progress and administrative order.
The Asia Minor element contributed significantly to the economic and spiritual development of Oropos. The Palatians, participating in the Pre-Ionian Association, also created a Group of Friends of New Palaces. Founded in 1982, the Cultural and Spiritual Club of New Palaces still exists today. The schools of Nea Palatia are common with those of Skala Oropou.
At the same time as the Palatians, the Pontians also came to the area of ​​Oropos and settled as an agricultural population in the SW part of the settlement towards the hill of Profitis Ilias. They come from well-known Pontian cities and various smaller villages of Pontus. The Pontian settlement, apart from Pontians, is also inhabited by Cappadocians, Asia Minor, Armenians etc.

 

OROPOS LAKE
To the NW of Skala Oropou, extends the wider delta of the river Asopos, one of the last wetlands of Attica of great ecological importance. It has a length of 3 km, an area of ​​1000 acres and the place was formerly known as "salt pans", "corral", "sand beach", etc. In the last 5-6 years, for natural or artificial reasons, an entrance has been opened (mouth) ) resulting in the creation of an impressive lagoon.
The lagoon of Oropos hosts about 140 species of birds, permanent or migratory, such as Kalamokanas (altitude 40 cm), species of herons such as Lefkotsiknias (altitude 90 cm.), Cinderella, Argyrotsiknias, etc., Avoketa, the Sea whistle, the Flamingos, the blue-daddy, the yellow-daddy, the dwarf, the spoon-duck, the coppice, etc.
Environmental organizations and sensitized citizens are trying to protect the sensitive wetland and recently the
Municipality of Oropia submitted a study to the European Union for the regeneration of the area and the creation of an Ecological Park with observatories, wooden structures of mild development, recreation areas, tree planting, etc.

 

THE AMALIO ORPHANAGE (OLD PRISONS)
In the area of ​​Oropos there was the large estate, bequeathed by Andreas Syggrou to the Amalieio Orphanage.
The building of the orphanage in Oropos was built around 1909. After the Armenian genocide (1915), Armenopoulos, a survivor, was transferred there. He collaborated with the charity Near East and even screened movies (1925-30) for the entertainment of orphans.
The Amalieio Orphanage was transformed into a rural prison in 1933, but with the earthquake of 1938 it was destroyed and in 1950 it was rebuilt. By law 2058/1952 it was transformed into an Open Penitentiary, so the prisoners worked in agricultural work.
Many political opponents of the junta are being held in Oropos prison, including Mikis Theodorakis. In 1970 they are transformed into a juvenile reformatory for 2-3 years. Then they were abandoned and in 1979 the first public High School of the area was housed there.

 

LIGNITURIES AND THE CHARCOAL SCALE
The existence of lignite in our area, between Markopoulos and Milesi (Mavrosouvala, Bafi), was known since 1830.
The coal (coal, lignite) was initially found on the surface and then began to create underground galleries at great depths and lengths for the season (200-250 m. Depth and 2,000 m. Length).
• Mining had started in 1870. During World War I, they exported 3,500 tons per year. In 1962 the production was 11,381 metric tons in Mavrosouvala and in Milesi 2,265 m. Tons. A train line started from Koskinas point and continued to the sea. A wooden coal staircase entered the sea at a length of about 20 m and was elevated so that ships could sail. In front of the coal staircase there was a small room and in front of it was the weighbridge.

 

LOCATIONS OF THE OROPOS AREA
Madri: To the NW of Skala there was a circular building with a diameter of 20m, right on the sea, built of solid bricks. Its tiled roof was circular with a width of 3-3.5m. and a height of about 2.5m. It used to be used as a corral of the Amalie Orphanage. Its ruins existed until 1955.
Lighthouse: Located in the eastern part of the bay of Oropos, it is stone built, round and automatic. Guides the sailors on the ship. It operated automatically for the first time in July 1914. It used to be turned on by a guard every night.
Lomberdi: On the hill where the church of the Prophet Elias is located, built in memory of the earthquake of July 20, 1938, it is speculated that there was the ancient Acropolis of Europe. During the occupation there was a German machine gun south of the church. At the site of Skala Oropos high school, it is speculated that the temple of Alia Nymph was located, while the cemetery of Oropies was located in the area of ​​Nea Palatia.
In Skala Oropou there is the house of the poet's brother Georgios Drosinis, west of the church of Ag. Andrea. It was named "Galini" and was built in 1931.

By: dimitris stavrou
Oropos Historical development