Perivolakia

Oral Testimonies: The oral tradition of the village of Pervolakia, a tradition which has also been transferred to the 25-volume encyclopaedia of the special tribute to Crete, points out that:

The village inhabitants were originally settled in the area of the Toplou monastery, which used to bare the name Pervolakia, and then they moved to the area known now as Pervolakia. There are two opinions regarding this issue.

The first one is that the village inhabitants were forced to move due to raids carried out by Turkish pirate ships on the shore where Pervolakia were located, the second opinion--the one preserved via tradition--was that the inhabitants were forced to move further inland. More specifically: "…as a positive response to his being hosted by monks from the Toplou monastery, a Turkish commander from the area, gave an order for some of the landed property in the area to be donated to the monastery. These lands were expropriated and their inhabitants were moved to other areas. A number of those inhabitants came to the area known as Pervolakia today...' It is assumed that 3 families came to the area now known as Pervolakia. One of these families settled in the area known today as Upper Perivolakia, the second family settled in Lower Pervolakia, and the third one in Pezoula.

Apart from this theory there is another, rather different, one.

The inhabitants displaced from the Toplou monastery area initially settled in the area where the church of Agios Nikolaos is located. Later on they settled in the area currently known as Lower Pervolakia, while, in the case of the village of Pezoula, there were people already living there prior to the displaced populations arriving, and there was a clash between the two groups.

With regard to the theories presented above we can say that:

1. in the context of the above viewpoint regarding the movement of inhabitants we have no known specific time frame

2. The history of the Toplou monastery makes no reference to the above viewpoint.

3 Historical references prove that Pervolakia existed in 1670-1671 and that it was a glebe of Etia.

Source: pervolakia.blogspot

Translated and edited by: Yallou

Lower Pervolakia maintains its old traditional 'colour'. The village has few inhabitants, most of which are elderly.

There is also quite a number of people from England, Austria, France and Switzerland that have bought houses there, restored those houses, and live in them for many months of the year.

Another resident of the area is former bishop of Latin America, Gennadios Hrysoulakis, a staunch supporter of recent efforts to develop the area.

In the village we find the traditional cafe, 'Aposperida', owned by the family of Manolis Kondolaimakis, who, in 2003, being at the time a retired commander of the Hellenic Navy, decided to return to his birthplace and invest in his native land.

In June 2003 he established 'Aposperida', a place where visitors can experience traditional Cretan hospitality, and enjoy local tsikoudia along with local delicacies.

Another positive element of the area is the well-maintained playground that entertains the younger temporary inhabitants of the village during the summer.

Source: pervolakia.blogspot

Translated and edited by: Yallou