The Monastery and
Holy Abbey Zoodoxos Pigi
Links:
Jim Pappas, Mary Pappas and Tom Pappas (Xepappas)
Gia Sou! Welcome! You have probably arrived at this page as a result of a search on the name of the village, or on the family names of inhabitants. My own Greek forebears (Xepapa, Stroumboulis, Tzanetea, Pavlis) came from Mystra and Barsiniko.
I would very much like to hear from anyone with connections to any families originating in Barsiniko or Mystra, or neighboring villages, such as Anavriti, Soha, Magoula, Tripi, Parori, Anoyia, Vlachohorio, Pikoulianika, Kato Choria, etc. Please email me at j@jpic.net (put something in the subject line that will prevent me from deleting your message as spam).
With time and input from you, I will expand this page to
include your comments, new names, information and photos. It is hoped that family
researchers can gain new insight here eventually, and/or make contact with
others.
If you allow me, I will
post your email address, so that others can contact you directly. If you
have photos that would be appropriate for our Photo page, please send them
along as well.
Barsiniko, recently renamed Taygete, is a tiny village on the Tayegetos mountain, above Mystras, near Sparta, Greece. It is reached by a paved and signed road (E4) from Mystra. From the village you can look down at the medieval castle in Mystra, the village of Nea Mystra and the city of Sparta.
Hiking trails lead to the village from Mystras and Anavriti.
There are variant spellings of the name, including Persiniko, Varsiniko, Barsinicou, Vassinico, Varsinico, etc., and often there is an "s" at the end (e.g., Barsinikos). For example, on the sign in Mistras, pictured above, it is spelled Varsiniko (Anglicized pronunciation); further up the road, closer to the village, is another sign (see the photo page) which spells the name as Barsiniko (first two letters are the Greek Mi and Pi, together pronounced "B").
The new name, Taygete, is also subject to variations. On the map published by Road Editions, Number 51, you will see the village listed as Taigeti (English transliteration), while on a couple of road signs it is spelled slightly differently.
In 1981 I was told by Panayiotis Kakaletris, then the priest in Barsiniko, that the village was founded about 1460-1470, with perhaps 30 original families. This would coincide with the Turkish occupation. While at one time there may have been as many as 80 families there, at the time of that visit (1981) the village was almost deserted.
I visited again, in the summer of 2006, and today there are several families once again living there with a couple of houses being built or restored. The town is only inhabited during the summer months. My guess is that the resurgence of the community is due to the summer camp for children which takes place at the monastery (see below) one km above Barsiniko. That is likely also the reason that there is a decent road up the mountain today--there was no road at all until the 1970's.
The village is thought to have taken it's name from the lush vegetation and forest that existed on the side of the hill upon which it was built. For information on the area, try this link: www.taygetus.com.
Further up the Tayegetos Mountain from Barsiniko is a beautiful small monastery, named Zoodoxos Pigi (this link is in Greek, my apologies to non-Greek speakers). The church itself is original, while the adjacent monastery has been rebuilt using old materials. The abbey is preserved as an historical monument and is protected by the Ministry of Culture. You can find photos of the monastery on our Photo Page. Father Panayiotis Kakaletris, mentioned above, was instrumental in the preservation and restoration, and his photo hangs in the one of the rooms of the monastery.
I first posted this page in an effort to satisfy my curiosity about my family and their villages. My interest has since expanded to include anyone who is connected to Barsiniko, Mystra and the general area.
And...Please send me your comments.
Send me
an email
by clicking here.
If you contact someone from our list of contacts,
I would like to hear from you also. Thanks!
Contacts:
Note: email addresses have been listed with spaces before and after the @ symbol for security purposes.
» You cannot just copy and paste an email address. «
Email addresses change frequently. If you have trouble with an email address please contact me at j@jpic.net.
Families from Barsiniko: (alternate spellings listed in parentheses)
contact: Alexandria Silance atsilance @ cox.net Coutros family from Anavriti and Barsiniko
Demetrakakis (Demetrokakis, Dimitrakakis, Dimetrakakis, etc.) also Demetrakis
contact: Nick Kakaletris nkaknct @ optonline.net grandmother born Barsiniko
contact: Joanne Dimitrakakis Jdimis @ yahoo.com, born in Barsiniko
Hilidonis (Helidonis, Heledonis, Hiledonis, etc.) please email me
Kakaletris (Kakaletri, Kacaletris, Kacaletri, Cacaletris, Cakaletris, etc.)
contact: Nick Kakaletris nkaknct @ optonline.net father born Barsiniko
contact: Betty Kakaletris bettyatpsi @ hotmail.com grandfather born Barsiniko
contact: Tom Kakaletris christakak @ aol.com father born Barsiniko
contact: Georgina Kakaletris georgie1959 @ hotmail.com family from Barsiniko & Mystra
contact: George Karounos georkar @ comcast.net great-g-grandfather born in Barsiniko and was priest there
contact: John Karounos jksr @ bigpond.com born in Barsiniko
contact: Theodoros Karounos karounos @ mail.ntua.gr
contact: Costas Cavathas pilot @ technicalpress.gr family from Vitineika, possible connections to Barsiniko
contact: George Kounoupis hklaw @ ptd.net relatives named Xepapas, Kakaletris, Karounos and Coutros
Papayiannopoulos please email me
Pavlis or Pavles contact: Jim Pappas j@jpic.net great-grandmother from Barsiniko
Vardamaskos (Vardamasko, Vardamascos, Vardamasco, etc.)
contact: Joanne Dimitrakakis Jdimis @ yahoo.com, born in Barsiniko
Xepapas (Xepapa, Xepappas, etc.) contact: Jim Pappas j@jpic.net grandfather from Barsiniko
Families from Mystra: (variant spellings of names are in parentheses, e.g., Mystras, Mistra, Mistras)
Colomvakis (Kolomvakis, Colombakis, etc.)
contact: Georgina Kakaletris georgie1959 @ hotmail.com family from Barsiniko & Mystra
Kakaletris (Kakaletri, Kacaletris, Kacaletri, Cacaletris, Cakaletris, etc.)
contact: Jimmy Kakaletris jameskaye @ charter.net or jameskaye007 @ bellsouth.net father born Mystra
contact: Georgina Kakaletris georgie1959 @ hotmail.com family from Barsiniko & Mystra
contact: John Karounos jksr @ bigpond.com
Stroumboulis (Stroumpoulis, Stroumpulis, Strumpoulis, Strumboulis, Strumbulis, Strouboulis, etc.)
contact: Jim Pappas j@jpic.net grandmother born Mystra
Tzanetea (Tzaneteas, Tsanetea, Tsaneteas, Janetteas, etc.)
contact: Jim Pappas j@jpic.net great-grandmother from Mystra
Family Names that I suspect originate in Mystra or Barsiniko:
Bakakeas please email me
Koronios (Coronios, Koranios, Koroniou, etc.) contact: Steve Adoniou adoniou @ hotmail.com
Michalopoulos or Mihalopoulos please email me
Also please contact me for any of these names: Aghelopoulos, Androutsos, Christeas, Colomalis, Eftaxia, Kanelakos, Karydis, Kastanes or Kastanis, Katsifris, Lascaris, Lionnis, Mavraki or Mavrakis, Parascevacou, Sapatis, Sarantoulias, Seliutari, Targis, Terris, Vatopoulous.
Family Names that originate in nearby villages:
From Anavriti:
Kostakos
contact: Gwen Penniston
gylyn2002 @ yahoo.com grandfather from Anavriti
From Tripi:
Kontoulakos (Kondoulakos, Kondolakos, etc.)
contact: Don Day, doncday @ email.com family from Tripi
(also Kontos, Kondos or Condos, etc.)
Send me an email by clicking here.