Pirgiotika is a small village of about 400 residents near the town of Nafplio (6 km). It is built at a height of about 120 meters, which offers hillside view of Nafplio from anywhere in the village.
In the village the visitor will encounter five churches. The historic church of St. John (more information on the church of St. John can be found in the “Archaeological Sites – Points of Interest”), St. Archangels, Ag. Nikolaos, Agia Paraskevi and the main church, St. George.
The central church was dedicated to St. George in order that the residents of Pyrgiotika remember their origin. The “genealogy roots” of the villagers lead in Arcadia. Half of the inhabitants came from Pirgaki Arcadia (near Vitina), hence how the name Pirgiotika derives, and the other half from the village Roino of Tripoli. Arcadians lowered during the summers at Himadia to graze their flocks. The area of Nafplio was ideal because it had food and water for animals.
In 1870, one landslide of Pirgaki in Arcadia took place and destroyed too many homes. For this reason, some shepherds began to descend permanently at Pyriotika and some in Meligala Messinias. The descent was gradual, as they say again, and after their first attempt to settle in Tolo.
Tolo, however, as the older people tell, had neither grass nor animals and wood for firewood. So it turned to Nafplio, yelling about Tolo “in this place we will take only saltiness.” Then they settled around the current square building makeshift shacks.
Each year, 2-3 families from Arcadia came to settle in Nafplio and were allowed to graze their animals, they also had to rent “stanotopia” as Ms.Sophia Traka, president of the Educational and Cultural Association Pirgiotika” the St. Georgios”, clearly describes.
Residents of Pirgiotika are tightly linked to the first place of their origin. Each year on the Feast of All-Saint celebration, they attend at Pirgaki, where at the chapel of St. John they have made a gift of a picture of St. George and make their supplication. In addition, every year they go to Roino village of Arcadia, at the Church of St. George.
A custom that had been maintained up until recently, is the weighing of young children in the church of St. George. The more the weight of the child was, the more the offer of money from family to the church would have been.
The Educational and Cultural Association of Pirgiotika”, St George”, which is housed in the old Primary School, carefully maintained the customs and the traditions of the village. The club has a rich cultural and charitable work. It revived during the year various customs, as the Carnival and the traditional celebration of the region.
In one of them, which is worth the participation, is in St. John, in the Full Moon of August. At the chapel, there is a celebration with music and food. Moreover, during the feast of St. George the Association makes and offers traditional sweets such as diples (a kind of fried pasta with honey).
Every weekend the village square with its magnificent views of the Argolida plain floods with visitors arriving at Pyrgiotika to enjoy traditional pies, cheese (local production), roasts and cakes in the village taverns.
Geographical Coordinates
Pyrgiotika Square
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