Chalara, Kastoria

Chalara (Χάλαρα) Kastoria

Chalara or Halara is a mountain settlement at an altitude of 870 meters, it belongs to the Municipality of Kastoria.[1][2]

It is located at the northern end of the prefecture, 26 km north of the city of Kastoria via the Vyssinias-Gavrou provincial road. The transition also takes place via the vertical axis of Egnatia Street, Siatistas - Krystallopigi bar at the Gavros junction.

In Halara, apart from the adobe houses, it is worth seeing the watermill located outside it, built in 1900, and also the Holy Church of Panagia, which is made of brick.[3][4]

Traces of ancient habitation were found at a site ("Buates"), located approximately 800 m northeast of the village, on the road to the neighboring village of Agios Antonios.[5]

Until 1927, the village was called Podovista and was renamed Halara.[6]

Holy Church of Panagia

The Holy Church of Panagia was first built during the Byzantine era and is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin, but the church seems to have collapsed over time and was rebuilt on its ruins around 1700.[7] The rare and enigmatic representations of two large clocks are preserved inside the temple of Koresteia. These representations are located in the lower zone of its northern wall, directly below the hagiographies of the Three Hierarchs and between plant figures and floral decorative motifs. Their forms certainly have a decorative meaning, but they also have an additional symbolic meaning and educational purpose. It is mentioned that Grafon, when he saw the specific representations of the clocks for the first time, was impressed and surprised. But then he pondered, searched for their symbolic - didactic meaning and came to the conclusion that their depictions suggest to the church faithful, who see them with interest and attention, the following evangelical truth and teaching: Our earthly life is temporary and short. Time to follow the path of virtue.[8]
Statistical data

There is quite a bit of information at the turn of the 20th century:

In 1902, the village consisted of 70 patriarchal and 55 exarchal families. [Fur]

In 1904, there were 400 Orthodox Greeks living under the Bulgarian terror and 250 schismatic Bulgarians.[9]

In 1913, there were 968 inhabitants (563 males and 405 females). [1913 Census]
In 1940, the actual population was 738 (329 males and 409 females) and the legal population was 775. [1940 Census]
In 1951, 450 inhabitants lived in the village. [10]
In 2001, the village had 57 residents.[11]
In 2011, 13 residents lived in the village.

History
Macedonian Struggle

Lazaros Tsamis was informed of the successful outcome of the operation of equipping the Bulgarian rebel groups and immediately informed the German Karavangelis about the illegal importation of the weapons and the inactivity of the Greek mechanisms. The Metropolitan then sent two members of his organization to Athens, George Giamo and Papa Ilias Papadimitriou from Halara Kastoria, with the mission to locate Vasil Tsakalarov and report him to the Greek police authorities. Tsakalarov managed to escape from the unfortunate police operation after recognizing the two people who had handed him over to the Greek Gendarmerie.

In May 1902, Tsakalarov entered the village of Khalara, arrested them and after torture extracted from them the names of the Greek collaborators of Karavangelis who had infiltrated the Bulgarian EMEO organization and murdered them. After these revelations, the assassinations of the revealed collaborators from the list drawn up by Chakalarov began.[12]

Civil War
Part of the frescoes of the post-Byzantine church of Panagia in Halara.

A small decrease in the population by 34 people between the censuses of 1920[13] and 1928[14] was observed between the signing of the Politis-Kalfof Protocol (September 29, 1924) on the voluntary exchange of populations, a fact that is also confirmed by the liquidations of properties that followed .[15]

On August 2, 1944 in the village of Halara in Kastoria, in the presence of representatives of the KKE, the Communist Party of Yugoslav "Macedonia" and the political commissar of IX. The Slavo-Macedonian battalion of Florina-Kastoria, known as the Goce Battalion, was founded as a division of ELAS Reno Michaleas. The commander was Ilias Dimakis (alias Goce) and the political commissioner was Christos Kokkinos.

Elias Dimakis engaged in a systematic recruitment of Slavonic speakers to increase the strength of the Order which initially had 400 people. At the same time, military links from Yugoslav "Macedonia", mainly Petre Bogdanov (pseudonym Kocko), again propagated the right of self-determination and unification of the "Macedonian people", demanding the establishment of a General Headquarters. The political commissar of IX. Merarchias Renos Michaleas, having a vague Leninist understanding of the right to self-determination, was tolerant of these movements, often coming into conflict with the "Macedonian" Office of the KKE, which later removed him from his position.[16][17]

Population decline was observed at a rate of 62% (273 people) between the 1945[18] and 1951 [19][20] censuses after the end of the civil war (1946-49) including 166 children[21] of the paedomasoma (1948), when they followed after the defeat of the DSE the fate of fighters and fugitives (exposed) to the then communist eastern countries and the immigration to the overseas countries Australia, USA and Canada.
Personalities originating from Halara

Georgios Kolitsis, Macedonian warlord

Yovan (full name unknown), whistleblower

Georgios Gyatsis, Macedonian agent (killed by Chakalarov)

Ǽǿ Ioannis Dimitriou, member of a rebel group

Ǽǿ Athanasios Ilias, Macedonian warrior

Ǽǿ Lambros (his full name unknown), Macedonian warrior

papa - Ilias Papadimitriou, Macedonian agent

Referrals

Encyclopedia Domi , vol. 30 pp. 389 ISBN 960-8177-82-0
"Relax | buk.gr". buk.gr. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
greek-crossroads.gr, Elina Iatridou (25 May 2018). "Greek-CrossRoads - Korestia: Terracotta Villages". Greek-CrossRoads. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
"The adobe villages". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
[1] Archived 2017-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Dimitris K. Samsaris, Historical geography of the Roman province of Macedonia (The part of today's Western Macedonia), Thessaloniki 1989 (Published by the Society of Macedonian Studies), p. 166. ISBN 960-7265-01-7.
"Host: Podovista -- Chalara". pandektis.ekt.gr. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
"Church of Panagia - Halara Kastoria". www.cyberotsarka.gr. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
Alexiou, G. T. (December 30, 2019). "Light of Kastoria: The two "Clocks" of Korestia. Their depictions in the temple of Halari in Kastoria (year 1815)". Light of Kastoria. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
"Mapping Migration in Kastoria, Macedonia | Who". mmkm.kcl.ac.uk. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2021.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
Greek census 1951 p. 271
"Population Census 2001 - GEODATA.gov.gr". geodata.gov.gr. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
"Lazaros Tsamis - Team Leader of the Northern Continental Race". Retrieved June 2, 2021.
Kastoria Pedestrian, 710 people (303 males and 407 females) - 149 families [Census 1920]
Pedestrian (Halara) of Kastoria, 676 people (281 males and 395 females). There were no refugees who came after 1922. Residents were 668 and nonresidents 8. Also 12 residents were enumerated elsewhere [Census 1928]
Iakovos Michailidis, Movements of Slavonic populations 1912-1930, p.99 ed. KRITIKI 2003, ISBN 960-218-305-8 "Three properties of residents who immigrated with their families to Bulgaria were liquidated".
Spyridon Sfetas, Separatist movements in 1944, the position of the KKE and the guarding of the Greek-Yugoslav border
"AUTOMONISTIC MOVEMENTS OF SLAVO SPEAKING PEOPLE DURING 1944, THE ATTITUDE OF THE KKE AND THE PROTECTION OF THE GREEK-YUGOSLAVIC BORDERS". akritas2011. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
Halara, 723 inhabitants [Statistics 1945].
Halara Kastoria: 450 inhabitants [1951 Census]
Greek census 1951 p. 262
“Mapping Migration in Kastoria, Macedonia. Halara'. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2013.

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