Evangelismos, Heraklion

Evangelismos (Ευαγγελισμός) Heraklion

Evangelismos is a village and former community in the province of Pediada with 623 inhabitants. Today it is a homonymous municipal district in the Municipality of Kastelli in the prefecture of Heraklion. Its distance from Heraklion is 35 km, while in relation to Kastelli it is located 5 km southwest. The inhabitants are mainly engaged in agricultural work. Oil, wine, raisins and grains are produced. In the settlement is the Byzantine church of the Annunciation, with frescoes. The current name of the village is due to it, as its previous name was Mouchtari. In the center of the village, next to the Primary School, there is a place with pines. On August 6, the village celebrates and becomes a Cretan feast.

Historical data
The Byzantine church of the Annunciation

The name of the village was changed from Mouchtari to Evangelismos in 1956. The old name was Mouchtaroi or Mouktari or Mouchtaro and there are various interpretations for its origin.

Some (Xanthoudidis) believe that it comes from the Arabic language, while others (Alexiou) claim that the word is Byzantine, from the Muktari, which meant troublemakers and revolutionaries.

Proponents of the idea that the name is Byzantine also claim that it may be due to the Byzantine surname Murtaros.

The village is mentioned with its original name in a contract of 1381 and in 1577 in the province of Pediados, in the relevant list of Barotsi.

The Byzantine church of the Annunciation

In 1583 it is mentioned by Kastrofylakas with 274 inhabitants and in the Turkish census of 1671 it is written Muhtarus, with 122 engravings.

The Egyptian census of 1834 mentions 30 Christian and 3 Turkish families.

External links

Villages of the Municipality of Kastelli [dead link]

Sources

Heraklion and its Prefecture, published by the Prefecture of Heraklion.

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