Lagkada, Chios

Lagkada is a seaside village located on the NE coast of Chios, in the bay of Kolokythias and at a distance of 16 km from the city of Chios.

Its inhabitants, mainly sailors and stockbreeders, in the last census of 2011 were 760.

Until 1998, Lagkada was a community, together with the settlement of Agrelopou, while after the forced merger under the Kapodistrias law, it belongs to the Municipality of Omiroupolis (which includes Vrontado and the villages of Karyes, Sykiada, Avgonyma, Anavatos, Sidirounta).

Physical position - Tour

Passing the junction of Sykiada-Agios Isidoros and crossing a rocky landscape, the village stretches amphitheatrically along a wide gorge, from which the village got its name, with a small plain of olives, fruit trees and water.

Lagkada is crossed by the river Krikeli and its most fertile area is inside, which was formed by the alluvium of the river. There are the Accommodation and the Brigadier General. Historically, people have been camping in the area of ​​the Accommodation to protect themselves from major earthquakes. To the left of Lagkada is the settlement of Agrelopos, where there were wild olive trees, which together with Lagkada are now a residential complex.

Upstairs, on the east side of the village, stands out one of the many windmills (the main part of which survives) that existed in the area and mainly ground wheat.
The port of Langada

At the foot of the hill where the mill is, the main part of Lagkada is built. The downhill road that passes to the right of the pine forest of Karydas leads to the natural entrance of the village, the narrow channel of Glyfos and then to Lagkada. The Glyfos canal was named so because springs of water end there. Along one side it is covered by eucalyptus trees, while it is a safe anchorage for the boats of the village.

On the south side of the village is Skardanas, whose first houses are bathed by the sea.

Entering the village from the main road, the first right turn leads to the port of Lagkada. Opposite and to the east is the island complex of Oinousses and right behind it are the coasts of Asia Minor. The village is located at the bottom of a bay protected from the winds. Lagkada Bay is officially referred to as Kolokythias Bay.
Historical data

Lagkada is a relatively modern village, as almost all its inhabitants come from Kydianta, one of the many old abandoned villages of Chios, which is located SW of Lagkada. The main movement of the inhabitants of Kydianta to the sea and the modern village took place between the decades '10 to '40, while it was completed at the end of the 1940s. The occasion for the final desolation of Kydiantas was a serious incident during the civil war.

Initially in Lagkada, residents of Kydianta maintained cafes, where sailors frequented, and when the residents of Kydianta began to deal more systematically with shipping, they went down to Lagkada and thus became the first inhabitants of the village. In fact, as can be seen from the date on the plaque of Lagkada's oldest house, the village must have been inhabited in 1875. However, Lagkada as a community was established in 1834 [reference is pending] together with Kydianta.

During the liberation of 1912, the villagers fought against the Turks. In the battle of Aipos, the Turks retreated to Kydianta, while from the port of Lagkada their Greek fleet was firing. In 1940, many Lagadous were traveling, and a small German guard was stationed in this village as well. Many fled the port of Lagkada to the Middle East via Turkey. From 1943 onwards, Lagkada experienced days of famine because many boats had left for the Middle East. At that time, they cultivated the area of ​​Kampos, while many women went on foot to the North Villages (villages of North Chios) to secure some wheat or corn.

The Germans left Lagkada on September 9, 1944, leaving the area of ​​Glyfos mined, and although they had warned the Lagadous, some were killed by mines. Also, during the German occupation, several sailors from the village were killed, with the typical case of the Greek cargo ship "Pileus", which was the last ship that sank on March 13, 1944 in the Atlantic by a German submarine, among whose victims they were also two brothers from Lagkada.
Maritime tradition of Langada

The rocks, the high mountains as well as the barrenness of the area led the inhabitants of the area to the sea, since with agriculture it was difficult to deal systematically and this was done mainly in winter.

The exit to the sea led people to the shores, where naval centers were developed. So centered on Dolphin since ancient times, the area was a hub for travel.

During the Peloponnesian War, Athenians and Spartans used Dolphin as a base to repair ships at the same time. It may have been temporarily abandoned after the Peloponnesian War, but was reused in Roman times. During the Byzantine years, shipyards operated there, which was favored by the rich vegetation, since Chios was overgrown with pines. In the following years of Genoese and Turkish rule, ships were built in the area. They chose the sea route even after the destruction of Chios in 1822.

The residents of Kydianta engaged in trade, buying citrus fruits from Chios, which were traded in Istanbul from where they brought wheat. From 1840, most boats began to sail, while they had the reputation of good sailors and captains.

The passage from the sailing ship to the steamer seemed to have not found the inhabitants of the village ready, except for a few and the most educated. During the German occupation, the boats contributed to the supply of their village, while the petrol engines were ordered by the Germans. After the Civil War, many of the boats were destroyed and in Givari, decommissioned ships began to be assembled and became the burial ground of the boats.

After the war, however, the Lagkada captains began collaborating with each other, building companies and buying boats.
Beaches

There are no organized beaches in the village. However, its shores are an attraction for tourists. To the east, at the end of the beach, at the edge of the port is Fanaraki, a pebble beach, Karydas, while on the west side of Karydas in a small carnagio are still repaired boats of amateur fishermen.
Forests

There are four forests with pines and eucalyptus trees - small in size - in the area: in Karydas, formed by the personal work of the inhabitants, who started planting trees in the 1950s, in Agios Ioannis in the main church of the village, in school and in Givari, a wetland area.
Traditional costume

The people of Lagados did not have a specific costume, but the island breeches were worn until the mid-1950s. The women wore woven and lentils every day, while their good costumes were the sharp ones.

Festivals

Hagia Sophia, September 17
St. John's Day, August 29
Of St. John in Kydianta, June 24
Of St. Anastasia, on the Sunday of Thomas
Agios Georgios in Koila
Easter Sunday

Language idiom

The language is easy to understand, as there are not many idioms or many different words. The elders use some idioms, but generally the Lagkada glossary contains words found in other areas of Chios. Residents' involvement in shipping and contacts with other countries has resulted in their vocabulary incorporating words that are foreign to them.
Lagkada in the eyes of travelers

Many travelers mentioned in their descriptions in Lagkada and the wider area:

Rarely have I seen a landscape as dry and rocky as that stretching from Daskalopetra to Lagkada: a real desert of stones. In Lagkada we discovered along a port quite deep a series of new houses that rest on the mountain. If the island had passable roads, this port would quickly gain importance despite its proximity to the city, it is the natural way out of the products of the northern part of the island. Unfortunately, for a long time to come, Lagkada will not be able to communicate with Kardamyla except with paths where the mules stumble at every step. In the summer, they use for a part of the road the bed of a torrent that has willows on its banks and is overshadowed by rose-trees as big as real trees, but with the bad weather the communication becomes impossible ...
- Hubert Pernot, 1899, "The Island of Chios"

... A little further on, the mountains reach the shore of the sea and from there no one stops passing by steep and barren hills. Those who built the village seem to have chosen the tallest and steepest of all and have chipped it up to build their houses there. They tighten these rocks to give wheat, figs and grapes that produce a tolerable wine. Going around the mountain of Lagkada from the southwest you can find a good port, making it from the north side you meet two and these three ports are united in a common bay that the Greeks call Kolokythias and the Italians Porto Fino. We are obviously in Delfinion ...
- Fustel de Coulanges, 1856

Municipal unit Omiroupoli
Municipal Community Vrontados
Aipos (Αίπος, ο)
Vrontados (Βροντάδος, ο)
Moni Agiou Stefanou (Μονή Αγίου Στεφάνου, η)
Moni Myrsinidiou (Μονή Μυρσινιδίου, η)
Municipal Community Lagkada
Agios Stefanos (Άγιος Στέφανος, ο (νησίς))
Agrelopos (Αγρελωπός, ο)
Lagkada (Λαγκάδα, η)
Community Anavatos
Anavatos (Ανάβατος, ο)
Community Avgonyma
Avgonyma (Αυγώνυμα, τα
Community Karyes
Agia Paraskevi (Αγία Παρασκευή, η)
Agios Dimitrios (Άγιος Δημήτριος, ο)
Karyes (Καρυαί, αι)
Moni Agiou Markou (Μονή Αγίου Μάρκου, η)
Moni Agion Pateron (Μονή Αγίων Πατέρων, η)
Nea Moni (Νέα Μονή, η)
Community Sidirounta
Sidirounta (Σιδηρούντα, η)
Community Sykiada
Pantoukios (Παντουκιός, ο)
Sykiada (Sykiada) (Συκιάδα, η

See also: Chios (island)