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Topography |
samosin / Topography / Villages / Samian Villages in general | ||
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Samos
was a desert island until the middle of the 16th Century. The people of
Samos have emigrated mainly to the nearby Greek island of Chios, to Asia
During this period, the Turkish Navy with their admiral Khilits Ali Pasas, (a French who used to be a pirate himself and became a Turkish admiral after he was captured by the Turks) passed by Samos and decided that he really liked the island. When he returned to Istanbul, he demanded it and the Sultan gave it to him as a present. Kilits Ali Pasas then put the islanders’ repatriation to Samos as his first priority.
He
made a call for people to settle down in Samos, in return for receiving
generous benefits from the Turkish Government. The new inhabitants had
to be Christian Orthodox Greeks and they were going to be given the
freedom to practice their religion, to be self-administered, as well as
the privilege of not paying tribute to the Turkish Government for seven
years. Khilits Ali Pasas looked primarily for descendants of people who
were originally from Samos and tried to Because of the fear of pirate incursions, the new inhabitants of the island were building their houses away from the coast. Their houses were hidden inside forests or up on the hills and mountains, close to each other with very narrow streets in between so that they could defend themselves and their properties when they were in danger from the pirates. It wasn’t until after the beginning of the 19th Century that some villages appeared by the coast. It wasn’t until this time that it was considered that the pirates no longer posed a threat to islanders.
Up
until 1998 there were 2 towns and 33 villages on the island of Samos.
Since then, it has been a unification of the villages which has ended up
comprising the formation of 4 Municipalities:
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| Copyrights & Web Design by Jiannis E. Kiloukiotis © 1999 - 2003 Samos Text Evaggelos J. Kiloukiotis Translate Giannis E. Koulas | ||||
Samian villages in general
Minor
and other nearby areas. This is mostly due to the fact that hundreds of
pirates used to use Samos and other Aegean islands as their hide-outs.
support their repatriation to the island of their ancestors. This is
when the first settlements and villages appeared on the island. 
2.
Municipality of Karlovasi (total extent: 100.3 sq.km, population:
8.728) which incorporated 10 villages on the North-West of Samos. 
