Leka village

Fast facts

Population 2021: 424 inhabitants
Older Censuses 2011: 415, 2001: 528, 1991: 560, 1940: 1.258, 1886: 1.045,  1869: 840 inhabitants
Population density per Km²  74 inhabitants
Village altitude  200 m
Region averege altitude 197 m, mountain
Village land area  0,07 km²
Region land area 5,7 km²
Parish Churches 1 Orthodox, agios Ioannis Prodromos (St. John the Baptist), basilica style with three aisles without a dome, founded around 1845 and completed in 1863.
Economy relies mainly on agriculture (mainly viticulture, olives, vegetables, and older carobs as animal feed ).

Description

Leka  village (Greek: Λέκα) is located at the northwestern part of the island, at the northeastern foothills of the Kerkis mountain.

The distances are: from Samos town 35 km, from Karlovasi town 4 Km, from Pythagorio town 38 Km and from Marathokampos village 9 Km. 

Administratively consists the local communities of Leka, which belongs to Karlovasi municipal unit, of West Samos Municipality with Karlovasi capital.

It is one of the oldest and largest villages of the island,, built in a green landscape with excellent northeast view to Karlovasi town,  till the Asia Minor coast .

Ep. Stamatiadis in “Samiaka” (1886), characterizes the inhabitants of the village as very intelligent, eloquent, with a cheerful mood and likeable sarcasm. He describes as “Lekatiko” (=style from Leka) the way the locals answer questions, which is accurate and fun, for example – which is your mother, – the one who gave birth me.

Τhe beautiful square with the big plane tree, the traditional cafes and the great views, coupled with hospitable people, the beautiful traditional houses and several mansions, will surely impress you.

The village preserves elements of the local traditional architecture and since 2002, has been characterized by the Greek goverment, as settlement of special natural beauty (4754 / 30-4-2002), with many restrictions on the houses construction and repair.

History & name

The first inhabitant of the village was Lekas (or Lekkas), from whom the village took its name, it is characteristic that until the end of the 19th century when the rest of the Samians refer to the village they said “of Lekas”, ie to the village of Lekas.

Lekas along with others (as reported by Em. Kritikidis), moved from Peloponnese to Samos, chased by the Ottoman conquerors, while in Samos they would have land and freedom from the Ottomans, according to the privileges offered by Kilic Ali Pasha, after the recolonization of the island from 1562.

The rest of the Peloponnesians who came with Lekas ​​(perhaps others who came later), lived in the southeast and at a distance of 2 km. from the village, creating the settlement “Morias” (or Mouria, as it was paraphrased with the help of the Samian dialect), as the Peloponnese was called at that time. It is possible that these settlers chose a different area from Lekas, ​​for security from the pirate raids, since the settlement was invisible from the sea. The area of ​​the settlement, in addition to security, had fertile soil and a lot of water, but the weakening of the soil creates even today, many landslides and disintegration of the soil, and the inhabitants leave the settlement and move to Leka, approximately in the middle 18th c..

Ioannis Lekkakos in his book “Samiakes studies”, states that the author Ep. Stamatiadis, supports that the village creation period was before 1581, citing a document of the same year, in to which refers the village. It is certain, however, that the village pre-existed of the year 1725, since there are confirmed notarial documents, with donations of 1725 and 1745, which state as origin of the donor “from Lekka vilage”, as I. Lekkakos wrote with detail in his book.

Settlements

Today one settlement belongs to Leka village, that is the settlement of Agios Panteleimon with 7 inhabitants, at the northwest of the Leka village, at a distance of 1.5 Km.  It was named after its church, while earlier it was named Sourley (or Tsourley), from the name of the first inhabitant, named Stamoulos Sourlis. The first settlers of the came from island of Kythira at the beginning of the 18th century and in 1869 it had 25 houses with 92 inhabitants.  It’s built near Kerkitios riverbed (or Kastania torrent), with abundant water surrounded by steep mountains and lush vegetation, while they were famous for the big and tasty pomegranates. A professor of Agricultural university of Athens, he had described as “ideal pomegranates”, after analysis in a university laboratory in 1960, together with the agriculturist (then student) Evangelos G. Kiloukiotis.

Formerly belonged to Leka and the settlement Sourides, southeast of Karlovasi town, which took its name from the Souri family who lived there. Today the settlement belongs to Karlovasi town.

Tips

• Visit the Church “Agios Ioannis Baptistis” (=Saint John the Baptist), the pride of the village.
• Drink coffee or have a snack in the traditional cafes at the village square.
• From Leka village, follow the dirt road northwest to the settlement of Agios Panteleimon (or Tsourley) for 2 km, and then continue for another 3 km to Potami beach, you will definitely be impressed.
• The biggest social event of the village it’s the feast of “Agios Ioannis Baptists” at August 29, one of the largest in Samos.

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