The Cemetery of Castellorizo

[cressie]

Hi All

What a great legacy to the descendants of those buried at the Castellorizo Cemetery. What we need now is someone to transcribe those headstone inscriptions into English so we can all share the information so wonderfully obtained.

Perhaps someone will put their hand up to do so. I do hope that will be the case. There is no one in my immediate family that can read Greek and that would be the situation for lots of others on this forum. Any takers?

Regards
Allan

[Administrator]

Allan,

With the approval of the author, I am preparing a translation and short commentary on the transcribed headstones.

As you have already observed, this is a wonderful piece of work that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

The translation should be posted in the next fortnight.

Nicholas

[malcolm]

Thanks again, Nicholas, for your industry. You've uncovered for me the fact that Emmanual V Xanthis lost a first wife, Eleni, before going on to marry my grandfather's sister Chrisafina Photios Sergi.

Malcolm I'Anson (Sergi/Koutsoukos)

[Theo]

hi there,

very interesting looking at some very familiar names.
I could not however find my descendents (Kremastos and Lazou)
regards,
Theo Pettaras

[G.M.B.]

Hello to all ,
I found an interesting item when surfing the net and I thought you may be interested.

an atricle about Cyprus, stated that family names were handed down by way of the previous
adult male name such as George the next male would be Johny George ( or of George ) then the next would be Jim Johny and similar until about early 1800s they started to stick to one surname. Can anyone else confirm this. this sounds very logical.

Also I found that sme names starting wth "hadj " or similar are due to their ancestors having done the pilgrimage to the christain holy land , this pilgremage was know as the "Hadj" this may be in the muslim language , but has been passed on to the Greek pilgrims and Joined to their names. there seems to some minor changes to the spelling to some names.

any comments on this .

this may help some understand their surnames.

Best regards,
George Bayss

[cristiancarranza]

Great job! That historian deserves a monument! When my wife (Maria Helena Constantino Spyrides) and me visited the cemetery, we found the graveyard of Anastasia Spyridou, we´ve wrote down on paper the inscriptions but we do not translated them yet.

Nick, Great Job with the translation! There will be a lot of people very happy in Brazil.

Is it possible to post a photo of Helena´s grandparent graveyard?

Thanks to all!!

[Alexi Spyridis]

wow thanks Nichola, i found 178 to be of interes to me do you think that there is an indervidual picture of the head stone?
I just read some of the other mails i Noticed a name of Maria Helena Constantino Spyrides could she be able to contact me on [e-mail] I have been trying to find my family in Brasil for a long time with no luck of a reply as the last i seen most of them was about 18 years ago with my father Spyro Constantine Spyridis Thanks

[Administrator]

gmb said:

Hello to all ,
I found an interesting item when surfing the net and I thought you may be interested.

an atricle about Cyprus, stated that family names were handed down by way of the previous
adult male name such as George the next male would be Johny George ( or of George ) then the next would be Jim Johny and similar until about early 1800s they started to stick to one surname. Can anyone else confirm this. this sounds very logical.

Also I found that sme names starting wth "hadj " or similar are due to their ancestors having done the pilgrimage to the christain holy land , this pilgremage was know as the "Hadj" this may be in the muslim language , but has been passed on to the Greek pilgrims and Joined to their names. there seems to some minor changes to the spelling to some names.

any comments on this .

this may help some understand their surnames.

Best regards,
George Bayss

George,

Both propositions are correct.

On Castellorizo, surnames usually originate from father's name (Alexiou, Antonas, Mihail), the place of origin (Roditis, Santoriniou, Spartalis, Livissianis), a physical or character description of a family member (Koufos, Maliaros, Taktikos), the work they did (Boyiatzis, Tsopanis, Tsigaros) or even a prominent member of the family (Iatrou, Papa...). Many of the surnames are of Turkish origin, but they also follow a similar pattern.

The large array of surnames that adopt the prefix 'Hatzi', and its many variants, was a public acknowledgement that the person concerned had made the pilgrimmage to the Holy Land and had been baptised in the River Jordan. As you have observed, the term is a corruption of the Arabic term 'haj' which refers to the Islamic pilgrimmage to Mecca.

Nicholas

[evdokia]

Hi Nicholas,
Have just been reading the Cemetry of Kastellorizo. What can I say WOW!!!!

My father was Georgios Elias KOUTSOUKOS. Mum was Chrissy (Chrisanthi) SAMIOTIS. Both born and bred in Kastellorizo.

My dad's brother Iacovos Koutsoukos is the number 122 you have listed. He was drowned while fishing. He was 2 years older than my dad. He is listed as born 1907, but in fact he was born 1905. He was 28 when he drowned,(not 26 as listed) a storm came in overtook the boat.

My grandad Elias, had asked him not to go out to sea as there was a storm coming in. As he was the eldest son with nine other siblings, he took it upon himself to go and get a feed for the family. Grandad Elias's last words to him were 'there is a storm coming in if you get into difficulty, make sure the boat is safe as it is our livelyhood - DON'T COME HOME WITHOUT IT!'

When he got into difficulty, others went to help him, but he refused to come without the boat, hence he was drowned.

Grandfather Elias, never forgave himself for his harsh words, and could never deal with the death of his eldest son, so he moved the family to Rhodos. Dad went back to Kastellorizo and married mum in 1936, and they lived there till 1945. They also moved to Rhodos after the Navagio of 1945, as mum buried their 3 little girls in Gaza, also her sister Asimina Samiotis aged 33, so Kazzie held too many bitter memories for them. They started a new life in Rhodos with the extended family, and that is where I was born.

You have a Savas V Savas listed in the cemetery his wife is buried in Perth WA
Evdokia (Eva) Koutsoukos

[Administrator]

Evdokia,

You have recounted a very moving family story which adds great poignancy to the cemetery entry for your late uncle Iakovos.

Nicholas

[kaf]

Nicholas, thank you or the copy of the dowry contract for our ancestor Papadia Stefanou Lazou to Soterios Y Kafkaloudis. We are really grateful. Bless you Phyllys and Mike.

[komninos k zervos]

great job john, no wonder your aunt cynthia is so proud of you.
great great work, meticulous, accurate, a thing of beauty.
why all the secrecy about it's authorship?
komninos

[Nicholas Malaxos]

Great work on the cemetary and the list of the deceased. Lot 108 is the grave of Konstantina (Connie) Skopelitis born in Perth WA , the daughter of Stavros Sertis and Evangelia ( My Aunt Vivi as she was known and the daughter of Nicholas Barbouttis) and Connie was the wife of Stepho Skopelitis ( a regular on the island and the former Secretary of the Castellorizian World Association. Connie was the mother of Lettie (who works at the Mayor's Office on the island) and her brother Dimitris (Athens).
Also Lot 218 Yeorgios Barbouttis was my grandmother's brother and the son of Hatziyiannis Barbouttis. He died at the young age of 26 and there is a interesting romantic story about Yeorgios and Maria Kiosouglou - which resulted in his early death and her terrible ending.

[G.M.B.]

Hello Nicholas,

I think a lot of members would like to read your romatic story if you care to put it forward,
I for one am certainly intereted.

Best regards,
George Bayss.

[Nicholas Malaxos]

Hi George

This is a story of a secret love affair between Yorgos Barbouttis and Maria Kiosoglou. Yorgos was working on the merchant ships following a career as a Captain. He was the eldest son of Hadjiyiannis Barbouttis (my great grandfather) a well established business man in Kalamaki where he had a successful timber mill. One night, Yorgos convinced Maria to elope with him and she hid in the ship that he was travelling. This became a scandal and in fact the families of Yorgos and Maria, went into mourning, for their children declaring them 'dead' to the family. I am told from three sources that they would turn their, usually red fez, the other way - as it was black - thus signifying they were in mourning. Several weeks later, both Yorgos and Maria returned to Castellorizo as he attracted pneumonia. Again from my sources, I was told that the ship arrived at night and both families sent a representative to receive both Yorgos and Maria - incognito - back to their homes. Yorgos died soon after from pneumonia and Maria went insane on hearing of his death. I got this information from three seperate sources - Christina Anthonas (nee Kiosouglou), Konstantinia Malaxos (nee Karantonis), Irene Raftopoulos (nee Hatzigeorguras). Also I asked Nick Stephanou about it after he wrote an article on the Hatzigiannis Barbouttis family and he answered me that 'some things are not told' in the interest of maintaining the honour of the families.

[G.M.B.]

Thanks Nicholas,

That would certainly have been a traumatic series of happenings
for the couple and their families, In those days of much stricter morals and standards. and a real tragedy for those concerned.

All of these things will have been forgotten as we move on with the ages.
Its good you can tell the story.

Regards,
George Bayss.

[basnick]

Hi Nick

Romantic story.

Iam also a Barbouttis my grand fathers name was Nicholas and my fathers name was Kyriacos. Could you send me any information regarding the family tree.
I know for a fact that there were two brothers Nicholas and George and all of them came to Australia. Nicholas married Maria Hatzikyriacos Iam not sure that ,that was her real name.Her relatives lived in Perth Nick Mouglalis. My mothers maiden name was Rosi Vasili Loukas. Hoping you will be able to help me with my question.

Regards

Basil Barbouttis

[nicholas]

Hello Nicholas, my great grandfather is buried in Plot 75. I did visit it, You did encourage me a few years ago to learn the language , at least written and when I saw the grave plot I recognised his name, now I have come accross this site.
Thankyou.
Nick

[mariamegisti]

Dear Nicholas Malaxos,

I would like to inform you that Connie Skopelitis was daughter of Stavros Sertis and Paraskevi

[Administrator]

Thanks to George Bayss again for bringing to our attention that the cemetery transcription was not accessible. The introductory post to this thread is therefore reproduced here together with a new link that enables Members to download an updated and expanded version of the transcription:

The cemetery of Castellorizo has been located at Mikro Nifti in the Mandraki since the beginning of the twentieth century. Prior to this, it was to be found in the Horafia precinct of the town, close to the church of Ayios Yeorgios tou Louka. A small circular ossuary at the rear of this church is the only reminder of the burial ground that existed here from at least the 17th century.

Thanks to the good work of an anonymous scholar, the entire cemetery has been mapped and the headstones transcribed. While still a work in progress, the published results are a very useful tool for identifying many of those buried in the cemetery.

It is to be hoped that this initiative will encourage the local municipality to restore the considerable damage to the site and the continuing deterioration of the headstones.

To see the transcriptions and accompanying commentary, please view the attachment with this post.

Nicholas

PS Thanks to George Bayss for bringing this to the attention of the Castellorizo Forum

Castellorizo Cemetery.pdf (832.69 KB)