Syvota (Greek: Σύβοτα, pronounced[ˈsivota])[2][3] is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit.[4] The municipal unit has an area of 72.439 km2.[5] The population in 2011 was 875 for the village, and 2,640 for the municipal unit. The municipal unit has four main settlements: Syvota, Argyrotopos, Faskomilia, and Plataria. The seat of the municipality was in Plataria.
Bella beach in Syvota.
History
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the region are the Thesprotians, a Greek tribe of Epirus. In antiquity, the location was called Sybota and was the site of the Battle of Sybota. During the Middle Ages, Syvota, like the rest of Epirus, was part of the Byzantine Empire and the Despotate of Epirus, the Republic of Venice and in the 15th century it became part of the Ottoman Empire. The first local Muslims of Syvota are recorded in Arvenitsa and Nista as early as 1613.[6]
Like all other Muslim Cham Albanian communities, the population was affected by the annexation of the region by Greece and many left the area. In 1913, the population of Arvenitsa (Albanian: Arvenicë[8]) dropped from 439 to 389, Mourtos (Albanian: Murto or Vola[8]) from 970 to 659 and Nista (Albanian: Nistë[8]) from 511 to 358.[9] The Chams of Plataria (Albanian: Pllatare[8]) were designated by Greece for expulsion to Turkey in 1925. Albania protested against the plan in the League of Nations. Albania's representative Mehdi Frashëri named Plataria "one of the most prosperous" settlements of Chameria.[10] A further wave of emigration towards Turkey is documented in Mourtos in 1932 and Arvenitsa (renamed to Argyrotopos in 1928[11]) in 1934.[12] Greece settled Greek Orthodox refugees from Turkey in Mourtos after 1922, following the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. By 1926, there were 30 refugee families from Turkey in Arvenitsa, 90 in Nista, 5 in Plataria, 150 in Mourtos.[13] Albanian was taught again for Albanian children in the region in Nista (renamed to Faskomilia in 1928) as of 1936.[14]
The Chams of Syvota lived in the village until 1944, when they were expelled for collaborating with the Axis Powers.[15] During the short term Italian occupation in Syvota (early November 1940) the village was burnt by Cham Albanian bands and Italian troops.[16]
In Polyneri (Albanian: Kuç,[8] renamed to Polyneri in 1955), a tiny Muslim Cham community resides, and until recently, the last imam in Epirus lived in this village. The mosque was blown up by a Christian villager during the Regime of the Colonels.[17]
Today, Syvota town is a well-developed resort, owing largely to the numerous pristine beaches with clear waters located on several islets immediately offshore.
^Baltsiotis. The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greec. 2011. "One of the last acts of the“cleansing of history” is the blowing up of the mosque at the village of Polyneri (ex-Koutsi,) by a (Christian) villager, during the time of the Colonels’ Dictatorship.147 A tiny Muslim community and, until recently, the last imam of Epirus still survive in this village."
^Μιχάλης Κοκολάκης, Η τουρκική στατιστική της Ηπείρου στο Σαλναμέ του 1895, στο Τετράδια Εργασίας, τεύχος 18, Κέντρο Νεοελληνικών Ερευνών, Αθήνα 2008, σελ 310.
