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 hebiggest village of Pelion
was at its commercial and cultural peak in the 17th and 18th Centuries, It is the birth place of G. Kordatos, a distinguished historian. There are texts dating back to the Byzantine era that mention Pelion by the name Zagora.
The library of Zagora with thousands of rare books is of great interest.
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The school of Rigas Ferreos or Hellenic museum as it was known, the
oldest school on Pelion, Kallinikos Lapatis (Patriarch of Constantinopole)
and the bard of the Greeks Rigas Fereos were students of the school among
others. |
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The
town of Zagora lies in the very heart of Pelion forest. From the Middle Ages
onwards there are plenty of records documenting the rise and prosperity of
Zagora. |
THE
SCHOOL
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Due to the certain administrative and economical privileges
given by the Ottoman Empire to the Pelion area, Zagora steadily grew into a
very important commercial and manufacturing centre. During the 17th
and 18th century, the famous Zagorian silk and woolen clothes were
sent to Constantinople, smirna and other important trading centres throughout
Europe by the Zagorian sailing ships.
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At the same time a serious movement for the promotion and protection of
the Greek cultural heritage started with the establishment of the School of
Zagora (1712), and its Library a few decades later (1762),
THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LIBRARY
 The
combined efforts of Ioannis Prigos and the Ecumenical Patriarch Kallinikos
lll, both prominent and leading figures of the 18th
century Zagora, are to thanked for the foundation and the acclaimed
reputation of this historical establishment.
Ioannis Prigos emigrated when he
was just a sixteen – year – old boy, in order to learn more and educate
himself better. Travelling around Alexandria, Venice and Smirna, he ended up
in Amsterdam – Holland where he became very rich through trading, Being a
deeply religious man he spent a large sum of money, taking care of the
Orthodox Community in Amsterdam. However, most of this great fortune was
spent on his hometown Zagora. He had a great desire to improve his country,
seeing the progress of Europe and comparing it to the misery and enslavement
of Greece. His first generous donation of money, books teaching aids etc,
came to Zagora in 1762.
At the same time, Patriarch
Kallinikos lll, after a short and troubled Patriarchate in Constantinople and
a four- year exile in Sinah, came back to his hometown and took general care
of its progress until his death; he School which had already been functioning
for 40 years or more and to which he gave the name
‘’Hellinomouseion’’ (literally ‘’Greek Museum’’, in the sense
of the ‘’place of the Muses’’, place of art and research, in other
words a Greek cultural centre).
 The
books Ioannis Prigos was sending from Holland and which finally came to a
total of 1000
volumes approximately, were kept there together with the
Patriarch’ s manuscripts and other
documents famous Zagorians who had high
positions in Constantinople, in Russia and elsewhere.
At those important donations
consisted mostly of books published in Venice, Rome, Moscow, Vienna, London,
The Hague, Amsterdam, Paris and other major cultural centres of Europe. All
of them were printed at printers of famous Academies, Royal Colleges and well
– known printers such as Aldus Manutius, Hieronymous Commelini and were
supervised by wise men like Erasmus Schmid, Balthasar Corderious. Euregene
Voulgaris and others. Their contains were classical ancient Greek literature
(Home, Plato, Aristotle), religious, historical and geographical subjects
too, such as those of the famous Dutch cosmologist Abraham Ortellious and
many others.
The fame of
‘’Hellinomouseion’’ spread quickly throughout the area. It was a
School offering knowledge High School to University Level, as we would call
today. Subjects such as Anciend Greek Philosophy, History, Geography,
Physics, mathematics and foreign Languages (Latin and French) were taught.
Such a School then, with an enriched and well – organized Library, was
certainly expected to attract the interest of many students as well as
teachers.
The most eminent of those who
studied at Zagoras ‘’Hellinomouseion’’ were, the heroic fighter and
folk poet Rigas Feraeos from Velestino , Anthimos Gazis and Gregorios
Constadas (leading figures in the Greek uprising), who later on, tried to
establish a similar School and Library in their own hometown Milies (another
village from Pelion). Amongst the late students and users of the Library at
that time, was the Zagorian Philippos Ioannou, the first Philosophy Professor
at the National University of Athens.
The most well known teachers f
that period, were the famous Zagorian scholar Constantinos Triantafilides and
also the Zagorian Nikolaos Kassavetis.
Finally in 1821, when the Great
Revolution broke out, the School closed down.
THE
LIBRARY OF ZAGORA FROM 1821 TO THE PRESENT DAY.
 After
the closure of the School, the building where the Library was originally
housed was demolished, and the books changed location from time to time. They
were sporadically used by a few interested locals and foreigners, such as the
Zagorian, Theodoros Afentoulis (who later became Professor of Pharmacology at
the University of Athens), the French traveller Mazieres and others. As a
rule though, the books rermain closed unprotected and unobtainable for any
kind of scientific recearch.
With the reunification of Thessaly
to independed Greece in 1881, the Community of Zagora started taking care of
the Library. Prior to this time and up to present day, new donations of books
have been added by either prestigious or ordinary Zagorian people. Since
1955, the Library has been under the Ministry of Education. The donations of
books have still continued either by individuals or by various organisations,
ministries etc, so that today it includes more than 18.000 books.
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