Isaris

Did You Know?

• The name Isaris likely derives from the Turkish word 'hisar', meaning fortress, though the origin is uncertain.
• The Isaris Elementary School began operating in the mid-19th century and later acquired its own building through a donation from Andreas Syggrou.

Revolution of 1821

Several accounts mention Isaris as a stronghold for klephts (bandits) and armatoloi (mounted militia) in the pre-revolutionary years from the 1770s to 1821. Many inhabitants participated in various battles of 1821, with the most notable being Panagiotis Katrivanos (1784–?) and Athanasios Sioris (1756–1833) in the Battle of Valtetsi. A letter from Theodoros Kolokotronis to General Sioris in Isaris on June 2, 1825, has been preserved. A monument in the central plaza of the village, built circa 1985, honors the brave Isaraians. The lower half of the monument lists additional soldiers and officers including Sioris, Th. K. Tag., Sakelariadis, D., Rousos, Th. Al., and Kyriakopoulos, Kyr., among many others.

Administrative History

In 1834, the new municipality of Lykosoura chose Isari as its administrative center. The settlement grew into a local commercial hub, complete with schools, a post office, and a military-style police force, and at different points it also housed a Justice of the Peace and a Criminal Court. However, the region’s rocky, mountainous landscape meant that local earnings stayed low, prompting many residents to emigrate to America near the end of the 1800s.

A 1912 administrative reorganization created the Community of Isari, which had 1,214 people according to the 1920 census. The village was officially renamed Isaris in 1940. Ongoing emigration and movement to cities steadily shrank the population, which fell to 434 by 1961. Isaris functioned as its own community until the Kapodistrias Plan made it a municipal district of Megalopolis, and the Kallikratis Program later merged it fully into the Municipality of Megalopolis. The 2011 census counted only 86 residents.

Churches and Chapels

The village of Isaris is home to several places of worship. Its main church, Agios Nikolaos, or Saint Nicholas, presents a plain, simple exterior that contrasts with its lavish interior. Money sent back by Isaraians living abroad paid for marble doors and windows and a gilded iconostasis. The original church was lost during the Battle of Isaris. Just before the village, travelers find the smaller Agios Nikolaos chapel in Kotronia, built in 1893. Its feast day on May 9 draws a large festival. Other chapels include Agios Vasilis, Agios Ilias, Agios Athanasios, Agios Georgios, Agios Dimitrios, the Holy Apostles, Panagitsa, Agios Nektarios, Agia Paraskevi, Agia Kyriaki, Agios Andreas, Agia Varvara, and Agios Petros, which stands in the cemetery.

Notable Figures

John Xeron, born Yannis Xerokostas in 1890, was an abstract painter who moved to the United States in 1904 and trained at the Corcoran School of Art. For 28 years, from 1939 until his death in 1967, he worked as a security guard at the Guggenheim Museum. The Smithsonian Archives of American Art calls him a pioneer of non-objective painting, and his work is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Silent film actor Yannis Tsantilis performed in Hollywood under the name John Belasco.

Angelos Koutsoumaris (1896–1985) served as an Areopagite. In 1943, as head of the Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki, he tried to rescue 400 Jewish children from deportation to concentration camps, but his efforts failed; the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki later honored him posthumously. Emmanuel I. Vouzikas was a lawyer and civil law professor at the University of Athens Law School, where he served as Rector from 1981 to 1982.