Emmanouil Pappas () is a village in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality of Emmanouil Pappas. It is situated in the foothills of mountain Menoikio, 17 km east of Serres, and 101 km northeast of Thessaloniki. The former name of the village was Dovista (Δοβίστα in standard Greek or Ντουβίστα/Duvista in the local dialect). It was renamed Emmanouil Pappas in 1927, after the hero of the Greek War of Independence in Macedonia who was born there in 1773.
The village is renowned for its traditional Macedonian architecture, characterized by three-story houses and picturesque narrow streets. The main attractions are the building of the old school that was built in 1906 and has been recently restored, the main church of Saint Athanasius, built in 1805 on the same spot where an older church existed, with its magnificent wooden carved iconostasis and the chapels on the surrounding hills.
History
The foundation of the village
The exact date of the foundation of the village remains unknown, despite the efforts of various local history researchers. It is documented, however, by an Ottoman tax register known as TT3 that there existed in 1454 a small settlement with the same name, Dovista, inhabited by 27 families (which means a possible population of around 100-130 inhabitants back then). Vasilis Kartsios, a researcher descending from Emmanouil Papas and author of various studies on local history, has claimed in his work "Dovista, a post-Byzantine settlement: history of Darnakochoria region with the birthplace of the hero Emmanouil Papas as benchmark" (Δοβίστα, μια υστεροβυζαντινή παροικία: η ιστορία των Δαρνακοχωρίων με σημείο αναφοράς τη γενέτειρα του ήρωα Εμμανουήλ Παπά, 1991) that the village was founded in the mid-17th century by Greek populations of the nearby Byzantine town of Zichna (near modern Nea Zichni), who had fled to the slopes of Mount Menoikio shortly after the Ottoman conquest of the area, remained there for some centuries in order to avoid oppression and arbitrariness of Ottoman authorities and landlords that were very common during the first centuries of Ottoman rule and eventually returned to the lowlands and founded new settlements only when Ottoman administration became less harsh. This hypothesis, however, is not supported after the discovery of TT3, at least in regards to the foundation date, while it cannot be excluded that the village pre-existed the Ottoman conquest of Serres and the vicinity, which happened in 1383.
Testimonies of 19th century travellers
In the next centuries the population of the village increased significantly and during the second half of the 19th century Dovista is described by various travellers, both Greeks and non-Greeks as a thriving big Greek village with a population of nearly or over 1,000 inhabitants. For instance, Vasilios Nikolaidis wrote in 1859 on Dovista in his Francophone book "Les Turcs et la Turquie contemporaine" (The Turks and contemporary Turkey, vol. 1, page 164):
"Nous nous dirigeons a l' est, pendant une heure; nous foulons un sol assez egal et nous atteignons le village de Douvista, compose de cent cinquante maisons grecques." (We head toward east, for an hour. We walk on a rather level ground and reach the village Douvista, which consists of 150 Greek houses)."Les Turcs et la Turquie contemporaine" by Vasilios Nikolaidis, 1859, vol. 1, page 164
The French geographer and professor of the Ottoman High School of Galata Saray in Istanbul Alexandre Synvet mentions Dovista (misspelled as "Dobitza") with 2,320 Greek inhabitants in 1878, in page 43 of his work "Les Grecs de l’Empire Ottoman. Etude Statistique et Ethnographique" (The Greeks of the Ottoman Empire. Statistical and ethnographic study).
Bulgarian Metodi Kusev (Методий Кусев), Exarchist Bishop of Stara Zagora, whose descent was from Ohrid, mentioned Dovista (as "Douvischta") with 212 families and 600 Greek inhabitants in page 28 of his Francophone book Ethnographie des Vilayets d'Andrinople, de Monastir et de Salonique (Ethnography of the Vilayets of Adrianople, Monastir and Salonica, 1878)."Ethnographie des Vilayets d'Andrinople, de Monastir et de Salonique" by Metodi Kusev, 1878, page 28
The major of the engineer corps of the Greek army Nikolaos Schinas (Νικόλαος Σχινάς) wrote in page 444 of his work "Travelling notes on Macedonia, Epirus, the new borderline and Thessaly, vol. 2" (1886) (Οδοιπορικαί σημειώσεις Μακεδονίας, Ηπείρου, νέας οροθετικής γραμμής και Θεσσαλίας, B τόμος):
"To the north of it and in the same foothills of Mount Menoikio, lies in a distance of 1/2 hour the village Dovista, with around 150 Christian families, church and schools for both boys and girls". (Αρκτικώς τούτου κείται επί των αυτών υπωρειών του Μενοικίου όρους και εις απόστασιν 1/2 ώρας το χωρίον Ντοβίστα, έχον περί τας 150 οικογενείας χριστιανικάς, εκκλησίαν και σχολεία αρρένων και θηλέων).
The Serb Spiridon Gopčević (Спиридон Гопчевић), a leading figure of Serbian propaganda in Macedonia, mentioned Dovista (as "Duvišta") with 232 houses and 600 Greek tax-paying inhabitants (only adult males or widows that were family leaders due to lack of adult males were considered as tax payers by the Ottoman authorities, so the real population must have been much bigger than the number of tax payers), in page 380 of his work "Makedonien und Alt-Serbien" (Macedonia and Old Serbia, 1889)"Makedonien und Alt-Serbien" by Spiridon Gopčević, 1889, page 380
The Bulgarian historian Georgi Strezov (Георги Стрезов) whose descent was from Ohrid wrote on Dovista in page 30 of his work "Два санджака от Източна Македония" (Two Sanjaks of East Macedonia, 1889)
"Dovista, big village to the east of Serres, in the foothills of Boz Dag (Menoikio). Three hours distance (from the city), the road is good and on level ground. The inhabitants of this village are industrious and clever enough, however they don't have too much arable land and therefore they go for work to other villages. In Dovista they grow wheat, vineyards, cotton and tobacco. There is a Greek church and Greek school. 230 houses and 1,100 Darnakes inhabitants."
(Довища, голямо село на И от Сяр при полите на Боздаг. Пътят 3 часа е добър и прав. Жителите на това село са доста разбудени; нямайки достатъчно земя за обработване, отиват по другите села на работа. В Довище се обработват жита, грозде, памук и тютюн. Има гръцка църква и гръцко училище. 230 къщи с 1100 жители дърнаци.)
The term "Darnakes", mentioned in the above excerpt by the Bulgarian author in its slavicized form "Darnatsi/дърнаци", is a name that the inhabitants of Dovista and the neighbouring villages (the so-called "Darnakochoria", villages of the Darnakes) use as a kind of "tribal" name. According to what the renowned Serb geographer Jovan Cvijić (Јован Цвијић) wrote in page 521 of his work "Основе за географију и геологију Македоније и Старе Србије" (Basic principles of Geography and Geology of Macedonia and Old Serbia, 1906):
"It is interesting that the Greek populations between Serres and Ziliachova (modern Nea Zichni) are called Darnaci (Darnakes) by the Slavs. It seems that Macedonian Greeks have no other tribal name".
Интересантно је да Словени зову грчко становништво између Сереза и Зиљахова дарнацима; иначе изгледа да македонски Грци немају других имена осим народнога."Основе за географију и геологију Македоније и Старе Србије" by Jovan Cvijić, 1906, page 521
Also the Bulgarian Vasil Kanchov (Васил Кънчов), chief inspector of the Bulgarian schools of Macedonia and Minister of Education later, who provided a detailed list of all the inhabited places of Macedonia with ethnographic and religious data in his work "Македония: етнография и статистика" (Macedonia, ethnography and statistics, 1900), wrote in page 73 in regards to Darnakes and Darnakochoria:
"The Greek villages around Serres are: Tipoliani (modern Chryso), Zili (evacuated after the Balkan wars, doesn't exist today), Tumba, Sarmusakli (modern Pendapoli), Dovista (modern Emmanouil Papas), Patriki, Soubaskioyϊ (modern Neo Souli), Vezniko (modern Aghio Pnevma) and Sokol (modern Sykia). There are few Konyar Turks in the last two. The population of these villages is called Darnakes (Darnaci). They are the remnants of an old Greek colony without Bulgarian admixture. Although the Darnakes are surrounded by Bulgarian villages, they don't know not even a single Bulgarian word and their relations with the other villages are very limited. Mixed marriages are not practised. Darnakes are industrious farmers and grow cotton, while they also have good vineyards. Based on some local traditions, Verkovich believes that Darnakes have migrated in that region from Thebes. According to Greek philologists, the name Darnakes derives from the word "dare"(δάρε) which these villagers pronounce instead of standard Greek "tora" (τώρα=now).
"Гръцки села около Сяр са Тополен, Зили, Тумба, Сармуксали, Довища, Патрик, Субаш Кьой, Везник и Сокол. В двете последни има и малко турци коняри. Населението на тия села се нарича дарнаци. Това са останки от стара гръцка колония без български примес. Дарнаците ако и да са обиколени с български села, не знаят дума българска и сношенията между тях и околните села са много ограничени. Смесени бракове не стават. Дарнаците са прилежни земеделци, работят памук и имат добри лозя. Като се основава върху някои местни предания Веркович вярва, че дарнаците са преселени от Тива. Според тълкуванието на гръцки филолози името дарнаци произлиза от думата δάρε, която тия селяни употребяват вместо τώρα (сега)"
In page 177 of the same book, Kanchov mentions Dovista with 1,500 Christian Greek inhabitants (Kanchov followed the usual Bulgarian tactic of using the native language of Macedonian populations as only criterion to determine their ethnic belonging, as opposed to Ottoman authorities that used in their censuses religion for that purpose).
The Bulgarian D. M. Brancoff (pen name of Dimitar Mishev, secretary of the Bulgarian Exarchate) mentions Dovista (as "Dovichta") with 1400 Greek inhabitants in page 200 of his work "La Macédoine et sa population chrétienne" (Macedonia and its Christian population, 1903)."La Macédoine et sa population chrétienne" by D. M. Brancoff, 1903, page 200
Life and social structure in Ottoman time
During Ottoman time, the population of the village was organized according to the typical Greek communal institutions system that already existed in Byzantine time. This is documented in the "Codex" (a kind of archive held by Greek Orthodox churches in the past) of the main church of the village, dedicated to Saint Athanasius (Άγιος Αθανάσιος). In the mid 19th century there existed in Dovista a kindergarten and two separate Greek elementary schools for boys and girls. In 1885, the public assembly of the village population decided that a new school building should be erected because the old one lacked space and could barely host the continuously increasing number of pupils. The erection of the new building was to be funded by compulsory contributions of the inhabitants, that would be credited through the tobacco sales, which was already back then the main crop of the area. The relevant agreement goes as follows: