together. In 1844 he is said to have abducted a maiden of Ghrevena called Sula, who had refused to become his wife. His grandchildren say that his first wife was a Christian maiden from Phili and that on her death he married her sister Tilidhala by whom he had one son and three daughters. He died in 1864 not far short of eighty years of age. Scanty as our information is it gives us some idea of the state of the district during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Turkish government frightened by the Greek revolution had determined to extinguish the armatoli, between whom and the brigands there was little difference. In Ghrevena was a Turkish garrison and some Albanian irregulars. Their duty was to suppress brigandage, and keep the main roads safe. The brigands would protect their own country against other bands, and support themselves by raiding neighbouring districts, Christian or Turkish. But as we have seen in the case of the brothers Zhakas, there were feuds amongst the brigands themselves. If pursuit was too hot the robbers would retire into Greece, or surrender to the authorities and keep quiet for a time till they found a favourable opportunity to resume their profession.
Ghrevena itself consists of two quarters. One is the town proper called Kasabas, really the Turkish word for town (Qasaba), where are the market, shops, government offices, prison and so on. The other is called Varoshi and lies to the west beyond a small stream. It is an exclusively Christian quarter standing on a low hill, and comprises the bishop’s palace, the metropolis, and some houses clustering round them. In Leake’s day there were twenty, but now there are many more. Pouqueville states that the town was founded by colonists from a place he calls Castron-Bouchalistas, but he does not say where this latter place was. It is possible that it may be the Valakhadhes village of Kastro which lies about three hours west of Ghrevena and contains the ruins of a medieval fort. Locally it is said that the first inhabitants of Ghrevena came from a place called Ghrevian Rakhiotis a ridge on the hill towards the village of Kira Kale about an hour north-west of the town. But with the information
