A N D R O S
&
the origin of the
MANSOLA
family name
The 'Castle' (Kastro) , part of the Venetian fortress built to overlook the shipping into the older 'Paraporti' harbor , has become the symbol of Andros
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A N D R O S & the origin of the MANSOLA family name
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The 'Castle' (Kastro) , part of the Venetian fortress built to overlook the shipping into the older 'Paraporti' harbor , has become the symbol of Andros
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| Andros island is situated in the narrowest point of the Aegean Sea , at the center of the Hellenic world trading routes. It played an important strategic role as a naval base in the area |  |
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Family Name History |
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family name originated from Italy most probably out of the words MANO
(al) SOLE
(MANO = the hand , SOLE = the sun ; hands in the sun ) meaning 'the workers' . At present the majority
of people with a similar name in the world are named MAZOLA mostly
of Italian origin found usually in the archives of Sicily since 1700
AD . An olive oil trade mark Mazola is very common at the European
super
markets of today. The family name was attributed for the first time in
Italy following the profession. The cradle of the family seems to be, however
, the region of the Jura mountains where an identical name of a village is
existing now similar to the one that became the final settlement of the
Greek Mansola family in Andros Greece . This village , in France , in the
canton of Saint Claude , department of the Franche Compté , very near to
the franco-swisse border, is called LAMOURA
. The 'OU' pronounced closer to the French 'U' became finally 'Y' in Greek
and having lost its initial pronunciation in modern Greek it is heard as a
simple 'I' ( or 'EE' in English ) , although still written with a 'Y'.
LAMOURA and LAMYRA are similar words which belong probably to a Celtic
dialect and mean , the 'mountain water source' for which
both villages were famous in the past. At present the French village is
advertised as a ski resort center , as probably most of the Jura area,
while the mineral water source of SARYZA , a bit north of LAMYRA in
Greece, has decreased the reputation of the once renown water sources in
Lamyra , with their 'thundering echo' while coming out of the mountains
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Mansola family were people who followed the Venetian navy as
workers to create fortifications and settlements . The Venetians occupied most of the Ionian and Aegean
Islands .
Marino Dandolo was the governor who took officially the island under his command . When Venice lost influence
and Turkey invaded the islands there were some constant skirmishes with
the Christian population mostly hidden on the mountains . Around 1770
there was a revolt against Turkey on the mainland and the islands were supported initially by the Russians . It ended up with a
treaty imposed by the Russians to the Turks which let , however , the Greeks out of any
protection to face alone the Turkish vengeance . One member of the Mansola
family was known to have been hanged . The rest fled towards the mainland
to the west and inhabited the sea side of the Arcadian territory of the
Peloponnese
, known as Astros Many stayed there , others went to the closest large city of Tripolis , the capital city of Peloponnese and an important source of our name at present . During the Greek revolution against the Turks it is known that a school teacher named DROSOS MANSOLAS played an important role participating on the Declaration of Independence on 1/1/1822 in Epidavros , as one of the first parliament members . His name is commemorated in this list of the 'fathers of the nation' . He was later to become a Minister of a number of national governments. The same person appeared in the triad of the 3rd of September movement for Constitution against king Otto , the first king of the liberated Greece After around 1830 some Mansola family members returned back to the liberated ANDROS and they were installed around the Messaria valley and up to the nearest cliffs which have enough water to support farming . The village in that area is known as LAMYRA . Our family originated from this branch
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ANDROS History |
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Andros was
inhabited ever since 3000 BC . Around 1500 BC the Pelasgeans a race of
islanders , the first layer of the present greek nation were active on the island
. This race is related strongly to the Phoenicians who have inhabited the Eastern
Mediterranean , Cyprus , Crete and Rhodos islands and who kept under their
influence all the islands in the Aegean Sea . The leader of the
first inhabitants was called Arados
whose name was eventually developed to Andros
. In 1200 BC the Cretans took over the ruling of the Aegean Sea under a leader known as
Andros , named probably after the island (Note : In modern greek Andras is The Man , it might be that Andros was a term qualifying a brave man or a leader) . In later times it was given the name Hydrousa ( Hydor = Water in greek ) due to the many springs the island possesses which contributed to the proliferation of vegetation . Its underground is linked with the large Euvoia northern island and the snow melting on its mountains travels below the sea bottom and exits on Andros mountains . This is why Andros is different from the usually dry Aegean islands . The name Gavros was also attributed once to the island or to a small inhabited area on it , the closest harbor to the greek mainland that bears the name Gavrion to our days The Ionian race , greeks mainly living on the coast of Asia Minor , invaded the island around 1000 BC . Foundlings of the Geometric times were located in Zagora . A gate similar to the one with the Lions found in Micynae was discovered there . The Ionians made this island a strong naval base and as population thrived they expanded into colonies at Chalkidiki . People from Andros colonised Stagira the mother town of Aristotle .The town were most of the Hellenistic period ruins were found was Palaiopolis and flourished between 700-200 BC . A proof that the position of the island was an important cross-road of the sea routes of the Aegean Sea The ancient God of Dionysos was selected as the protector of the island combining the life in green , the trees and the wine . The first written sign discovered in Palaiopolis is dated back to 700 BC Around 500 BC the island was invaded by Persians who dominated the area of Asia Minor but were later chased away by the Athenian Democracy and Themistocles . Andros became a member of the Athenian Naval Alliance holding a key position in the middle of the Aegean Sea . Due to its local wealth , however , was heavy taxed and moved over to the Spartan side initially but later returned back to the Athenian influence when the Democracy recovered .
Statue
of Artemis in the archeological museum of Andros In 200 BC the Romans met resistance from the Andriotes . They ruined the island , exiled the inhabitants and offered the depleted Andros to Attalos . He later allowed some people to return back
In Middle Ages the Neoplatonic philosopher Proklos was teaching there and Michael Psellos founded an Academy during the Byzantine period . In that period Andros becomes known as a producer of silk thread that provided most of the big cities of the Byzantine Empire and Europe and a center of trade and customs responsible for the Cyclades . Attacked by the Saracens pirates in 826 AD was then saved by the Byzantine fleet who put a strong protection on the island During the 1st Crusade in 1204 AD the Venetians under Marino Dandolo occupied most of the Aegean islands and Andros came under the governing of Marco Sanudo who built the existing castle (Kastro) and other naval fortifications . From 1384 the governor was Pedro Zeno but was not able to save the island from new pirate attacks as he became interested more in Naxos . The last venetian ruler Giovanni Francesco Somarita was overthrown by Andriotes . The Turks later took over and Andros was invaded by the Turk-Algerian pirate Hureydin Barbarossa in 1566 about , 100 years after the fall of the Byzantine Empire On
the Turk-Russian wars between 1768-1774 Andros joins the anti-Turkish
movement only to face later a period of turkish vengeance and turmoil . It
developed later however to a naval shipping center because the peace
treaty at the end of this conflict were Turks lost allowed ships to sail
freely under a russian flag . Many greeks hoisted this flag and expanded
their shipping range . Andros flourished as a ship owing island reported
officially to have in 1813 :
40 sailboats, of total capacity 2800 tons, 400 sailors, 800 cannons and it
was considered 5th between the 26 ports of the country. On May the 10th 1821 the priest and philosopher Theofilos Kairis is the leader of the local insurgents against the Turks who finally attached Andros to the new greek state . The island contributed with ships , men and money from the monasteries . Kairis was the most significant spiritual child of Andros . He was later chased for his social views but is today considered as one of the most important greek philosophers of the meta-revolutionary times . His statue and square with the same name are found in the center of Chora , the capital city .
The old harbour of 'Paraporti' during the greek revolution Due to its location most of men were involved with the sea and the merchant navy, a tradition that put the basis of the modern greek ship owning power – followed equally well by the near eastern island of Chios . In 1927 Andros was the second harbour in Greece in number of ship registrations .The name of the island is used in many large ships sailing all over the world owned by ship owners coming from Andros who have contributed as well to the restoration of its historical treasures |
The Venetian castle has been adopted as the symbol of the island
The arc-bridge linking the mainland with the Venetian castle is small but stands there for a long time against the angry waves
The castle at sunrise
In front of Kastro a statue representing the seaman returning home symbolises a whole period of life and tradition to Andros where practically 90% of people made their living sailing on the seven seas
BATSI . One of the most important transport harbour in Andros of today
The church of Agia Thalassini , the 'Madona of the Sea' on the old Paraporti dock of 'Plakoura' protecting the seamen
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The Andros City Chora as seen from the northern hills A beloved 'theme' for painting of our father Nikolaos Mansolas |
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