5-6 years ago we published the following, today it seems something is finally happening or will happen soon, after all the obstacles collapsed. With a few small changes we publish them again, because we believe they are still relevant today.
We recently read about the small problems with the road signs, which we are still waiting to be corrected, better late than never, because they are very important for our visitors, certainly not so important for the competent and locals who know where to go without looking at them. our road signs, and we ask everyone who knows about these mistakes to report them to the competent service of the municipality, someone has to do it, no autopilot will do it, maybe the municipality does not know them or forgot them to correct them We want to believe that one day the municipality will understand these small mistakes are very important and we will not forget them ……….
We remembered that it was Astros in the sixties that everything changed drastically and so hastily, as if everything happened in the sixties.
In the sixties many great changes took place in our daily lives locally, nationally and globally. This “generation of sixty” decided to change everything everywhere. Let us mention some such as May 68, Che, the peace movements, the emancipation of women, the hippies who used to tell us every day “Make Love, not War”, “socialism with a human face” by Dubeskek and the insight of Willy Brandt At the national level, the dictatorship of 1967 stopped the social and political changes and temporarily put this “generation of sixty” in plaster, killed its Levantine soul and restored the morale of the cops and collaborators with the known results. We will leave the global and national for others and for the past. Let us come to Astraina of the sixties.
Here the idea of the Astros Museum was built by the “ancient Greek” Koulis Hasapogiannis, (these we had, we could always do with “measure”, these we did)
The Astros Museum
Astros before 1960 had a museum and promoted as much as possible our cultural heritage. In the photo above is “the first Astros museum as it was before the demolition. Here the “ancient Greek” Koulis Hasapogiannis built the idea of the Astros Museum, carried the marble statues with his fellow villagers and sometimes asked for the help of Panos Kampilis, who was younger and stronger, to raise them on the staircase. His age also caught him ostensibly from one end to help. The railings on the windows for safety by the archaeologists were not put by Karytsiotis or the agronomist and gardeners of the garden, they were put by his hands μας our late professor and inspected them every time he opened the Astros Museum.
The Karytsioti School became the Astros Museum and served the place beautifully for several years, (we had these, we could always do this with “measure”, we did these), until it became the “pretext of the crack” and closed indefinitely.
I’m sure if he lived today, he would gather us all in the square, give us a nice festive speech and put us all in front with trowels and cement to close the “pretext of the crack” today …… Everyone, the mayor in front, would have him convince him certainly would not disappoint him. He would sit next to you and do whatever he could to help or stir the mud, but more to make sure we did a good job and finished it, today.
The “ancient Greek” Koulis Hasapogiannis, was accidentally born 2,500 years later. His whole social and professional life was full of “mutual respect”, “Greek measure”, unparalleled “ethos”, and “excessive courtesy” for the smallest detail, even when some of his students teased him, he smiled sweetly and politely and he quickly turned to his own subject so that the students could learn something, even though they wanted a break…. , these were our teachers. ”
Today we do not have a museum and today we do not want to promote our cultural heritage, because we let some “stupid employees”, as one of our great poets used to say, insist on having closed and inaccessible today, not only the Museum, but still without any excuse the pretext and the “Sacred Space” of the Second National Assembly of the Greeks.
Today the head of EFARK, Ephorate of Antiquities of Arcadia, decided without any excuse and does not want anyone to see the walls and an inscription of the archeological service of the “Sacred Space” of the Second National Assembly of the Greeks, nothing else exists in this area, and this in her opinion highlights our cultural heritage. We do not understand this persistence, crookedness and narrow-mindedness.
We know that we “must build Romeiko in the space and sector in which we are” and we must all take public positions on all issues. We wonder why until today the local “leadership”, our elected representatives, the mayor, the regional governor and our deputies do not make a public intervention to the competent “stupid officials” and on the issue of the “Sacred Space” of the Second National Assembly of the Greeks. At least let us tell them their position publicly. We will soon find them in front of our elected representatives.
In the final analysis, not all these “competent” people do nothing, but it is our fault that we allow them and as we understand, they will soon take their place.
We do not understand why “the stones do not rise” to open the “Holy Space” permanently and irrevocably.
The water
The whole village before the sixties had 3-4 fountains. We went with the barrels and the sinks very far for water. Around sixty they brought fountains all over the village in every neighborhood and slowly added water to the houses later. With the water, the village slowly changed, the inhabitants planted the first oranges and cultivated their pergolas.
The “farm”, the large space that starts from where OTE is located, and this space belonged to the farm, to the cemetery and from “west to east”, with all the schools, stadiums and squares, its space Zafeiris Foundation, were donated by the biggest benefactor of our place D. Karytsiotis to the School to pay for tuition the teachers of the school with the fruits and the fruits of the “farm” such as grapes, medlars. The water was also brought by Karytsiotis from the “manna of water”, above Loukou, with a stone spit, (aqueduct) that still exists, so that the village has water and the farm garden is watered so that the School is open . ”
At this point of the aqueduct it had been spread by the older and the younger ότι. That Karytsiotis had given instructions to the Arab keeper and gardener of the garden “to cut the water” from the village, when he learned the Astros museum was closed. Of course he would pass the farm back because there was no reason for the residents to have it anymore. Two hundred years ago the great benefactor brought us water for the village, gave us the farm and built the school. Today, two hundred years later, we are not even worthy to open the “sacred space”, let alone the museum, which we left to be demolished ten years ago….
Electricity
Electricity also came around sixty. I still remember reading with the oil lamps and the lamps.
The streets, The society and the politics of the time
After the water and the electricity, it was time to open the roads, another great work of the time. Before the sixties in Astros there were three taxis and 2-3 trucks, people were moving by buses, in Agiannis There were two buses upstairs and two downstairs. Children in Agiannis we went on foot. Let us remember how the roads were made.
Let us say a few words about the society and politics of the time to better understand what we are saying. After the occupation, the civil war and the guerrillas, the people of toil closed themselves to survive one more day. The left was now defeated and chased in relentless persecution. The democratic faction was frightened and also persecuted by the dictatorship of Metaxas and the civil war, it was questioned and despised by the establishment. The right was in its greatness.
The deputies of Arkadia in 1958 were the 6 of the right-wing EPE, Triantaphyllakos, Papailiou, Aposkitis, Michas, Pavlopoulos, Kalteziotis, Papadimitriou, and N. Bakopoulos of the Democratic Party, Liberal Party and in 1961 the E, T Aposkitis, Michas, Pavlopoulos, one of the right-wing Markezini Tsakalos KP and one the democratic N. Bakopoulos EK. The numbers tell the truth convincingly, no analysis is needed. At that time, the leftists in Astros were counted on the fingers of “one hand”, leftists, there were no communists then, because the word was “myasma”, no one said that word. The Democrats were a little more numerous, but most of them for the sake of survival hid and read the Democratic newspapers secretly or folded them in when they bought them so that they would not be seen. Astros was more right-wing than Arcadia and almost everyone in Astros voted for Dimitraki and Apostoli, say about 80% and almost all the other right-wing party leaders…. At that time, the village was ruled by Dimitrakis Efthymiou and Apostolis Hasapogiannis. They were the two “big party leaders” of the village, there were other small party leaders, who as more affluent had many political friends, some of whom worked part-time in their jobs and out of obligation always voted for their friends, the powerful political deputies for many years. .Triantaphyllako and E. Papailiou, father of the current MP Arkadia of SYRIZA, here we are not talking about nepotism and family rule, but the people say in similar cases “the kingdom goes to work” …… Although Dimitrakis and Apostolis belonged to the same party of the right (EPE) were fierce enemies for their own reasons, perhaps for the plots they shared. They and their friends, or as their leaders or minions called them, hardly talked to each other, they were political opponents.
Then a miracle of unity and understanding took place. Dimitrakis and Apostolis agreed to make Saranto Kanellopoulos, a left-wing communist, not an “initiated” communist, president of the community, to do any work. Sarantos was “a leftist ideologue, but respected by the inhabitants..His first job was to open the streets. He would go in front of the bulldozer with the cigarette in his mouth and a chisel and say to the bulldozer “varto, varto” .. to throw the olives. , and kept Sarando for good and for bad for his boss Dimitrakis. In fact, a cousin of my uncle, let’s not say names, took him to court because he opened the way for him to pass and the judge assumed and asked the cousin “there is his house across the street, he also cut from his own field” the cousin as she was honest without thinking he confessed “he cut more of his own” which was the truth, and so the judge easily concluded “the accused is innocent”, with the cousin looking curious .. My father came from Agiannis and saw the hatred Our pergola was missing the fence spikes, the zucchini and the “batakes” were on the way down the road. My Uncle had overdone it. He disliked the trout and the zucchini, but he liked the road, as a progressive man he was he laughed with joy, he could not go and his brother to the courts. Besides, my grandfather built the house at this point in 1915 and had entered a lot since then, on the contrary, many did and let them have space, once the road in front of our house used to pass by with difficulty only a donkey loaded…. So somehow fortunately the roads we have today opened ..
Paralio Astros in the 1950’s
The Karella factory
I happened to be present when the late Tzimis Gardikiotis and Alkis Hasapogiannis both started with a lot of passion and love for the place the first conversations in the late sixties to build a factory in Astros “for the good of the village” the factory became later and changed the village.
University fees have been abolished
We mention this here, let it not be a local issue, because it had very great, I would say indescribable effects on the Greek and local society.
In November 1963, the Democratic Party and the old man of democracy won the national elections and the old man of democracy, under the influence of E. Papanoutsos, abolished the tuition fees for the universities. Then, in order to go to university for a year, your father had to sell a field if he had one. As a result, all the toiling people could now more easily educate their children to change their lives. When I finished high school we are 40 students and I think 36-38 went to universities, in Law we are 6.
The names of the streets
I do not know what happened to the street names, I did not follow that, and I’m sure, mistakes would be made that we can correct later, we all have to have suggestions. I will be allowed to suggest some street names that I consider important, if they have not been made and do not exist, I hope that those in charge will take them into account in the future.
We must have a road in Astros called.
Giannis Mattheou, Kyriakou Hasapogianni, Sarantou Kanellopoulos, Tzimis Gardikiotis. (the street that is our home), Alki Hasapogianni
These names are with us, they are full of Astros, let’s say otherwise there can be no Astros without… .Kyriakos Hasapogiannis… ..My uncle vice-president, I will not mention him for anti-nepotist reasons, let his cousin’s descendants mention him ……….
astrosgr.com/en / John Koutogiorgas
Astros and the Karella factory, let us thank Tzimis Gardikiotis and Alkis Hasapogiannis.
astrosgr.com 