Philadelphia of Asia Minor
Being a unique city it was built in 140 B.C. that
is 2.135 years ago, by Attalos the
2nd
Philadelphos, king of Pergamos. The city was
adorned with a lot of temples which were
dedicated to the 12 gods of Olympus. It became
intellectual and cultural centre of the Greek
nation of Asia Minor and therefore it was given
the name "Little Athens". Its founder Attalos the
2nd
protected especially the education and the arts
and crafts. He also constructed a lot of artistic
monuments, the most known being the "gallery of
Attalos".
The
residents of Philadelphia were taught
Christianity by the Disciples of Apostle Paul.
Philadelphians founded the first church, which
prospered and came to prominence until 1922, the
year of its destruction. In the first Christian
years, it had 27 christian marvellous
temples.
In
the Apocalypse of John the Theologos it is
included among the 7 churches of Asia, while its
bishop is called "Angel of Philadelphia". In the
pantheon of its faithful martyrs among others,
neomartyr Demetrius is mentioned, whose memory is
celebrated on the second of June. The Ecumenical
Patriarch Gerasimos the 1st
came from Philadelphia too.
Finally,
due to the great history of Philadelphia and the
exceptional positions its church had, the
American Quaker William Penn built in America
with the "society of the Fili"(filos = friend in
greek), a new city to which he gave the name
Philadelphia, one of the biggest cities of the
U.S.A. today.
| Philadelphia is today, the Turkish city Ala-Sehir, which is built in the northeast of the foot of the mountain Tmolos and in the south of the valley of Sardis. The valley is crossed by the railway of Smyrni to Afion Karahisar, on whose 169 |
Nea Philadelphia Nares or Ares or Narets
The area of Nea Philadelphia of today was at the
beginning of our century one immense estate which
belonged to the turkish bey of the area. It had
the name Nares which may have meant pomegranate
because of the many pomegranate trees that were
in the area of the swamps (INAP in turkish means
pomegranate). In 1922 the first refugees come to
the area. The first fifteen families are refugees
from Asia Minor. With their few possessions they
settled down in the new land of Nares… The surge
of the new residents to the area goes on until
1929.
In
1924 - 1925 the first refugee houses are starting
to be given to them. The refugees had lived until
then in tents and we all know how hard life in a
billet is. In 1930 the distribution of the land
takes place and everybody depending on his
marital status takes the respective
land.
In
1925 the new name
Nea Philadelphia
is given to the village to remember the land of
their fathers.
In
1927 people from Thrace settle down in the
village. These two marvelous Greek nations,
people from Asia Minor and Thrace, they meet each
other, joined their cultures and through their
struggle to survive on an everyday basis, they
give the area a new culture. They build a new
school made of stone, carrying stones from the
quarry in order to educate their children,
because they know that the education of their
children offers them new horizons for their
future. The patriot teacher
Stergios Tsaousis
tries to teach through these hard times the Greek
language. In 1925 they bring water to the village
from the mountain making a
marvelous building
where water flows creating a source of life for
them and their livestock.
Life
in the new village is difficult but they go on
fighting. The religious feeling and the faith of
the residents motivates them to build new
temples. The only church that existed until that
moment was the stone church of S. George, which
was built in 1912 by Bulgarian workers. The
residents of the village extend the old church
and
make
the new majestic temple of
S. Panteleimon
in memory of the saint that they left behind in
their lost homeland. The temple is completed in
1956. First priest of the village is the
unforgettable Papanikolaos
Valsamis.
In
1928 the community grew even more with the new
residents that settled down in the village, the
Sarakatsani people, an ancient greek nation,
whose main occupation was cattle
raising.
All
these nations together, bring with them the
manners and customs of their areas. Every Sunday
they hold festivities, they dance and have fun
forgetting this way their problems. Love and
concord is there among the residents even today,
with the protection of "Mary
the Philadelphian".
Her icon was discovered in an admirable way and
a
splendid temple
was built in 1964 and today it is a spiritual and
beautiful place.
Recently
archaeological excavations brought to light a
great number of archaeological findings, which
will make known the ancient history of the
area.
Today
the area is quite developed and the residents are
very creative. Philadelphia has developed into a
beautiful village, which induces the admiration
of all its visitors. This is owed to the alert
efforts of the presidents, the residents of the
village and the Philadelphians who live in other
areas.
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