Back to the roots Nick Kouzos (Part.1)  The first attempt to find traces of family roots, starting the story from Istanbul (Constantinople) where Kouzos family together with thousands of Greeks who tried to hide in the years  1915 to 1924.

 Back to the roots Nick Kouzos (Part.2) Arriving to Peramos

  Ταξίδι από την Λέσβο στην Μικρά Ασία στο Αι βαλί μέχρι το Κιρκαγάτσ πατρίδα του άλλου κλάδου της οικογένειας (Κονσολίδης) και την Σμύρνη

 (Part4.1) trip to Kirkagats of Asia Minor

 

   BOOKS PUBLISHED ON ASIA MINOR CASE

1.  Η ΜΑΣΤΙΓΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΣΙΑΣ “THE BLIGHT OF ASIA” υπό του GEORGE HORTON

     https://wordpress.com/post/timesforchange.wordpress.com/4355

2.  Ambassador’s Mongerthau’s story

       https://archive.org/details/ambassadormorgen00morguoft/page/n17/mode/2up

3.  Το  πλήρες βιβλίο του Γ. Σγουρίδη ΠΕΡΑΜΟΣ

     https://wordpress.com/post/timesforchange.wordpress.com/6648

4.  Η ΑΙΣΧΡΗ ΠΡΟΔΟΣΙΑ

5.  Η ΜΑΥΡΗ ΒΙΒΛΟΣ ΔΙΩΓΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΤΟΥΡΚΙΑΣ

     https://timesforchange.wordpress.com/2024/03/23/η-μαυρη-βιβλοσ-διωγμων-και-μαρτυριων-τ/(ανοίγει σε μία νέα καρτέλα)

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What is Peramos?

Peramos is a Greek city on the Peninsula of Kyzikos (now called Karsiyaka on the Kapidag Peninsula) in Turkey near the large port city of Bandirma (formerly Panormos) and the resort community of Erdek (formerly Artaki). The Peninsula is on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, which separates the European and Asian parts of Turkey, and links the Agean Sea in the Mediterranean ,with the Black Sea. Long Before the Ottoman Turks occupied present day Turkey in the 14th century, the inhabitants of this peninsula and much of the greater area of Asia Minor were Greek, as is evident from the ancient civilizations of Troy, Pergamon, Ephisus, and Kyzikos (renamed Belkis), up to the Greek cultural and economic life of the region in the beginning of this century. The pictures and text of this website tell the story of Peramos and it’s inhabitants — from King Kyzikus of legend (for whom the city of Kyzikos was named after he was accidently killed by Jason and the Argonauts), to the last of the Greek Peramians who in 1922 where forced to abandon their city.

Who am I?

My name is Steve Manitsas. I am a second generation Greek American living in San Francisco, where I practice Psychiatry. I manage this website for the purpose of keeping the memory of Peramos alive, and to give all the decendents of the Peramians around the world, a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. The Travelogue page details my recent visit to Peramos and Erdek (Artaki). Hotlinks to other Greek themed web sites can be found on my Links page.

What is the source of my information?

My grandfather, Steve Chris Manitsas (1890 – 1972), and my grandmother, Evanthia Kalpakis Manitsas (1905 – 1987), were born and raised in the city of Peramos. Steve (Stavros) fled Constantinople as a boy in 1908 to escape the conscription of Greeks into the Turkish army, coming to the United States. Evanthia and her family were driven from Peramos by the Turkish army as refugees in 1922, coming to Greece on the island of Thassos, and then to Kavala. After making his fortune in America, Steve returned to Greece where he met Evanthia in 1928. Their stories of life in Peramos were passed down to my father, Chris Steve Manitsas, who recounts a few of them here. In April of 1994, my father and I visited our cousins in Nea Peramos (“New Peramos”) near Kavala. While the Easter lamb was turning on the Souvli over hot coals; Anastasios Haralambidis, who was the last of the original Peramians alive (died 12/96), brought out a thick, tattered, paperback book, “Peramos of Kyzikos”, researched and written by Gregory Augerinou Sgouridi in 1968. Our command of the Greek language was not quite up to the task of following the narrative with ease, but we were able to make our way through the extensive lists of names in the latter chapters, recognizing not only many names familiar to us (Kalpakis — my grandmother’s maiden name; Hadzipolichronis — my father’s first cousin’s name), but also the name of my father’s namesake, my great grandfather Chrisogonos Manitsas. My father returned to San Francisco with the book in hand, planning to possibly restore the book, but also embarking on the task of translating the book into English. As the translation progressed, I suggested that the best way to make this information available to other english speaking decendents of Peramos was to publish the text on the World Wide Web. Fold out maps and selected photographs were scanned electronically, and it is now is available by clicking below.

 

 

Peramos of Kyzikos

Table of Contents

Introduction to English Translation (Start Here)

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Chapters: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Chapters: 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Image Archive

Bibliography

Kyzikos Connections

Travelogue

What’s New:

• January 14, 1999: The Kyzikos Connectionspage has received a long overdue update with letters from all around the world. Thank you to all who have connacted me with your questions and stories of Kyzikos.
• February 21, 1998: This update represents a major redesign of the site with the breakdown of the 3 “Sections” into 15 smaller “Chapters.” This now will allow faster downloading of all the images in each site which have been expanded to include new color photos of Artaki, Kyzikos, and drawings of the coinage of ancient Kyzikos. The Map of Peramos now describes the distortion of the map as it was originally drawn. The Introduction and the Bibliography pages have been redesigned as well. All these pages employ a new directory system at the top and bottom of the pages which allows easy links between all pages and chapters. The Kyzikos Connections section has also been expanded with new messages from all over the world.
• January 10, 1998: See a letter from Nick Kouzos, the grandson of the last Peramos School Headmaster in the Kyzikos Connections section. He is producing a video narrated in both Greek and English about his visit to Peramos and has news of plans to reissue the book this website is based on.
• December 7, 1997: A new section: Kyzikos Connections, has E-mail addresses and letters from others who have family from Kyzikos. I have already made contact with a family from Mihaniona, one from Bandirma, and the great granddaughter of Gabriel Manitsas. One respondent’s mother was born in Artaki and is still alive and well.
• November 1, 1997: New links to an article about Erdek and Kyzikos and new color pictures of the peninsula, ruins, coins, and the statue Aphrodite of Kyzikos, were added to the Image Archive.
• October 5, 1997: All pages of the Travelogue and Book have been edited to improve formatting and spelling… and I know that there are many more errors that still need to be fixed.
• September 20, 1997: The Introduction to the English Translation has been moved to a seperate page and expanded with several photos. The Bibliography of Peramos of Kyzikos has been moved to a seperate page to reduce the image loading time of Section 3 (previous layout). The bibliography, in Greek, will dispaly on any system and does not require special fonts.
• September 14, 1997: All sections of Peramos of Kyzikos have been corrected and updated with new pictures from my 1997 visit. The Peramos Image Archive has been expanded and moved off the main page to a separate page. The Archive now includes photographs from “Peramos of Kyzikos,” My 1997 visit, an Erdek travel brochure, and images from the website of thePatriarchate of Constantinople.
• September 13, 1997: The Travelogue page has been updated with many new photos, including four panoramas of Peramos and the peninsula.
• August 3, 1997: The Travelogue page is now available with the story of my visit to Constantinople, Artaki, Peramos, and Troy (otherwise known as Istanbul, Erdek, Karsiyaka, and Troy). Pictures are included from both brochures and the Peramos book.
• May 18, 1997: The inline image of the Peramos street map has been greatly refined and expanded. Additional features have been added to the maps of the Sea of Marmara. A new link to the Turkish Ministry of Tourism provides current information on the Marmara Region, and in particular, the area of Balikesir which includes the Kyzikos Peninsula.
• May 9, 1997: A political map of Turkey has been included for reference. Photos of two “Steve Chris Manitsas’s,” myself and my grandfather, are now available in the main text and in the Peramos Image Archive.
• May 5, 1997: All maps of the Sea of Marmara have been updated to include the names of additional geographic features as well as the new Turkish names of other locations. Thumbnail icons of all maps have been updated for the Peramos Image Archive.
• April 22, 1997: New color image of the Icon of the Panagia Faneromeni from the Patriarchate of Constantinople is available. New links to web pages for Bandirma – Erdek from the Turkish tourism agency.
• April 16, 1997: All photographs and maps are now available via the Peramos Image Archive.
• April 1, 1997: Peramos of Kyzikos homepage has been reorganized and relocated to http://members.aol.com/peramos. Please update any bookmarks.

 

What’s comming?

I have recieved several new images including a satelite imagge of the peninsula, a photograph of the small town of Roda, and a photograph of a recent conference on Kyzikos. I expect to soon integrate these into the Peramos Website.Plans are still in the works for a special “Links” section with a compliation of all these sites which now have links scattered through the text. The Travelogue section text is continuing to undergo expansion as well.

I have received E-mail from people around the world who trace their family back to Asia Minor. The responses, although infrequent, are what make managing this site so rewarding. These comments, will be added to the Kyzikos Connections section when appropriate.

This page has been accessed  times since January 27, 1997. This page is maintained by Steve Chris Manitsas. Send comments to Manitsas@aol.com It was last updated January 14, 1999, and is continuing to undergo revision.