Walking down a street in Athens, the names on the plaques can help you read the layers of a history. Some neighborhood names carry the mark of the Ottoman era, while some streets commemorate the heroes of the 1821 Greek War of Independence. These two layers stand side by side and offer a silent narrative of how modern Greece separated from the Ottoman Empire. However, this is an extremely sensitive area of history. Below, I attempt to convey both the Greek independence narrative and the massacre of Muslim and Jewish civilians that occurred during this process, drawing from sources and presenting neither side in an exalted nor denigrating manner. When figures are disputed, I state this clearly.
Neighborhoods Bearing the Mark of Ottoman Era
Athens remained under Ottoman rule for approximately four centuries and during this period was a mixed town composed of Orthodox Christians and Muslims (Turks, Albanians, and Islamicized local populations). Prior to the uprising, the city had a population of approximately 10,000, half of whom were Muslim. Traces of this past can still be seen in some neighborhood names:
- Plaka: This historic district at the foot of the Acropolis was the city's "Turkish quarter" and the seat of the Turkish voyvode (governor) during the Ottoman era. The common belief is that its name derives from the Turkish word "plaka" (flat stone); however, there is also an alternative explanation that it derives from "Arvanitika" (a Greek Arvanitika dialect) "pliak," meaning "old," thus "Pliaka Athena" (Old Athens).
- Psyri (Psiri): During the Ottoman period, this area was home to a mosque called the "Kara Mosque" and an important Muslim community.
- Kolonaki: Today's upscale neighborhood takes its name from a small column ("kolonaki") that Athenians erected during the Ottoman period to protect themselves from epidemics.
- Halandri: It is said to be named after Hala Bey, a Turkish landowner with vast holdings in the area during the Ottoman period.
It should also be noted that some names, such as Monastiraki, date back before the Ottoman era to the Byzantine period ("small monastery"). Thus, Athens' toponymy belongs not to a single era but to layered strata.
1821: The Causes of the Uprising and the Greek Perspective
When addressed fairly, the causes that led to the 1821 Greek War of Independence are multifaceted. In the Greek narrative, this uprising was a struggle to establish and define its own state and identity. The primary factors were:
- Nationalism and Enlightenment: Nationalist ideas inspired by the French and American revolutions spread through the Greek diaspora and intellectuals. A shared language and Orthodox Church nurtured a sense of nationhood.
- Economic and social conditions: The deteriorating economic situation following the Napoleonic Wars, heavy taxation, and the limited political rights of non-Muslims increased discontent. The frequently cited Greek phrase "we were economically exploited too" is based on these tax and land tenure grievances.
- Identity transformation: With the uprising, the Orthodox population that had defined itself as Romioi (Roman/Byzantine people) for centuries began to emphasize Hellenic (Greek) identity in reference to ancient Greece. This transformation was neither sudden nor complete; indeed, some Orthodox communities continued to call themselves "Romioi" until the 20th century.
This perspective can be read as an oppressed community demanding its own rights and its own state, and it has historical legitimacy.
The Other Side of the Coin: The Massacre in Tripolitsa and Morea
The same war has another face, often in the shadows and deserving of honest acknowledgment. In the first months of the uprising, Muslim civilians in the Morea (Peloponnese) region were largely exterminated or forced to flee. This is a fact and must not be minimized.
The most documented event is the Massacre of Tripolitsa (Tripolitsa). This Ottoman administrative center in Morea was taken by Greek forces in September 1821. Following the city's fall, Muslim (Turkish and other) and Jewish civilian populations were massacred for three days. Estimates of the death toll vary greatly depending on the source: Thomas Gordon, who reached the city shortly after, gave the number as approximately 8,000, while some estimates point to a range between 10,000 and 25,000. The Ottoman scribe Seyyid Mehmed Es'ad Efendi recorded that no Jews were left alive and that only 97 Turks were spared for ransom. (These figures are disputed and come from different sources.)
Tripolitsa was the largest and last such massacre of Muslims in Morea in the early days of the uprising. Historians estimate that tens of thousands of Muslim men, women, and children were killed during this initial period. The Muslim population in Morea before the uprising is estimated at 40,000–50,000, and by mid-1822, very few remained. Some of the survivors sought refuge in fortresses, some fled to Anatolia, and many perished in sieges. Thus, the centuries-old Muslim presence in Morea was effectively eliminated.
We must state honestly: the same event is two different memories for two communities. For Greeks, it is the end of servitude and the birth of independence; for the Muslim and Jewish communities destroyed, it is an obliteration. Understanding this period is impossible without acknowledging both.
The Memory of Revolution in Street Names
After independence, the newly founded Greek state named the capital's streets after the heroes of 1821 and locations of important battles. In central Athens, Kolokotroni Street commemorates Theodoros Kolokotronis, the iconic commander of the uprising. The names of heroes such as Miaoulis, Androutsos, Botsaris, Karaiskakis, and Kanaris, as well as female heroes like Bouboulina and Manto Mavrogenous, are scattered throughout the city. Street names like Valtetsiou, Gravias, and Arachovis reference the defining battles of the revolution. Thus, deliberately, a layer of national memory was built over the Ottoman stratum.
Reading the Two Layers Together
Athens' neighborhood and street names carry not one truth but two complementary realities at once: names like Plaka, Psyri, and Kolonaki preserve the mark of Ottoman centuries, while Kolokotroni and battle names commemorate this separation and new national identity. Reading this history from only one side's perspective is incomplete and misleading. Acknowledging the legitimate dimensions of the Greek independence struggle does not require ignoring the civilian massacres in Tripolitsa and throughout Morea; rather, holding both truths together is the only way to understand this sensitive period humanely and honestly.
