Records for St George church in Krystallopigi
In the late 1800s and early 1900s my wife's grandparents lived in what is now called Krystallopigi in northwestern Greece very close to the Albanian border. At the time they lived there the village was known as Smardesh. They and their parents were married in the St George church there.
I understand the town is mainly uninhabited now. The church building still stands but is not used.
Would anyone know if the old St George church records still exist and if it is possible to somehow access them?
Thanks,
Greg
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Village records are kept by priests, either in their homes or in the church. Since the church is not being used, the records (hopefully) will be with the priest who administers to the villagers who live there. Do you know anyone in the village who can get further information about this? Have you checked to see if the village has a Facebook page, or if there is a FB page for a village close to Krystallopigi, where you can ask this question? There are no online church records in Greece, except for Sparta Marriage records 1835-1935 which I digitized and are online at MyHeritage, but that collection is for Lakonia only. You can contact pofessional genealogist, Gregory Kontos, who is the founder of GreekAncestry.net and book a free consulation with him. He may have suggestions for you. Greg's email is: info@greekancestry.net. Another suggestion is to join the Hellenic Genealogy Geek Facebook page and ask if anyone has information about your village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118224528189671. There are over 35,000 people in this group and someone may have information that will help you.
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@JohnsonGreg Please see Carol's response above. Great suggestions.
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Thank you so much for your suggestions. They are much appreciated!
Greg
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Good morning
Unfortunately, the archives of the school and the church of Kristallopigi (Smardesi), were being burned on May 1903, holding the title deeds and birth certificates in Greek.
See "Ion Dragoumis", The notebooks of Ilinden. Original title: Ίωνος Δραγούμη, "Τα Τετράδια του Ίλιντεν".
Also, I found an article in a blog about what happened in Kristallopigi, according to Greek sources of the time. Use the translation into English in your browser.
Have a nice day
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