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21-580: According to tradition, it was named after the admiral ( droungarios ) Manoussos Kallikratis, who in March 1453 led a campaign to reinforce the defense of Constantinople with 5 ships and 1500 Cretan volunteers. As reported by Sphrantzes in his Chronicle , these volunteers manned three towers on the walls of Constantinople and continued to fight bravely even after the city had fallen . In recognition of their gallantry, sultan Mehmed allowed them to safely sail back to Crete, retaining their weapons. Kallikratis

42-455: A chiliarchia ), although on occasion it could rise to 3000 men. Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912) is recorded as having established droungoi of only 400 men for the new smaller themes. The rank of droungarios was one of the lowest military ranks that carried an accompanying court title , ranging from hypatos to vestētōr . The commander of the elite Vigla regiment (one of

63-507: A Cretan music night dedicated to his memory was held in Kallikratis. During summer, a couple of coffee shops and taverns serving local specialties are open in the area. 35°14′32″N 24°15′27″E  /  35.24222°N 24.25750°E  / 35.24222; 24.25750 Droungarios A droungarios , also spelled drungarios ( Greek : δρουγγάριος , Latin : drungarius ) and sometimes anglicized as Drungary ,

84-523: A count ( komēs ) in command of a squadron of warships. Kostas Mountakis Kostas Mountakis ( Greek : Κώστας Μουντάκης , a.k.a. Μουντόκωστας) (10 February 1926, in Alfa in Mylopotamos , Crete – 31 January 1991) was a Greek musician who popularized the traditional music of the island of Crete, primarily with the lyra , the bowed string instrument of Crete and most popular surviving form of

105-660: Is situated off the beaten tourist path and is made up of four widely separated neighborhoods that are scattered on a small plateau in Lefka Ori with an average altitude of 540m. It can be reached via Myriokefala , Asi Gonia or Asfendos , or via a recently paved road with more than 25 tight hair-pin turns , which starts in Kapsodasos and overlooks the Frangokastello plain and the South Cretan Sea in

126-565: The tagmata ) bore the rank of droungarios tēs viglēs ( δρουγγάριος τῆς βίγλης ). The first mention of this office occurs in 791. The Vigla regiment was responsible for guarding the Byzantine emperor on campaign. The close proximity to the Byzantine emperor made the office extremely important, and in the 10th and 11th centuries it was held by a number of leading aristocratic families. After circa 1030, this office also assumed significant judicial responsibilities, since its holder became

147-619: The Ottoman Empire . In 1821, a group of Sfakians led by Kallikratis native Georgios Demonakis ( Greek : Γεώργιος Δαιμονάκης ) fought with Alexander Ypsilantis after his crossing of the Prut river to start a revolt in Romania. In July 1821, during the revolt of 1821 , part of Kallikratis was burnt while many of its residents were away fighting the Turks near Rethymno . In 1866, during

168-465: The great Cretan revolt , Kallikratis was burnt for the third time. The following year (1867), Ottoman forces under the command of Omar Pasha unsuccessfully attempted to invade Sfakia from Kallikratis. At the beginning of the twentieth century, several Kallikratians voluntarily took part in the struggle for Macedonia between 1904 and 1908 under the leadership of Efthimios Kaoudis , Georgios Dikonymos , Emmanouil Benis and Lamprinos Vranas . During

189-455: The distance. Kallikratis is also on the E4 walking route . Kallikratiano (i.e. Kallikratis') gorge starts southwest of the village and ends in the village of Patsianos , maintaining important natural habitats. The gorge can be crossed on a 4 km path. Before 1900, Kallikratis was a large village with more than 130 families. Today, only a few tens of inhabitants still live in the village and many of

210-542: The first months of the Axis occupation of Crete, the AEAK resistance organization was established at the house of Colonel Andreas Papadakis, located between Kallikratis and Asi Gonia . Later on, the resistance operated a radio station hidden in a cave near Kallikratis. In October 1943, in reprisal for aiding the partisans operating in the area, Friedrich Schubert's Jagdkommando accompanied by German occupation forces subjected

231-500: The general sense of "grouping, division". The term droungarios (Greek: δρουγγάριος) is not documented before the early 7th century but might have been used as an informal or unofficial designation before that date. The office and the corresponding unit appear to have initially referred to ad hoc arrangements, but during the early 7th century these were formalized, like much of the Eastern Roman army 's rank structure. In

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252-452: The houses are deserted. Kallikratis is almost uninhabited during the colder months of the year, since in that time the local shepherds move with their herds in transhumance to the warmer climate of the villages near the shore. Kallikratis never lived under permanent foreign rule and its residents have a long tradition of participation in national fights for freedom. In 1770, Kallikratis was destroyed during Daskalogiannis ' revolt against

273-564: The medieval Byzantine lyra . His parents came from the village Kallikratis in Sfakia , Crete. His older brother Nikistratos was playing the lira and so did Mitsos Kaffatos – one of the best musicians in Rethymno at that time – who was to become Kostas’ tutor. When the German military occupation of Crete started, Kostas Mountakis was 15 years old. In those days, he played his lira and sang at

294-410: The new military-administrative theme system , every major division, called a thema (Greek: θέμα), was further divided into tourmai . Each tourma was divided into moirai (Greek: μοίραι) or droungoi . Which in turn were composed of several banda . Thus each moira or droungos was the analogue of a modern regiment or brigade, initially circa 1000 men strong (and hence also referred to as

315-589: The president of the imperial court of the Vēlon , housed at the "Covered Hippodrome" adjoining the imperial palace , in which capacity it survived until the end of the Byzantine Empire. The prefix megas ("grand") was added to the title, reflecting the fact that in the Komnenian period , its holders, men like Andronikos Kamateros , were among the Byzantine emperor's senior aides. The rank of droungarios

336-506: The rank of megas droungarios [tou stolou] ("Grand Drungary [of the Fleet]") in the 11th century, acting as commander-in-chief of the entire Byzantine navy, until he was replaced in this task by the megas doux in the 1090s. The office of megas droungarios of the fleet continued to exist, in a subordinate position, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire. The variant rank of droungarokomēs (Greek: δρουγγαροκόμης) also existed, signifying

357-635: The village coffee shop, and later at wedding receptions. In 1952, Kostas Mountakis participated for the first time in an album recording when he accompanied Stelios Koutsourelis at the song "Arpaxsa kai Baildisa". In 1954, he recorded his first personal album accompanied by the Koutsourelis brothers with the all time classics "De thelo stin kardia", "O pramateutis", "O argaleios", "Milonades kai mazoxtres", "Sto stadio pou m’efere", "Rethemniane mou kantife", "Harami sou", Erotokritos", "Kritikos Gamos", "H mahi tis Kritis", "O thanatos tou lirari". These songs are

378-450: The village to a collective punishment. Around 30 civilians were executed and another twenty were imprisoned. Houses were looted and burned and the remaining inhabitants expelled. In memory of these events, Kallikratis was declared a martyred village on 3 October 2018 (Presidential Decree 29, ΦΕΚ Α 54/2.4.2019). The family of Kostas Mountakis , one of the most celebrated Cretan music artists, originated from Kallikratis. On Sep. 5th 2008,

399-518: Was a military rank of the late Roman and Byzantine empires, signifying the commander of a formation known as droungos . Latin-speakers adopted the word drungus - first attested in the early 4th century - either from Gaulish or from a Germanic language . In the late 6th century, the Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in his Strategikon used droungos to refer to a specific tactical deployment, usually of cavalry , although still in

420-538: Was added the name of the thema under his command, e.g. droungarios tōn Kibyrrhaiōtōn ( δρουγγάριος τῶν Κιβυρραιωτῶν , one of the subordinate admirals of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme ). The position of the droungarios tou ploïmou first occurs in the so-called Taktikon Uspensky of circa 842, and the exact date of its establishment is unclear. The droungarios of the Imperial Fleet was raised to

441-462: Was also used in the Byzantine navy to designate its admirals . The droungarios tou [basilikou] ploïmou ( δρουγγάριος τοῦ [βασιλικοῦ] πλοΐμου ) was the commander of the central Imperial Fleet, based at and around Constantinople . The provincial ("thematic") fleets were also commanded by a droungarios (although it was later replaced by the more exalted rank of strategos ), to whose title

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