Kiveri

 

Kiveri is a coastal village in the prefecture of Argolida. It is located very close to the Mills and 12 km from Argos and about 15 km from Nafplio and Astros. It belongs to the Municipality of Argos - Mycenae and in the 2011 census was found to have 911 inhabitants.

 

History - Mythology
According to mythology, Danaos had anchored here. In the area there was a temple of Genesis Poseidon and also Mycenaean tombs and remains of an ancient settlement have been discovered at Agios Dimitrios. A cemetery of the Late Greek Era III (1400-1100 BC) has been unearthed and excavated around the church of the Assumption of the Virgin Kiveri. The excavations took place in 1967 and 1993, without the scientific findings being published to date. The Mycenaean cemetery was relatively luxurious, as it did not include simple pit tombs. The tombs are chambered, similar to those in Dendra and Asini. These are irregularly shaped cavernous underground carvings on the soft rock, which are led by another carved slope, the road. They were rather family tombs and were used by the middle classes of the population. They were built in clusters, forming cemeteries. This species appeared during the Late Helladic II and continued until the Late Helladic III C period (1400-1100 BC). Some archaeologists have argued that Lerna declined in the late Mycenaean era, was turned into a cemetery and abandoned around 1250 BC. Kiveri could be the cemetery of its richest inhabitants, because in the Mills no chambered tombs can be built, due to the hard and rocky soil of the hill Profitis Ilias. After the late Mycenaean era there is not much material or textual evidence for the wider area of ​​Kiveri.

Pausanias testifies that after Lerni, by the sea, there was a site called Genesis, because it was a small sanctuary of Genesis Poseidon, a temple that honors the birth of the god. After this sanctuary, there is a place called Apovathmoi, because there, according to the legend, Danaos and his family had landed when they moved from Egypt to Argos. This legend suggests that there may have been a trace of an ancient port in the area, which the locals had connected with Danaos. Functional port, in the time of Pausanias, no longer existed, while the port of Argos was Temenio. If what Pausanias writes is accurate and there were traces or memories of an ancient port in the area, the possibility is strengthened that in the Mycenaean era there was a settlement or port of Lerni in the area of ​​Kiveri. The arrival of Danaos at the Docks suggests trade relations of the region with the Middle East and Asia Minor, as the penultimate stop of Danaos' journey to Argos was Rhodes.

Pausanias considered that the waters of Anavalos originate from Mantineia and descend through Artemisio. He names the Anavalos Dinis and places it on the Birthday of Argolida. The name is due to a rare adjective of Poseidon, which has the same meaning as Genesis. Poseidon was called the Nativity because water was considered the source of the birth of everything. The god appears several times in the Peloponnese as a Birthday. It is easy to understand that Genesis and Birth of Poseidon are conceptually identical. Therefore, it may be the same sanctuary in Anavalos. Pritchett and most researchers, however, claim that there were two separate sanctuaries of Poseidon in the area, the Genesis, in the area of ​​present-day Kiveri, and the Nativity in Anavalos.

Above Kiveri dominates the hill of Profitis Ilias. According to the Archaeological Bulletin (55), at the top of the above hill, at an altitude of 388 m. And at a distance of 2,280 m. Southwest of Kiveri, architectural members of an ancient temple building were used for second use. This unknown ancient temple, based on the surviving architectural members, dates back to the 4th-3rd c. e.g. Used until the 6th AD. Probably, it was a temple of Artemis.

 

Above the present Mills, a castle was built during the Frankish rule, which in the sources is referred to as Chameres / Chamires. In other, later versions, it is referred to as Civeri or Chiveri. The first mention of the existence of this castle is made in 1347, in the will of the Frankish ruler Gautier de Brienne, who was the titular Duke of Athens and ruler of Argos and Nafplio. Chameres Castle remained Frankish until 1388, when de Brienne's last heir, Marie d'Enghien, sold it to the Venetians. Before the Venetians could settle there, it was looted by the Byzantines of the Despotate of Mystras (along with Argos and Thermisi) and held until 1394, when it was returned to the Venetians. When Mohammed II the Conqueror conquered Moriah in 1460, Argolida remained Venetian. In the Venetian-Turkish war that followed (1463-1479), neighboring Argos fell to the Turks in 1463, but Chameres castle continued to resist, although it suffered great damage. An inventory document from 1377, however, does not mention Chameres castle. But a document of a truce agreement between Mohammed II and John Motsenigo (1480) mentions the castle of Jiveri, which also manages salt pans. Also, a new document between Mohammed II and John Motsenigou (1481) mentions the Jiverin castle, which is in ruins.

Therefore, this solves the mystery of the name of the village. The original name is Giver. Until now, scholars have argued that Jiveri / Tsiveri is the result of a buzzword of the original name Kiveri. The original name is Jiveri and probably a later scholar changed it to Kiveri, believing that this is how he corrects the alleged buzz. But he was wrong because the name was Jiveri from the beginning and not Kiveri, who became Jiveri due to a buzz.

Tziveri castle had a settlement around it, which moved, after the 15th century, initially between today's Kiveri and the Mills. In the 17th century the settlement moved again closer to today's Kiveri, probably more than once. The Mills, as a village, are witnessed after 1703 (Alberghetti). Until then, the settlement in the wider plain is called Tsiveri. In the 18th century it is testified that the area was a Turkish tsifliki, named Tsiveria, which testifies to the existence of multiple settlements. The testimony of Civeri Pano / Catou (Civeri Pano / Catou) is preserved in a document of the Second Venetian Empire (1685-1715). Of course, the mention that in Apanou Kiveri the parish church is Agia Kyriaki completely changes the location suggested by the scholars. Ruins of the church of Ag. Sunday they are rescued in today's Spiliotaki, west of Kiveri, owned by the Bouziou family. Therefore, the settlement was not moved between Myla and today's Kiverio, but towards Zavitsa.

On the beach of Kiveri, two characteristic houses of the old times are preserved until today. One belonged to Michalis and Magdalini Iatrou (today it belongs to Konstantinos Gavros). It is surrounded by a double wall with loopholes. The other is right next to it and belonged to Georgios Iatrou, former mayor of Nafplio (today it belongs to Dimitrios Gikas). From the presence of the Turks in our area, little material remains are saved. Also, on Kiveriou beach, at the end of the properties of Gavros and Gika, there is a fortification, the masonry of which is obviously Turkish. In contrast, the two houses located within the properties have different masonry and are probably later. They were used as holiday homes of the Doctor family, in the 19th century. George Iatros was a member of parliament for Nafplio (1856-1859) and mayor of the city (1862).

In the area there is an underwater source of fresh water called Anavalos. The water springs from the mountains around Lake Stymfalia and Tripoli.