The place
Vyzikio is a big village in the northwest of Arcadia, in the Central Peloponnese.
It was founded in the 13th century AD and is officially declared a Traditional Settlement.
Today it has few permanent residents, but on weekends and other holidays, it attracts hundreds of visitors.
It is a suburb of the neighboring Akova Castle that was the summer capital of the Peloponnese during its occupation by Franks, Venetians and other Western Europeans.
Vyzikio from the 14th to the middle of the 19th century was the administrative capital of the region.
In Vyzantium, in fact, it had the privilege of cultivating the Risari plant, which was used to dye the fabric of the Imperial Purple.
During the Greek Revolution of 1821, it was the headquarters for supply of the Armed Forces of Arcadia.
During the World War II and the German Occupation, it was the headquarters of the armed forces of the National Resistance in the Peloponnese.
The Family
Anastopoulos family has settled in the area of Vyziki before the 18th century.
An of its ancestral roots go back to Padova in present-day Italy and the Antonio Cantarelli’s family.
The grandfather of the family, Nikolas P. Anastopoulos, the so-called Trias [because he was a triplet and was born in 1903], served as Mayor of Vyziki in the 1950s.
During his tenure, the village was modernized and electrified, roads were opened, others roads were rebuilt and all springs, taps, wells and aqueduct were renovated.
The grandmother Chrysoula Theodorakopoulou came from the Vlach nomadic factions of Zizaia [Zizos] and Gakaia [Gakis], perhaps the founders of the village in the 13th century, when they descended from the Pindos Mountains to Peloponnese as Guardians of Vyzantium’s Emperor.
The of Anastopoulos’ Family ancestral house, which in 2013 was named Trias Palace, is located in the central Rouga of the village.
It was rebuilt in 1893, occasionally renovated and expanded (the last work in 2007) and can accommodate more than 20 people.
The father of the family, Yorgos N. Anastopoulos, the 7th of 7 children of Nikolas and Chrysoula, grew up in Viziki and immigrated to Athens, where he studied Chemistry and started his own family.
He played an active role in political and public affairs for five decades, with international reports in the Balkans and the wider region [Serbia, Albania, Moldova, Armenia]
He was personally associated with Greek and foreign heads of state and other political and religious leaders.nia, Syria, Gaza, Alexandria, etc.].
With Marika Pouli, Professor of Biology, they acquired Efi [Efstathia, Psychologist] and Nikolas [Mathematician – Journalist].
Five grandchildren were honored, two by their daughter, Anastasia and Marios Hatzoudis, and three by their son, Yorgos, Thanasis and Agni-Maria Anastopoulos.
At the end of their careers, Yorgos and Marika decided to become active in the primary
agricultural sector.
Together with Efi’s and Nickolas families, they created the “Anastopoulos’ Pomegranate Family Farm” in idyllic Arcadia.
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