Located on the slope of the mountainous region of Agrafa facing the Plastiras Lake (5 minutes walk to the water), the village and the area of Agrafa, is well known for its complete autonomy throughout the entire 400 years of Ottoman Turkish occupation of Greece. Agrafa has been populated for approximately 2,500 years. The fiercely independent spirit of its people, known as Agrafiotes, is matched b
y a harsh and forbidding landscape. Agrafa was a centre of literacy during the 400 years of domination and slavery by the Turks. Since the monasteries were independent from the Sultan, it is alleged that within the "Krifo Scholio" is where the Greek language was kept alive; reading and writing were taught in secrecy, generation after generation as the Turks forbade the general population from learning how to read and write their own language. Unlike the majority of Greeks, many Agrafiotes can trace their family histories back for generations since they were free to read, write, and record births, baptisms, and deaths. In the 20th century, a lot of Agrafiotes left their villages and settled in the major metropolitan cities in Greece as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany, seeking an escape from the abject poverty and lack of opportunities which once haunted the area.
