What is "pyrgoi"

Pyrgoi (formerly Katranitsa and Kalavryta) is a village and a community of the Eordaia municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform it was part of the municipality of Vermio, of which it was a municipal district. The 2011 census recorded 768 inhabitants in the village.

On April 24, 1944 there was a massacre of civilians by German Nazis and their local accomplices. The events were later subject of dozens of documentaries and emissions and generated wide interest. Among the atrocities that were committed, 368 men women and children were killed and burned alive. Colonel Karl Schümers of 7th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment was responsible for the massacres at Pyrgoi, Kleisoura Kastoria, and Distomo Boeotia which tolled over 1,000 men, women and children. The town was completely destroyed and survivors were forced to walk to Ptolemais. An annual memorial ceremony is held for the victims.