Intepe

Intepe is a village in the Dardanelles area of Turkey. At one time known as Renkioi and later Erenköy, it is at the entrance of Ellispontos, near the ancient city of Troy. The modern population is around 5,000.

History: Renkioi

Only 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from the ancient city of Ofrinio, and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from the sea, Renkioi translates from the Turkish language as village of ruins. Located on locally high ground, from the top of the village can be seen: Troy; the Dardanelles; the cities of Lampsakos and Kallipoli; the northern Aegean islands; the mountain Athos.

Amphitheatrically build, it is loacted in an area of oak and pine trees. The only language used by the Greek Christian population was Greek, a local idiom like that used on Mitilini. The village was built with small narrow streets, known as kalnterimi covered with white stones, with two-floored houses and red tiled roofs. The centre of the village was the defined by the Saint Georgios maxalas (English: neighborhood), containing the main square and the market. Towards the sea was the Akamatra maxalas, while the konaki maxalas (English: government) contained the compound of the Turkish governor.

The village had two churches, the cruciform Saint Georgios which housed a revered icon, and the Assumption of the Virgin church used only on the 15th August. Saint Georgios struck its own coinage to celebrate a village feast on the 23 April each year.

Outside the village, Sarki was the place where according to tradition are the graves of Achilles and Patroklos. Karantina acted as the port of Renkioi, where ships were required to call before proceeding to Constantinople, to check for contagious diseases.

Crimea War

Main article: Crimea War

During the Crimea War, Renkioi was found in the Allied sector. It became famous for housing a 1,000 patient hospital, agreed by the government under pressure from Florence Nightingale, and designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Built in Gloucester Docks by timber merchants Price & Co. and designed by William Eassie, it followed on from a design from wooden huts procured by both the British Army and the French Army.

World War 1: 1914-1918

The German army set up cannons at Palaiokastro just outside the village to control traffic along the Ellispontos. The resultant dardanelles campaign meant that the village was evacuated until 1919.

After the post-war disagreement with the Turks in 1922, the Greek national inhabitants left for Asprovalta in Kavala, and Nikaia in the harbor of Piraeus.

At the September of 1923 on a ship named “Hopeful” came to the village of Stavros 54 families from Renkioi. They had to check for another place to stay cause in Stavros had already established families from Katirli. They choose a place 7 klm away from Stavros. Although the refugees tried to clean the well, around of it they were established, so they could have potable water, malaria was already among them. Problems became stronger during the winter, when cold added on hunger and poverty.

The Greek government gave the refugee’s problems a solution. All the necessary materials were given, so they can build their houses themselves, before the German company D.H.T.G. completes the construction of houses. When the street-plan was finished and every body settled into a house, the building plots as well as the fields was distributed to residents.

The place where the village created, next to a significant road, offered the refugees great chances to develop. Soon, the first grocer shops multiplied returning a notable income. At the period 1927-28, the residents decide and some years later achieved to build a church and a school. The difficult years, from 1924 till 1940 was followed by the years of the Second World War, the German occupation and civil war.