Görög Örökség Ελληνική Κληρονομιά - H-ellin.com

etween 1754 and 1771 in the Danubian areas it appears that in Szentendre there were eight Greeks whereas
in Csobanka and Pamaz there was one greek in each city.
Concerning the Temple of Blagovesztenszka, Odon Fuves wrote the following: " The Greeks of Szentendre
did not have their own temple although one of the seven orthodox temples, the Temple of Blagovesztensz built
in 1752 was called a Greek Temple ever since the 18' century. We do not have any written evidence about the
erection of the greek temple, either. Neither does the temple's interior indicates greek origin." Fuves explains
that the name "greek temple" derives from the fact that the greek traders were living in the city centre where
the church is, the building of which had apparently assisted with donations of big amounts. He also claims that
as long as the Greek residents of Vac did not have their own church, they belonged here from the parish point
of view. This is the reason why the Greek trader of Vac, Demeter Tolojani, who died in Szentendre was buried
in the local temple. During the time of the conduct of Odon Fuves's study it was not yet revealed the evidence
of a protocol of 1697 based on which, in our opinion we can claim with certainty that the Temple of
Blagovesztenszka "inherited" the name of its ancestor. We sustain that during the time that the Greeks settled,
their number was big enough to compose a separate community. Their number probably decreased later on
resulting in them not needing their own temple. Perhaps the destiny of the Greeks of Szentendre was moving
or being accumulated by the Serbian community, which is verified by the fate of the Tyro and Dumcsa
families.
The road next to the church might have been the "road that leads to the Danube". The name of the street today
is "Gorog street" ( Street of the Greeks). The Serbian Museum of Church Art exhibits icons with greek
inscriptions that were taken there from other temples of Szentendre.
Tokaj
The settlement of the Greeks in Upper Hungary and later in Rizovounia, mainly in Tokaj, occurred in three
progressive, strongly related steps. Since the middle of the 17 1 century in Kassa (Kositse) the Greeks had
become tough trading opponents, which is proven by the numerous notes in the protocols and restriction books
of the city. Since 1660 the business activities of the following Greek traders is known: Demeter Gorog, István
Gorog, Peter Gorog, János Karácsonyi and Tamás Karácsonyi. The previously mentioned Greeks ( who first
wished to settle in Kositse) during the last third of the 1Τ century lived mainly in Tokaj. From the members of
the Gorog family, the son of István Gorog, Demeter Gorog was already a taxpayer in Tokaj in the years 1673-
92. In August 1660 the Turkish occupied Orantea. The Greek traders of the city were forced to create new
business areas and centres. Some might have been found in Rizovounia at that time. There were two essential
business roads to Polland: one after Orantea and Tokaj crossed through Tarcal, Mad, Tallya, Szanto, Vizsoly (
alley of the river Hernád), Hidasnémeti, Kositse whereas the other one crossed the settlements of Tokaj,
Bodrogkeresztur, Olaszliszka, Sárospatak, Sátoraljaújhely
The third part of settlement relates primarily to the destiny of the Greek trading group of Debrecen. On 19 1
May 1690 (L.RXX. 372.) a royal privilege was given to the Greek traders of Debrecen which was issued after
the claim of the Greek superior official (fobiro) of Debrecen, Marton Horváth and the Greek trader Sándor
Hunyadi. We sustain that the latter relates to Sándor Karacsony/Karatsonyi who was the most important Greek
business transporter of Ferenc Rákóczi Β' during the period of the war for liberation (a part of his family had
been present in Tokaj for at least three decades.). Within the frame of the feudal society it was of great
importance the privilege of the Greeks of Debrecen: the king offered the group an escutcheon (in the green
valley of the blue escutcheon a sheep is grazing turned to the right, on top of it there is an eagle with its wings
open and with its head turned to the right it is holding a green plant with its beak). In 1693 Debrecen obtained
the state of the free royal city and the Greek trading group had to abandon the city. New business centers for
these Greek traders became Szatmar and Németi. In 1705 ( after conquering the castle of Szatmar) the ruler
Ferenc Rákóczi B' decided to settle the Greeks of Németi in Tokaj, since that was the place were the property
of the Rakoczi family was.
The ruler Ferenc Rakoczi B' wished to create the most important business wine center in Tokaj. He was
expecting the activities of the Greek traders to have the same business growth that his ancestors had
experienced in Transylvania. In 1708 also the Greeks who were living until then in Debrecen found new
dwellings in Tokaj. All these decisions for the settlement of the Greeks were part of a pre-arranged financial
strategy. Rakoczi did not neglect the vineyards that belonged to his family in Rizovounia not even during the
war for freedom which
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