Selcu Monastery

According to historical studies, the original monastery buildings were built in the X century, but were completely destroyed at the beginning of the XV century, which corresponds to the period of the beginning of the Ottoman invasions of the region.

The current monastery, according to the inscription of its clerks, was founded already under the Ottomans, in 1697. The inscription above the door leading from the main temple to the narthex, under the mural of the Assumption of the Virgin, in black and ornate Byzantine Greek letters says that the temple was built in 1697, with the money and cares of hieromonks Rigiina, Bartholomew, Zacharias, Alexis, priest Alexy, Jacob, Dionysius, Bishop Arsenius and the “pious archons” of Messrs. Nicos and Apostolis.

The latter were brothers "captains" (commanders) of Armatols from Arta. Both are depicted in the eastern part of the temple.

Until 1830 the monastery belonged to the bishopric of Radovizia, then (until 1881) the metropolitan of Larisa. As a consequence of the decisions of the Berlin Congress (1878), in 1881 most of the region of Arta came under the control of the Greek kingdom ^[7] .

The Selcu Monastery, being a courtyard of the Rovelista Monastery, was transferred to the administration of the metropolis of Arta. The Selcu Monastery celebrates on August 23, on the ninth day of the feast of the Virgin, in order to avoid coincidence with the celebration of the nearby monastery of the same name in Spilia Agrafa, on August 15 ^[8] .

Today, only the stone, Athos type, catholicon of the monastery is preserved. Around it are the ruins of the monastery cells. The temple is a one-nave basilica of Athos type, with a rectangular dome on the outside, which inside becomes round.

Natural light is limited to the rare small windows on the south and north walls.

Inside the temple, paintings by the priest Nikolaos of Arta and his sons are preserved. In the eastern part of the temple, at the height of the belt depicted as full-length saints, also in full height are shown the clergy “captains” Nikos and Apostolis, with halo over their heads, holding a double cross and presenting the model of the Virgin to the Virgin.

The carved wooden iconostasis with gilding, with the decor of plants and animals on a blue - red background is impressive ^[9] .

Selcu Monastery is best known for the event of 1804, called the "Holocaust of Selcou" in Greece. In 1800, Ali Pasha Tepelensky began his third campaign against the Suliot . This time, Ali achieved “the betrayal of old George Botsaris, the leader of the most powerful Suli clan”, who ran to Ali, claiming that Suli would not survive without it for 30 days ^[10] . But Ali met even greater resistance compared to previous campaigns. After 4 months, Ali, reminding old Botsaris of his words, said that if he did not immediately surrender Suli to him, he would be burned alive. Botsaris, having taken the poison, "went to the other world, probably to avoid the anger of the pasha and remorse" ^{[11] [10]} .

The Botsaris clan was headed by the second son, Kitsos (the eldest son, Botsaris, Tusias , died in 1792) ^[12] ), located in Vulgareli, outside Suli.

The siege of Suli lasted three years. Neither the attacks of the Turkish-Albanians nor famine could break the spirit of the Suliot. On December 7, 1803, the alleged, last Ottoman attack began. After another 5 unsuccessful attacks, Ali fled, instructing his son, Veli, to conclude an agreement with the Suliots, just to leave. Veli came to an agreement. Having secured the word “demon” sacred to the Albanian and Greek, Fotos Zavelas led on December 13 a convoy of Suliot from Suli to Parga , from where they crossed to Kerkyra , which was under Russian control. Some of the Suliots succumbed to the persuasion of Kitsos Botsaris, who convinced them to trust Ali. The followers of Kitsos went to the monastery of Zalongo, waiting for where Ali would send them to settle. On December 16, the monastery was lined with 3 thousand soldiers of Bekir, who stated that he had been instructed to take the Suliot to Ioannina, having previously disarmed them. The Suliots "realized that they were the victims of the most dishonest of men." They had no choice but to fight and die. They lasted 2 days. On the third day, it became obvious that they could not last longer. About 60 women preferred death to shameful captivity. Climbing a rock and starting a round dance, with each round of dance they threw their children into the gorge, and then fell themselves. This "dance of death" in the history of Greece received the name " Dance of Zalongo " ^[10] .

The remaining Suliots made a breakthrough, from which up to 1,400 people came out alive. Led by Kitsos Zavelas, they headed to Vulgareli, and then, for greater safety, to the monastery of the Virgin Selce. But Ali could not calm down, "until the last Suliot within it was killed." Turks besieged the monastery. Suliots lasted 4 months. When the Turks broke into the monastery, 250 women repeated the episode of Zalongo, rushing off a cliff into a mountain river, where they died, along with their children. Only 50 fighters and 1 woman, led by Kitsos Botsaris, among whom was his son Marcos , managed to break into Parga and cross to Kerkyra. During these events, the daughter of Notis Botsaris , trying to endure her wounded mother and seeing that they were in danger of captivity, threw her mother from a cliff into a stormy river and then threw herself ^[13]

Notis Botsaris himself, "half dead from 5 saber wounds" and unconscious, was captured ^[14] , but managed to escape from the fortress of Klisur and reach Kerkyra. This event is called the “Holocaust of Selce” in Greece, according to the full meaning of this Greek word used in many events of Greek history, where heroism and sacrifice come to the fore ^[15] . In 1959 and in the light of the "Selcu Holocaust", by government decree (ΥΑ 31176/3046 / 2-10-1959-ΦΕΚ 372 / Β / 22-10-1959), the Selcu Monastery received the status of a historical monument. Each year, the nearby Dem Tetrafillia organizes Holocaust memory events in the presence of senior officials. After the Divine Liturgy, the ceremony includes the dumping of a wreath in the “terrible abyss of Petak”, where 250 (according to other sources 500) women and children rushed, preferring death to shameful captivity.

In 2016, the President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos attended the events in memory of the Holocaust of Selcu ^[16] .