Messinia County, Greece Genealogy
Guide to Messinia County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
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History
Messinia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece.
Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messinia was a prefecture covering the same territory. The capital and largest city of Messinia is Kalamata
Messinia (Wikipedia)
Geography
Messenia (/məˈsiːniə, -ˈsiːnjə/; Greek: Μεσσηνία Messinia, pronounced [mesiˈnia]) is a regional unit (perifereiaki enotita) in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011.[1] Before 2011 Messenia was a nomos (prefecture). The capital and the biggest city of Messenia in either case has been the city of Kalamata. Before the 2010 reorganization, Messenia was a nomos (prefecture). Since 2010, Messenia has been a perifereiake enoteta (regional unit). Messenia did not change area in the reorganization. Some 25 municipalities and communities were incorporated politically into the other 6 according to the table below. Messinia, Wikipedia
Municipalities
Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.
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Villages
Municipal Archives
Quite comprehensive records for your family, perhaps for several generations, are kept by the mayor's office of each municipality. Civil registers of birth, marriage, and death since 1925 are kept there. In addition, an important record, unique to Greece, the Dimologion is similar to a "family group record". Census records, contracts, and other records can be found.
Information About Important Records in Municipality Archives
Click on the links for an explanation on the types of records you will look for at the municipality level.
- Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers
- Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon)
- Town (Resident) Registers (Dimotologion)
Greek National Archives, and County Archives
- The Greek National Archives (GAK or GSA) has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS). Some records are online. Others are not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request.
Important Records of GAK
- Electoral Registers, 1870s
- Election Collection John Vlachogianni (1864-1925)
- Electoral Archive Hellenic Parliament (1844-1893, 1915)
- Ladas Collection Election Collection George Lada (1843-1873)
Georgia Stryker Keilman has been translating the Vlachogiannis collection into English. Check these first to possibly save time. The translations can be accessed on her website by clicking on the following links for the Index to Greece Historic Election List Archives:
Central Archive
General State Archives (GSC)
Dafni 61
15452 Psychiko
Greece
Phone:+30 210-6782200
FAX:+30 210-6782215
Email:archives@gak.gr
Messinia County Archives
G.A.K. DEPARTMENT MESSINIA
Aristodemou 22
Kalamata 241 33, Greece
Tel.: +30 27210 93902
Email: mail@gak.mes.sch.gr
Website:G.A.K. Department Messinia
KEP Office
Kolokotroni
Messini 242 00
Greece
+302722360200
KEP Offices
Greek Orthodox Church Records
Important Church Records
- Book of Births: date of birth, place of birth, gender, name, surname, father’s name, date of baptism, godfather and priest, notes
- Book of Marriages: date of marriage, groom’s name, groom’s age, groom’s father’s name, groom’s mother’s name, bride’s name, bride’s age, bride’s father’s name, bride’s mother’s name, priest, place of birth, notes
- Book of Deaths: date of death, name of the deceased, father’s name, age, notes
How to Read the Records
You do not have to be fluent in Greek to read and understand these records! Only a few vocabulary words are involved. True, the alphabet is different. But you learned one alphabet, and you can learn another alphabet!
- Greece Handwriting and Text will teach you the alphabet in print and handwriting and give you some computer translation tools.
- The article, This simple Greek Word List, features a short list of key terms. You should learn to recognize these.
- Other words will be used on a "look it up when you come to it" basis. For this, more thorough word lists can be found at :