Under this tab, “Research Help,” you will receive guidance on finding, reading and interpreting the records needed when researching villages around Sparta. The links below are to posts on this blog and to other relevant sources. Click on the title to access the post.
Video series, “Bite Sized Greek Genealogy.” My colleague, Georgia Stryker Keilman, and I are recording a series of brief videos on topics that will help you prepare for research in Greek records; and, how to find and search Greek records. This is an ongoing series, started in June 2024, so please check back to see the newest recordings.
Agios Ioannis, Sparta village website and Facebook page. Join us to connect with others from our village.
Video: Navigating the Website of the General State Archives of Greece (GAK). In this educational video Carol Kostakos Petranek demonstrates how to navigate the website of the General State Archives of Greece (GSA/GAK) and its digital archival collections. The demonstration is detailed and step-by-step to ensure you get the most out of your research through the website.
Video: Finding An Ancestor’s Original Surname and Village of Origin. Research in Greek records cannot begin unless you have an ancestor’s original surname and village of origin.This presentation will provide strategies for finding these two key pieces of information in the country where the immigrant settled.
Video: Alien Registration Files. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 was a WWII national security measure which directly impacted immigrants who planned to remain in the U.S. for 30 days or longer. Files have extensive genealogical information such as: naturalization documents, photographs, affidavits, correspondence and application documents which were completed by the alien. This presentation will examine this often-overlooked resource which may be the key to finding an immigrant ancestor’s original surname and village of origin.
Sparta Municipal Registry Offices (Lixarcheia). This post provides contact information for Municipal Offices that hold civil birth, marriage and death records.
Beyond the Basics: Contracts. This post describes a notary contract, which documents a monetary lending agreement between two people in 1863.
This post explains the concept of a sogamvros (a man who leaves his family to become the patriarch in his wife’s family.
Beyond the Basics: The 1821 Aristeia Online Archive
Beyond the Basics: The EETAA Website: Nuggets of Important Information
Greek Document Locator, part 1 and part 2 (chart shows which records in Greece to search to find specific information)
Records in His/Her New Country (chart shows which records to search in the emigrant’s new country (i.e., U.S., Canada, etc.) to find specific information
Beyond the Basics: Juror’s Lists
List of Greek Occupations in 19th century records, translated into English.
Click here to download pdf.
Beyond the Basics: Parish Voter Lists
Beyond the Basics: 1856 Parish Census
GreekAncestry.net: searchable databases of records in Greece. Additional info is here; also a webinar describing searchable records on GreekAncestry.net and MyHeritage.com is here.
Surnames of Agios Ioannis (St. Johns), Sparta from the Mitroon Arrenon (Male Register)
Surnames of Anavriti (Vryseon) from the Mitroon Arrenon (Male Register)
Surnames from the Mitroon Arrenon (Male Register) for Mystras, Laconia, and neighboring villages
Reading a Town Register and a Male Register
Archives of Sparta: Mitroon Arrenon (Male Registers)
Archives of Sparta: Dimotologion (Town Register) Records
School Records from Sparta: Finding Your Ancestors as Children
General Tips for “Crossing the Pond”
Navigating the GAK Archive to Locate Election Lists
1872 Electoral Rolls from Sparta
Abbreviations in Handwritten Records
1890 Linguistic Map of the Peloponnese
The Elementary School of Anavriti (municipality of Vryseon) in 1838
Greek Microfilms at the FamilySearch Library
Church Records in Greek Villages
Pellana, Lakonia: website of Peter Adamis, who has uploaded free pdf files of books on the history of Pellana and other writings.
Book, Archives of Dimitrios Salvaras, notary of Mystras, Volume B, Years: 1832-43. Records of Notaries include any type of legal transaction including dowries and land transfers. This book is published by the GAK office of Sparta and is on the internet in pdf format. It contains synopses of the records of the notary Dimitrios Salvaras of Mystras, years 1832-43. Scroll until you get to image 26 where the descriptions of the records begin. Many thanks to the GAK of Sparta for putting this online.
The “Greece” page at Cyndi’s List has links to online resources.
The Greece Genealogy page at the FamilySearch Wiki is a rich resource, with many links to assist with Greek research.
Spartan Roots (Σπαρτιατικές Ρίζες) 