Anthousa, Preveza

Anthousa (Ανθούσα), known before 1927 as Rapeza (Ράπεζα ) is a village in the municipality of Parga, Preveza regional unit of Epirus, in western Greece. In 2021 its population was 673 for the community, which also includes the village Trikorfo. Anthousa is situated 3 km northwest of the town Parga, under a Turkish castle on a hill, attributed to Ali Pasha. Remains and coins of the ancient city of Elaia have been found near the village.

History
Tombs of the Hellenistic and Roman era have been unearthed in the area of the municipal unit of Anthousa. In the 12th century the monastery of Virgin Mary of Vlacherna was erected. Traces of a Venetian garrison are also visible.

In 1814 Anthousa was plundered by units of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha and the local inhabitants fled to the nearby Parga. Ali Pasha then built a castle over Anthousa in order to plan a siege of Parga.

Anthousa was one of the Christian Orthodox Albanian-speaking villages (Rapëza), ), which either due to the absence of Greek or for reasons of demographic importance, would see Greek education expanded through measures such as the establishment of kindergartens.

In Anthousa and also Kanallaki, the closest existing variants of Souliotic Albanian are spoken. This dialect is spoken only by few people in modern times.