Goumenissa is a district of the Municipality of Kalavrita which is located at the 13th kilometer of the provincial road Kalavrita - Fteri - Aigio at a distance of 2 km from the provincial road network of Patras - Kalavrita via Halandritsa.
The first time that traces of civilisation were found in this area dates back to the Late Helladic period (1600 - 1100 BC). During this period 178 settlement sites have been found, of which 19 are in present-day Achaea. Of these 19 sites, 3 are located in the present municipality of Kalavrita. One is at Manesi, one at Bodia and one at Kato Goumenissa. In the area of Kato Goumenissa as mentioned by the historian Georgios Papandreou after excavations made in 1925 - 1926 the then curator of Antiquities of Achaia N. Kyparissis discovered a Late Helladic cemetery as well as many Mycenaean chamber tombs of strange shape. Inside the tombs were skeletons of people, pottery, jewellery and weapons.
The next reference to the village of Goumenissa in the History of the Ages is in the book of Kogesta i.e. the occupation of Moria under the Franks. It is mentioned in the book that the prince of Moria, Godeferdos Villehardouin, donated 8 fiefs directly to knights of his trust so that he could control his vassal barons. One of these fiefs is the fief of Goumenissa. From this we conclude that in the period around 1205 AD the village of Goumenissa existed.
Around 1600, the church of St. George - with the presidents Oikonomopoulos and Papadopoulos - begins to be built, which is still the cathedral of the village. This indicates that the settlement was at its present location at least before 1600.
There is a census of the Venetians in 1700 AD the famous "Grimani" census. This census shows detailed information about the population of the village which is typically called 'Goumenizza'. The population amounts to 166 inhabitants.
The table shows that the average life expectancy at that time was very low compared to the present situation, as very few inhabitants, whether men or women, were over 50 years old.
We could not fail to mention the families and people - soldiers who took part in the great struggle of the 21st century. The families of. In the battle of Nezera against the fearless Ibrahim and his army of 13,000 men, under the instructions of Stamatis Bodiotis, according to N. Christos Adamopoulos, Christos Bouris, Argyris Papadopoulos, Christos Kalpouros, Christos Touloufopoulos, Dimitrios Fourlis, Dimitrios Mourhoutas and Stavros Gravaritis participated from Goumenissa.
In a document sent by A. Zaimis to the Parliamentary Council on 7/3/1824 it appears that the village "Goumenitsa" paid the highest tax in the province of Kalavrita. Indicatively, we mention that Lapatochoria paid a tax of 10,150 groats, Kerpini 1,000, Kouteli 2,760, Vissoka 565 while "Goumenitsa" paid 11,100 groats. Why the conclusions are yours. Towards the end of June 1827, Ibrahim Pasha has camped at the site of the village of "Hani Verviniko", as Fotakos mentions in his memoirs, concerning the Greek revolution. The village was not Turkish-protested, on the contrary, at the place with the current name "Türkomnima", villagers were involved in a skirmish with a Turkish patrol, where they killed all the Turks of the patrol and buried them there (hence the name given to the place until today). In retaliation, Ibrahim burned the village and the inhabitants scattered to the surrounding mountains. After Ibrahim's departure, the remaining inhabitants rebuilt the village on its present site, where buildings from that time are still preserved today. The life of the village continued during the War and afterwards. Thus, on June 10, 1829, the extraordinary commissioner Georgios Mavromatis included the village of "Goumenitsa" in the list of 70 villages that were affected during the Egyptian invasion, which, apart from the destruction of the houses, brought enormous damage to the agricultural production of the village. This document was sent by the commissioner to the Secretariat of State so that each village according to the destruction it had suffered could receive the corresponding loan.
We will remain in 1829 as a very important event in the history of the village takes place. On 30/12/1829 the village's mutual school was founded, consisting of 33 students. Their ages were from 6-45 years old. It is reported that the teacher was Parthenios Polopoulos who was probably a clergyman.
It should be noted that the students were enrolled in the school and their parents paid the school fees in order to maintain the school as well as the teacher's salary. The school had been operating even before that as on November 9, 1829 Kapodistrias instructed the temporary governor of Kalavrita to send the requested abacia (plate and counter).
In 1835 and specifically on April 8, the municipality of Lapathons was formed by Royal Decree which was published in the E.t.K. as a municipality of the province of Kalavrita. It was classified in the third class with a population of 1890 inhabitants and its seat was the village of Goumenitsa. Indicatively we mention that the population of some villages at that time was: Manesi 273 inhabitants, Flambura 110, Bubouka 122, Kouteli 411, Kouvelos 48 (today they do not exist) and Wumenitsa 523.
We will continue the historical retrospective of the village of Goumenissa in the Centuries reaching the 1920s. In this chronological period the village has 496 inhabitants and the school has 51 pupils. The economy of the village is based on animal husbandry and agriculture. Wheat, pulses, vegetables and fruits, mainly apples, are cultivated. There is also plenty of wine produced. During this period, G. G. Kanellopoulos, G. Linardos, a teacher of the village and someone with the nickname "Koudounomilos" in order to declare to the local community of Kalavrita the problems of the village, the visits of successful people of the community who have emigrated either abroad or to the big urban centers of the time, as well as various cultural events such as the famous festival of Goumenissa on July 17th of Agia Marina. Their articles also included various events of the social life of the village such as weddings, baptisms, matchmaking etc. Every year on the celebration of the National Regeneration Day on March 25, at least 100 mounted "fustanelades" went to Agia Lavra and always had with them an escort of the village's self-taught folk instrumentalists for the feast that followed after the praise. It is characteristic that the Doxology in the Monastery did not begin until our villagers had arrived, as I was told by older people who had experienced this event.
In the 1950s,the village acquired an external and internal water supply system. From the source "Vrysari" water is taken by external water supply network and poured into a reservoir to meet the needs of the village. The excavation of the ditch, for the placement of the pipes for the transport of water, was done by the villagers themselves in a manual way. Here we should note that the transportation of the pipes from the point where the truck deposited them - as there was no road - to the water intake was done by the children of the Primary School. The larger class at the highest point (the water intake) and the smaller classes at the lower elevations. As a result, the village had seven taps, scattered in different parts of the village, with an internal water supply system to meet the needs of the inhabitants. In 1954, the then community council, because the name "Goumenitsa" was considered Slavic by the Ministry of Interior, decided to rename the village "Vrissarion" because of the aforementioned spring at the top of the village.
Arriving at the end of this journey through the history of the village we will make a stop in 1961. In the Kalavrita Yearbook of 1969 a census of 1961 has been published where the village of Vrissarion now has 351 inhabitants. The 1970's is one of the most productive decades in the history of the village as the harvest yielded tons of apples, pears, garlic and grapes, which were delivered for vinification to the much publicized Achaia Claus. The production of apples exceeds 1,000 tons of excellent quality and during the harvest period a fair is held by traders, producers and workers to package and market the produce. The social life of the village is intense as the main café is visited by a mobile cinema every week presenting social and historical works giving the inhabitants a more modern outlet for their entertainment. There are many feasts, culminating in the Agia Marina festival which was considered one of the biggest religious and cultural events in the area.
In 1984, with the Presidential Decree No. 522, following a recommendation of the then community council to the Minister of Interior Mr. Menio Koutsogiorgas, the village of Vrissarion takes its current name of Goumenissa.
Today, the festival that took place in the 60s and 70s during the apple harvest is no longer held. The few producers who exist cultivate using modern methods, have machinery and storage facilities (refrigerators) as well as cars and sell their produce at the markets of Patras, Aigio, Kato Achaia and Kalavrita. The village has a complete water supply and sewage system. There are rural roads and a cement mill for the producers to irrigate their crops. The products they produce now are: apples, pears, vegetables, potatoes and a few grapes. The primary school has been closed since the 1980s. The children go to school at the primary school in Kalavrita for better learning as modern education provides.
There is a cultural association with intense activity that every year organizes the meeting of our villagers everywhere. There has been twinning with Goumenissa Kilkis. Every year a delegation from Goumenissa Kilkis comes to our village's festival and participates in the cultural events and a delegation from our village goes to Kilkis and participates in the events there called "Theotokia". The association also organizes events on New Year's Eve and Halloween. With these events, the association gives the opportunity to young people who live in Patras, Athens and other parts of Greece and even abroad to keep in close contact with the village and participate in the community, its customs and traditions.
A history of more than 3,000 years is difficult if not impossible to record in a few lines. Here an attempt has been made not exactly to record history but to record history in our village of Goumenissa.