| The family surnames Miliaras or Miliarakis and the name of the village of Miliarado are derived etymologically from the word miliarin or miliarion. The term, found in medieval documents and dictionaries, denotes a laundry copper, a household utensil in the shape of a truncated cone, generally made of copper, used for heating water, laundry, etc. The craftsmen who made or repaired miliaria were known as miliarades. A family of such craftsmen may have come to Crete from Constantinople, either during the Byzantine colonisation of the island after its recovery from the Arabs, or following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. This family of craftsmen must then have given their name to the place where they settled. |