Alcuni greci divennero cripto-cristiani per evitare la pesante tassazione imposta ai non musulmani e mantenere al tempo stesso la propria identità e i legami con la Chiesa ortodossa. ###>The Greeks living in the plains during Ottoman domination were either Christians who dealt with the burdens of foreign rule or crypto-Christians (Greeks who held themselves out to the government as Muslims but were secret practitioners of the Greek Orthodox faith).