Almopia

Almopia Αλμωπία
Municipality
Almopia Location within the region
Coordinates: 40°58′N 22°03′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Central Macedonia
Regional unit	Pella
Government
• Mayor	Nikos Paroutoglou[1] (since 2023)
Area
• Municipality	985.8 km^2 (380.6 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Municipality	24,969
• Density	25/km^2 (66/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Almopia (Greek: Αλμωπία), or Enotia (Greek: Ενωτία), also known in the Middle Ages as Moglena (Greek: Μογλενά, Macedonian and Bulgarian: Меглен or Мъглен), is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) of the Pella regional unit in Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aridaia.^[3] The municipality has an area of 985.817 km².^[4]

Name and history

Map of the Kingdom of Macedon with Almopia located in the central districts of the kingdom.

The name Almopia (Ancient Greek: Ἀλμωπία, Almōpia) derives from the Almopes (Ἀλμῶπες), a Paeonian tribe that originally inhabited the area before being expelled from the region during the reign of Alexander I (r. 498–454 BC) when Almopia was incorporated into the ancient Macedonian kingdom.^[5][6] The Almopes traced their descent to the eponymous mythological figure of Almops, son of the Greek God Poseidon and Helle.^[7] The 2nd-century astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy records three cities in the region in his Geography: Horma (Ὅρμα), Europos (Εὔρωπος) and Apsalos (Ἄψαλος).

In the early Byzantine period, the area was renamed to Enotia (Greek: Ενωτία) after a nearby fortress, probably in the vicinity of modern Notia. The name was revived between 1915 and 1927 for the Greek province as well.^[8][9]

In the later Middle Ages, the area was known as Moglena (Greek: Μογλενά, Macedonian: Меглен, Bulgarian: Мъглен), from the Slavic word for "fog".^[10] Until the early 11th century, Moglena was a province of the First Bulgarian Empire. Captured by the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1015, it is attested as the seat of a bishopric in 1020, and as capital of its own theme in 1086. The area remained under Byzantine rule until the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, when it was captured by Tsar Kaloyan of the Second Bulgarian Empire.^[11] It was incorporate in the Serbian Empire by Stefan Dušan in 1346. Moglena was inhabited mainly by Megleno-Romanians and Slavic people. In Ottoman times, the region was also known by its Turkish name Karacova or Karadjova valley ("Black Valley", Greek: Καρατζόβα) or in Ottoman Turkish: كاراجاوا.

Until the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1924, Muslim Macedonian Slavs and Megleno-Romanians made up part of the population.^[12]

Municipality

The municipality Almopia was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:^[3]

• Aridaia
• Exaplatanos

Province

The province of Almopia (Επαρχία Αλμωπίας) was one of the three provinces of Pella Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality of Almopia.^[13] It was abolished in 2006.

See also

• Megleno-Romanians
• Pomaks
• Population exchange between Greece and Turkey

References

1. Municipality of Almopia, Municipal elections – October 2023, Ministry of Interior
2. "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
3. "ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
4. "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-21.
5. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, II.99
6. Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (2011-07-07). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. John Wiley & Sons. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-4443-5163-7.
7. Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Almops". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 132.
8. Agni K. Koliadymou (2006). Από την Αξό Καππαδοκίας στο Νομό Πέλλας: Προσφυγικές Διαδρομές (1890–1940) (PDF). Thessaloniki. p. 117.
9. ΦΕΚ 304/27-12-1927
10. Wolfgang Dahmen; Johannes Kramer (1986). "Das Meglenorumänische". Rumänistik in der Diskussion. Tübingen. p. 262. ISBN 3-87808-859-0.
11. Kazhdan, Alexander (1991). "Moglena". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 1389. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
12. Theodor Capidan, Meglenoromânii, istoria şi graiul lor Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, vol. I, București, 1925, p.5, 19, 21-22) https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Eh2Z9rLnJgEq9lq_sdheHYO3HbZAzveGYWEUSeakiE/edit?usp=drivesdk
13. "Detailed census results 1991" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. (39 MB) (in Greek and French)

External links

• Current locations of Almopia region