Chalastra ( el, Χαλάστρα) is a town and former municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. Before 1926, it was known as Κουλουκιά - ''Kouloukia'' ( bg, Кулакия - ''Kulakiya''). It was renamed to ''Chalastra'' in 1926, to Πύργος - ''Pyrgos'' in 1955 and back to ''Chalastra'' in 1980. Since the local government reform of 2011 it has been part of the municipality Delta, of which it is a municipal unit. The town is located 20 km west from the city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, on the north side of

Greek National Road 1 Greek National Road 1 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 1, abbreviated as EO1) is the old single carriageway road connecting Athens with Thessaloniki and Evzonoi, the border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia. For most of its length, it has ...

, near the Axios river and the

Thermaic Gulf The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Lariss ...

. The municipal unit of Chalastra consists of the two communities of Chalastra itself and Anatoliko. The population was 9,859 inhabitants according to the 2011 census, most of them working in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

and small industry. The municipal unit Chalastra has an area of 121.415 km², and the community Chalastra has an area of 98.449 km².

History

left, 160px, A Bulgarian woman from Chalastra/Kulakia (left) by Raphäel Jacquemin, 19th century KulakiaGospel

Chalastra ( grc, Χαλάστρα, Strabo vii.; , Herod. vii. 123; , Plut. ''Alex.'' 49; Plin. iv. 10. § 17, xxxi. 10. § 46) was known as a town of Mygdonia in

ancient Macedonia Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...

, situated on the Thermaikos gulf at the mouth of the Axios river, which belonged to the

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

and possessed a harbor. A large part of the population was absorbed in

when it was founded by

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contem ...

. The site of the ancient town is tentatively placed at Anchialos at . During the Byzantine Middle Ages, the name of the area was "Campania". In the 19th century it was inhabited by a mixed Bulgarian and Greek-speaking population.

References

Populated places in Thessaloniki (regional unit) Populated places in ancient Macedonia Cities in ancient Macedonia Geography of ancient Mygdonia {{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub