Ano Poroia
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Ano Poroia () is a
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, located in
Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
. The population was 836 (2021).


Geography

The village is located 55 km and 30 km respectively to the Northwest of the town of
Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...
and to the west of
Sidirokastro Sidirokastro (; ) is a town and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sintiki, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is built near the fertile ...
. It is at the foot of the Belles (Belasitsa) at an altitude of 380 m.
Lake Kerkini Lake Kerkini ( – Limni Kerkini) is an artificial reservoir in Central Macedonia, Greece that was created in 1932, and then redeveloped in 1980, on the site of what was previously an extremely extensive marshland. Lake Kerkini is now one of the ...
is to the south of Ano Poroia.


Name

The town of Ano Poroia, (translated as 'Upper Poroia') is known in Aromanian as ''Foroi'' or ''Poroya di-Nsus''. It was known as "Poroj" during Ottoman rule. The modern name of the settlement is in . This is to differentiate it from the 'Lower Poroia' settlement one kilometer to the west.


History

Ano Poroia was founded in the end of the 18th century (c. 1800), by
Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...
(primarily) of
Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; ; ; ) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly long, with a maximum elevation of (Smolikas, Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epiru ...
mountain after expulsions led by
Ali Pasha of Ioannina Ali Pasha (1740 – 24 January 1822), commonly known as Ali Pasha of Yanina or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a ...
. During the 19th century the village was one of the largest and developed in Demirhisar
Kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...
of the Serres Sandjak. The main occupation was farming (
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
,
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
,
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
), sericulture, and commerce. The population was composed of
Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
,
Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...
,
Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
and
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...
. In "Ethnographie des vilayets d'Adrianople, de Monastir et de Salonique" (issued in Constantinople in 1878 and concerning the population) it was written that Gorni Poroi was a village, and had 320 households with 1,000 Bulgarians and 60
Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...
. Gustav Weigand — German linguist and specialist in Balkan languages (esp. Bulgarian and Aromanian) — passed during the early 20th century. He mentions 750 households. 450 of them Bulgarian, 200 Aromanian and 100 Turkish. At first both Bulgarians and Aromanians adhered the same liturgy and they belonged to a unified church that was serving in Greek. The oldest school that ever existed in the village is mentioned in 1819. It was a Greek elementary school that was attended by Aromanians and a few Bulgarian children of the wealthier class. The first conflict between Greeks and Bulgarians was registered in 1883, when Bulgarians tried and achieved to separate from the Greek church and education and regenerate their own. According to
Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a geographer, ethnographer and teacher who served as Minister of Education of Bulgaria. Early life and education Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school i ...
, in 1891 the village had two Bulgarian churches (serving in Church-Slavonic) and an Aromanian church (serving in Greek). There were two Bulgarian elementary schools, and one Greek elementary school that was attended by Aromanians. According to Kantchov, there were 3,780 people living in the village around 1900. 2,200 of them were Bulgarian, 480 were Turkish, and 1,100 Aromanian. In 1891 Georgi Strezov wrote about the village: Around the turn of the 20th century, the Bulgarian people in Gorni Poroj were within the borders of the
Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...
. According to Dimitar Mishev, the secretary of the exarchate, in 1905 there were 3,840 Bulgarian exarchatists, 25 ethnic Greeks, and 750 Aromanians. There was a Bulgarian elementary school and a Greek elementary and middle-high school. The Bulgarian 7th Rila Division controlled the village expelling the Ottoman authorities in October 1912, during the
First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...
. During the
Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...
, on July 9, 1913, the Greek army captured the village. After the war, the village remained within the borders of Greece. A large portion of the Bulgarian population, as well some Aromanians, emigrated to south Bulgaria. They went primarily to the towns of
Petrich Petrich ( ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 inhabitants. ...
,
Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...
, and
Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...
, and to the villages on the northern slopes of
Belasitsa Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles (, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of Macedonia in Southe ...
,
Belasitsa Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles (, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of Macedonia in Southe ...
, Kolarovo, Samuilovo,
Klyuch Klyuch (, "key"; also transliterated ''Кључ, Ključ, Kliuch, Kljuch'', etc., Medieval Greek: Κλειδίον, ''Kleidion,'' Latin: Clidium) is a village in south-westernmost Bulgaria, part of Petrich Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province. It li ...
, Skrat. In 1913 according to the Greek statistic ministry there were 2.684 Greek Macedonians in the village (including Aromanians). In the 1920s, Greek refugees from Asia Minor were resettled in the village. It was occupied again by Bulgaria in periods of 1916-1917 and 1941-1944.


The village

The village is located at the foot of Mount Belles, overlooking the valley and Lake Kerkini. The settlement preserves the characteristics of the Macedonian Architecture brought by the Aromanians from Epirus and Western Macedonia along with their customs and traditions, which were "married" perfectly later with the settlement of refugees from Asia Minor in 1922. Sights are the cobbled streets of "mahalades", the aesthetic forest with the plane trees and the hagiographed chapels of Agios Georgios and Agios Dimitrios .


Tourism

The village is suitable for tourism throughout the year. In the area, there are businesses such as restaurants, cafes and hotels. Activities that one can indulge in are hiking, horse riding, mountaineering and 4x4 routes. There are also hiking trails, while mountaineering is supported by the Mountaineering Association of Ano Poroia.


Notable persons

* Dimitrios Itsios (1906–1941), Greek soldier murdered by Nazis The story of Itsios-in greek


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * {{Sintiki div Populated places in Serres (regional unit) Sintiki Aromanian settlements in Greece