Argos Orestiko (, before 1926: Χρούπιστα – ''Chroupista''; ) is a town and a municipality in the

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

regional unit of

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 ...

, Greece. The Kastoria National Airport (also known as Aristotelis Airport) is located in Argos Orestiko.

History

Antiquity

In antiquity, ''Argos Orestikon'' was the main town of the Orestae, in

Upper Macedonia Upper Macedonia ( Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, ''Ánō Makedonía'') is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divi ...

. It was said to have been founded by

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

, the son of

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

, who fled from Argos in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

after the murder of his mother. The exact location of classical ''Argos Orestikon'' has not been found. Based on

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

evidence, the administrative centre of the Orestae lay near the centre of the present town Argos Orestiko, at a site named "Armenochori". During the campaign of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

to the East, settlers from the town founded another Argos Orestikon to distant Scythian steppes during the 4th century BCE.

Modern period

At least since the 16th century, Argos Orestiko has a notable annual

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

. Towards the end of the 18th century,

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 ...

from Moscopole settled in the town; later more followed from the villages of Gramosta and Samarina. According to a statistical report by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Henry Synge, dated 12 June 1878, the

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 Chroupista (Argos Orestiko) had 4,565

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and 4,220 Aromanian males who were Orthodox Christians and recognized the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

(opposing 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) ...

); it also had 2,290 Muslim males. At the turn of the 20th century, the town of Argos Orestiko was inhabited by Greeks, Aromanians,

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. In the late Ottoman period, the town was wealthy, had four mosques and many of its Muslim population were involved in agriculture and trade. During the end of the 19th century, it had a number of Greek schools, but also a Bulgarian and Romanian one; at that time, the Greek language prevailed in the town, even among Aromanians and Bulgarians, and particularly the former had a Greek national consciousness. The 1920 Greek census recorded 3,603 people in the town and 1,500 inhabitants (200 families) were Muslim in 1923. Following the Greek–Turkish population exchange, Greek refugee families in the town were from

East Thrace East Thrace or Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of Turkey that is geographically in Southeast Europe. Turkish Thrace accounts for 3.03% of Turkey's land area and 15% of its population. The largest c ...

(10),

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

(69), Pontus (132) and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(1) in 1926. The 1928 Greek census recorded 3,605 town inhabitants. In 1928, the refugee families numbered 214 (852 people). After the population exchange, the main mosque of the town was replaced with a church built and dedicated to Saint Paraskevi; the other three mosques were destroyed. In 1945, Greek Foreign Minister Ioannis Politis ordered the compilation of demographic data regarding the Prefecture of Kastoria.. The town Argos Orestiko had a total of 4,100 inhabitants, including 1,370 Slavophones. "Άργος Ορεστικό, Πληθυσμός: 4100, Σλαυόφωνοι: 1370"

Municipality

The Municipality of Argos Orestiko (former ''Orestida'') was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Argos Orestiko and Ion Dragoumis, that became municipal units. Orestida was renamed to ''Argos Orestiko'' in 2013. The municipality of Argos Orestiko has an area of ; the municipal unit of Argos Orestiko (the pre-2011 municipality) has an area of . The municipal units are further subdivided into the following communities: *Argos Orestiko: Agios Ilias, Ammoudara, Argos Orestiko, Asprokklisia, Dialekto, Kastanofyto, Lagka, Lakkomata, Melanthio, Nostimo, Spilaia, Spilios and Vrachos * Ion Dragoumis: Ampelokipoi, Germas, Kostarazi, Militsa and

Vogatsiko Vogatsiko () is a village and a community in northern Greece in the geographic region of Macedonia, located at the southeast corner of the Kastoria regional unit. Between 1997 and 2010, it was the seat of the municipality of Ion Dragoumis. The p ...

Notable people

* Toma Caragiu (1925–1977) * Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu (1927–2009) * Demetri Dollis (born 1956) * Patrona Halil (1690–1730) * Tom and John Kiradjieff (1892–1960, 1895–1953) * Filip Mișea (1873–1944)

References

External links

Former municipalities in Western Macedonia Populated places in Kastoria (regional unit) Argos Orestiko Aromanian settlements in Greece {{WMacedonia-geo-stub