Lechovo (), renamed as ''Iroiko'' () between 1955 and 1956, is a village and a former

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

in Florina regional unit,

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia (, ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional units of Greece ...

, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Amyntaio Amyntaio (, before 1928: Σόροβιτς – ''Sorovits''; Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,348, while that o ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 22.844 km², and a population of 782 ( 2021 census). The village is set amongst the mountains of Northern Greece and the main road runs through the town's centre. There is a museum, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

pitch and an indoor

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

stadium. Lechovo has stone architecture common to many northern villages, and has an old upper square and church bell tower. The population of the village was brought to the area by the Ottomans. Lehovo as a village became inhabited in the mid-eighteenth century and some of its villagers worked as master builders. "They praise, for example, its Albanian-speaking master builders from Lehovo (settled mid-18th century) Drosopigi (Belkameni) and Flambouro (Negovani)." In statistics gathered by

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 1900, Lechovo was populated by 750 Christian

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

and 90

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 ...

. Lechovo, with its population of hellenised Albanians, participated extensively on the Greek side of the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

in the late Ottoman period. "Lechovo, a village of hellenized Albanians in the Phlorina district". Following the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...

, the Greek clergy's prominent position in places like Lechovo was contested by Aromanian and Albanian nationalists. During the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

(1923), Lechovo's pro-Greek sentiments resulted in Greek authorities removing it from consideration as a resettlement destination in the Florina region for incoming Greek Anatolian refugees. Lechovo had 1,194 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Lechovo was populated by

Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika was brought to Southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by Alb ...

(close to Albanian) was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it. Aromanian was spoken by people over 60, mainly in private. para.1. "l'arvanitika (proche de l'albanais)"; Table 3: Lechovo, 1194, A, A2, V3; A = Arvanites, A = arvanitika, V = valaque (aroumain)" In the early 2000s, the

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

dialect was often spoken by village elders. Academic Pierre Sintes was in the Florina area doing research in the early 2010s.. Sintes wrote Lechovo was populated by Arvanites who spoke Albanian and had a Greek national consciousness. Lechovo has not been influenced by the nearby predominant Slavic musical tradition of the area, and villagers have no knowledge of songs from their neighbours. Dances performed in Lechovo are the Berati, Hasapia,

Tsamiko The Tsamikos (, ''Tsamikos'') or Kleftikos () is a popular traditional folk dance of Greece, done to music of Triple metre, 3/4 meter. The dance The dance follows a strict and slow tempo not emphasising on the steps, but more on the "attitude, ...

, Kalamatiano, along with the Poustseno. File:193 Lehovo Church.jpg, Lechovo Church File:192 Lehovo Andarts Monument.jpg, Macedonian Struggle Monument honouring Lechovo's participation File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-31.jpg, Lechovo Folklore Museum File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-32.jpg, Traditional home items File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-33.jpg, Icons and other religious items File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-34.jpg, Traditional female clothing

References

{{Amyntaio div Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Former municipalities in Western Macedonia Amyntaio Albanian communities in Greece

See also

References