Milies () is a village and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in Magnesia,

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

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 ...

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

South Pelion South Pelion (, ''Notio Pilio'') is a municipality in the Magnesia regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Argalasti. The municipality has an area of 368.539 km2. It comprises the southern part of Mount Pelion. ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 63.754 km². It is a traditional Greek mountain village, at a height of 400 m on Mount

Pelion Pelion or Pelium (Modern , ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the Aegean Sea. Its ...

. It is 28 km from

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

, the capital city of Magnesia. Milies is connected with the GR-34A (Volos - Promyri) It has traditional stone houses, cobbled roads, good restaurants and accommodation in abundance. Milies is also notable for being the terminus of the narrow gauge (60 cm) Pelion Railway, built between 1895 and 1903 by the Italian engineer,

Evaristo de Chirico Evaristo de Chirico (3 December 1841–5 May 1905) was an Italian-Greek engineer known for his contributions to railway construction in Greece. He played a key role in developing the railway network of Thessaly in the late 19th century. He wa ...

, father of the famous artist

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

. This proved to be of considerable economic advantage to the region. The recently railway runs between

Ano Lechonia Ano Lechonia () is a town and community in the Magnesia regional unit, Greece. Ano Lechonia was the seat of the former municipality of Artemida. The community includes the coastal village Platinidia. Ano Lechonia is situated in the northwestern ...

and Milies twice a week at the weekend. The village commands striking views across the

Pagasetic The Pagasetic Gulf () is a rounded gulf (max. depth 102 metres) in the Magnesia regional unit (east central Greece) that is formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula. It is connected with the Euboic Sea. The passage into the Euboic Sea is narrow and ...

Gulf and benefits from the many streams and water sources for which Mt. Pelion is renowned. These result in rich vegetation and cool, forested mountain slopes.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Milies is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): Palios Stathmos hotel 1

Agios Georgios Nileias Agios Georgios Nileias () is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Milies, Magnesia, Greece. It is situated on the slopes of mount Pelion, at about 700 m elevation. Agios Georgios Nileias is 1.5 km east of Agios Vlasios, 3 ...

(Agios Georgios Nileias, Agia Triada, Ano Gatzea, Dyo Revmata, Kato Gatzea) *

Kala Nera Kala Nera ( meaning "good waters") is a village in the municipal unit of Milies, Magnesia, Greece. It is situated in the western part of the mountainous Pelion peninsula, on the Pagasetic Gulf coast. It is 3 km southwest of Milies, 5 km southeas ...

*Milies (Milies,

Koropi Koropi (, ) is a suburban town in East Attica, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality Kropia. It has been home to the new training facilities of Panathinaikos football club since the summer of 2013. Geography Koropi is situated east of the ...

, Stavrodromi) *

Pinakates Pinakates () is a mountain village in the Magnesia regional unit, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Milies. Geography Pinakates is on the southwestern slopes of the Pelion mountain range. It is 3 km west of Milies, 3 km east of Agio ...

(Pinakates, Agios Athanasios) * Vyzitsa (Vyzitsa, Argyreika)

Nearest places

, southwest *

, northwest *Stavrodromoi

Population

Geography

The

mountains dominate the area, the valley covers the central part. Farmlands are adjacent to the village, which produces fruits, olives and vegetables.

History

The town was founded by people fleeing pirate attacks on

Milies Milies () is a village and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Pelion, of which it is ...

on the island of

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

. The town was constructed inland and while the sea can be seen from the village, the community cannot be seen from the sea.

Anthimos Gazis Anthimos Gazis or Gazes (; born Anastasios Gazalis, ; 1758 24 June 1828) was a Greek scholar, revolutionary and politician. He was born in Milies (Thessaly) in Ottoman Greece in 1758 into a family of modest means. In 1774 he became an Eastern Or ...

and

Grigorios Konstantas Grigorios Konstantas (; 1753–1844) was a Greek scholar and figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment. He was actively involved in various educational issues as well as participated in the Greek War of Independence. Life Konstantas was born in th ...

opened the school "Psychis Akos" in 1814 which is now a library with books and historic features. Milies was the first community of Pelion which saw the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

of 1821. Magnesia lost the battle and did not join the

Greek Kingdom The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

until 1881. When Milies and the area became part of Greece in 1881, the Ottomans left the area. During the

German Occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

nearly the whole village was burnt down by German occupation troops on October 4, 1943. According to the official report of the municipality the Germans executed 25 men and three inhabitants died in their houses by the flames. This was after the resistance had killed a German officer and a soldier nearby eight days before on September 26.Helen F. Stamati: Milies: A Village on Mount Pelion, Athens 1989, p. 58.

Landmarks

The towns feature's a church known as Agios Taxiarchos (built in 1741).

Notable people

(1758–1828), scholar of the

Greek Enlightenment The Modern Greek Enlightenment (also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment; , ''Diafotismós'' / , ''Neoellinikós Diafotismós'') was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment, characterized by an intellectual and philosophical movemen ...

(1753–1844) *

Daniel Philippidis Daniel Philippidis (; ; c. 1750 – 1832) was a Greek scholar, figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment and member of the patriotic organization Filiki Etaireia. He was one of the most active scholars of the Greek diaspora in the Danubian Princip ...

(ca. 1750–1832) * Konstantinos Garefis (1874-1906), chieftain 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 ...

Sister cities

Lapithos Lapithos or Lapethos (; ) is a town in Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus. Archeologists claim that Lapithos was founded by the Achean brothers Praxandros and Cepheus. According to Strabo, the ancient settlement o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

* Bălţi,

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Sources

* Helen F. Stamati: ''Milies: A Village on Mount Pelion.'' Athenian Press, Athens 1989.

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Pelion South Pelion