Nymfaio (, before 1926: Νέβεσκα – ''Neveska''; ) 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 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 ...

. After the 2011 local government reform it became a member 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 ...

. The municipal unit has an area of 28.209 km². As of 2021 the village had a population of 63 residents. The village is protected by the

Hellenic Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage and promoting the arts. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni, and the deputy minister is . History This ministry ...

in order to preserve its architectural integrity.

Name

First mentioned in an Ottoman

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

in 1481, the village, then known as ''Neveska'', had only six households. The name of the town in Aromanian (Vlach) is ''Nevesca'' from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

(Doric) ''νυφεοσσ''´, meaning ''snowy, snowclad''.

Geography

Nymfaio is a mountain village, situated at 1350 m elevation in the densely forested

Verno Verno () or Vitsi () is a forested mountain range in the southern part of the Florina and the northeastern part of the Kastoria regional units in Western Macedonia, northern Greece. The elevation of its highest peak is . It stretches from the ...

mountains. It is 3 km north of Sklithro, 5 km west of Aetos, 16 km west of

and 17 km southeast of

Florina Florina (, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional uni ...

History

Nymfaio, or ''Neveska'' as it was called then, was settled around 1385 by

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

travellers, who fled into the mountains after heavy battles with the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. The fighters of Neveska capitulated conditionally: they remained armed and autonomous, directly ruled by

Valide sultan Valide Sultan (, lit. "Sultana mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans first formally used the title in the 16th century as an epithet of Hafsa Sultan (died 1534), mother of Sultan Suleima ...

(the mother of the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

), and paid reduced taxes. Until the early 17th century, their main source of income was raiding the estates in the plains. Around 1630, the village became a centre of

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

ing, known all over Macedonia for the next three centuries. During the Albanian incursions in the late 18th century, after the Orlov revolt, Neveska accepted Vlach refugees from

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja (; , with several other variants; ) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians. At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it h ...

, Nikolicë, and other Vlach places that were ruined by the raiders. Furthermore, people from Neveska moved to places in eastern Macedonia, including

Ano Poroia Ano Poroia () is a village in Greece, located in Macedonia. The population was 836 (2021). Geography The village is located 55 km and 30 km respectively to the Northwest of the town of Serres and to the west of Sidirokastro. It is a ...

, Kato Tzoumagia,

Alistrati Alistrati (Greek: Αλιστράτη) is a small town in Serres, situated at the borders of the regional unit of Drama and regional unit of Serres, in the Macedonia region of Greece. It has approximately 2,300 inhabitants, a town hall and a visi ...

Nigrita Nigrita () is a city and a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Visaltia, of which it is the seat and a munic ...

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 others. During the 1878 Macedonian rebellion, the revolutionary leader Vasileios Zourkas from Neveska operated in the areas of

Varnous Varnous or Varnoundas (, also called ''Peristeri'') is a mountain in northern Florina regional unit, Greece, situated between the town of Florina and Lake Prespa, and just south of the border with North Macedonia. Its highest peak, named ''Gkarv ...

and

Mariovo Mariovo () is a historic region in the southern part of North Macedonia, with an area of 1,390 square km and an elevation 1,050 m, situated among mountains. Geography Mountains * Selečka (highest peak - ''Visoka'' 1,471 m) on the west, * Nid ...

.Νομαρχιακή Αυτοδιοίκηση Κοζάνης, Ελένη Βασιλείου, "Εορδαία - Η συντήρηση της πολιτιστικής μας κληρονομιάς είναι πολιτιστική παραγωγή" (''Kozani Prefectural Administration'', Eleni Vassiliou, ''Eordea - The preservation of our cultural inheritance is a cultural production''

Demographics

Nymfaio had 158 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Nymfaio was populated 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 ...

. Table 3: Nimfeo, 158; V; V = Valaques (Aroumains)"

Culture

Sights

Nymfaio hosts a Museum of Gold and Silver-smithery, Folklore, and History, inaugurated in 2000 and located in a traditional building in the centre of the village. It displays furniture, artisan jewelry, and religious silverware. There are also showcases displaying authentic costumes as well as photographs and other memorabilia 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 ...

, including letters written by leaders of the

Pavlos Melas Pavlos Melas (; 29 March 1870 – 13 October 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first Greek officers to join the Macedonian Struggle. ...

and

Germanos Karavangelis Germanos Karavangelis (, also transliterated as ''Yermanos'' and ''Karavaggelis'' or ''Karavagelis'', 1866–1935) was known for his service as Metropolitan Bishop of Kastoria and later Amasya, Amaseia, Pontus (region), Pontus. He was a member of ...

. The Environmental Centre ARCTUROS is active in the area, and manages an environmental protection center for brown bears and wolves one-and-a-half kilometres from the village. The center is home to 13 bears and several wolves that were believed too weak to survive in the wild. The information centre is open to the public for several months of the year. There are currently 6 functioning hotels in Nymfaio, as well as an

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian church in the world * Oriental Orthodox Churches, a branch of Eastern Christianity * Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a confessional Presbyterian denomination loc ...

. Next to the church is an old cemetery dating to the 18th and 19th centuries.

People

* Giannis Boutaris, mayor of

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

* , diplomat *

Dimitrios Golnas Dimitrios (Takis) Golnas (Greek: Δημήτριος Γκόλνας) was a Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle. Biography Golnas was born in the 1880s in Neveska (now Nymfaio) of Florina. From early on he participated in guerrilla groups ...

, chieftain of the

References

External links

*A photographic council with a Creative Commons licenc
Νυμφαίο
{{Amyntaio div Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Former municipalities in Western Macedonia Aromanian settlements in Greece Amyntaio