Nikiti () 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 ...

located 100 kilometers south-east 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 ...

on the

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos reg ...

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

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 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 ...

. It is the seat of both the municipal unit and municipality of

Sithonia Sithonia (), also known as Longos, is a peninsula and part of the larger peninsula of Chalkidiki in Greece. The Kassandra, Chalkidiki, Kassandra Peninsula lies to the west of Sithonia and the Mount Athos peninsula to the east. Sithonia is also the ...

. The town has a preserved old part of town. The newer part of town is located on the seashore, where the beach and newly built marina are located.

History

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 ...

city of Galypsos was located south of Nikiti, near Kastri beach. There are remains of an early

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

church dating to the 5th century near Agios Georgos beach on the Nikiti foreshore. The old part of Nikiti village dates to the beginning of the 14th century when inhabitants moved inland to avoid pirate raids. The old village is located on a hilly area a few hundred meters from the sea, with the church of Saint Nikitas at the highest point of the village. Nikiti was under Ottoman Turkish rule from the 15th century until liberation in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

of 1912. The town suffered further in the 1940s during

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

and fighting in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

. In the 1950s peace returned and the village started to expand downwards to the coast significantly. In the 1970s the coastal plain was included into plans for the village's development and many new buildings were built there. The most important economic sector in Nikiti is tourism. Tourism boomed in the 1980s when Nikiti beaches such as Ai Yiannis, Kalogria and Lagomandra became popular. After 2010, a marina was built at the Nikiti beach front amid redevelopment. Other important economic activities in Nikiti are

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

and olive growing.

Population

The population of Nikiti in 2021 was just over 2,900, though in summer this expands to around 20,000. The permanent population are mostly indigenous Greeks, though there are also many Greeks from

, Germans, Austrians, Russians and Albanians who own homes or work in the summer months.

Tourism

Chalkidiki is a popular summer tourist destination since the late 1950s when people from

started spending their summer holidays at coastal villages like Nikiti. In the beginning tourists rented rooms in the houses of the villagers. By the 1970s tourists from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

started to visit Chalkidiki more frequently. In the 1980s the big tourist boom started. After 2010 many tourists from nearby countries such as

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

predominate. In 2015, a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

was constructed. The closest airport is 90 km away near

. Sightseeing in Nikiti includes the architecture and old churches of the old town, the cafes and bars on the waterfront which are busy in summer, and the beaches to the south of Nikiti including Kalogria beach, Agios Ioannis beach and Lagomandra beach.

Gallery

Image:Nikiti_old_1.JPG , Old house in Nikiti File:Παλιά Νικήτη - panoramio (3).jpg, Old house Image:NikitiNokturnal.jpg , Nikiti port by night File:Новая церковь в Никити - panoramio.jpg, A church File:Ai Yiannis beach in Nikiti.jpg, St. John beach

References

Populated places in Chalkidiki Sithonia {{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub