Pieria ( el, Πιερία) is one of the

regional units of Greece The 74 regional units of Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Afr ...

located in the southern part of the Region of Central Macedonia, within the historical province 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 traditional geographic reg ...

. Its capital is the town of

Katerini Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, a ...

.The name Pieria originates from the ancient Pieres tribe. In Pieria, there are many sites of archeological interest, such as Dion,

Pydna Pydna (in Greek: Πύδνα, older transliteration: Pýdna) was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit, Greece. Sinc ...

Leivithra Leibethra or Libethra, in the modern pronunciation Leivithra ( gr, Λείβηθρα or Λίβηθρα) was an ancient Macedonian city at the foot of Mount Olympus, near the present settlement of Skotina. Archaeologists have discovered tombs ther ...

and

Platamonas Platamon, or Platamonas (, ''Platamónas''), is a town and sea-side resort in south Pieria, Central Macedonia, Greece. Platamon has a population of about 2,000 permanent inhabitants. It is part of the Municipal unit of East Olympos of the Dio-Olym ...

. Pieria contains Mount Pierus, from which

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

takes flight in order to visit Calypso, and is the home of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to ...

, the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the p ...

, and contains the Pierian Spring.

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

, the highest mountain in Greece and throne of the ancient Greek gods, is located in the southern part of Pieria. Other ancient cities included

Leibethra Leibethra or Libethra, in the modern pronunciation Leivithra ( gr, Λείβηθρα or Λίβηθρα) was an ancient Macedonian city at the foot of Mount Olympus, near the present settlement of Skotina. Archaeologists have discovered tombs there ...

and

Pimpleia Pimpleia (Ancient Greek: Πίμπλεια) was a city in Pieria in Ancient Greece, located near Dion and ancient Leivithra at Mount Olympus. Pimpleia is described as a "κώμη" ("quarter, suburb") of Dion by Strabo. The location of Pimpleia ...

Geography

The Pieria regional unit is bordered by

Imathia Imathia ( el, Ημαθία ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Macedonia, within the geographic region of Macedonia. The capital of Imathia is the city of Veroia. Administration The regional unit Imath ...

to the north,

Kozani Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmona ...

to the west, and to the south and west by the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Thessaly's regional unit

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

. The

Pierian Mountains The Pierian Mountains (or commonly referred to as Piéria) are a mountain range between Imathia, Pieria and Kozani Region, south of the plain of Kambania in Central Macedonia, Greece. The village of Vergina, where the archaeological site of ...

lie to the west; the

Thermaic Gulf The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Lariss ...

lies to the east. It also has a valley by the GR-13. Most of the population live within the Olympian Riviera. The lowest point is the Thermiac Gulf and the highest point is

. It combines extensive plains, high mountains and sandy beaches. The region's beauty gives it a great potential for further tourist development.

Climate

Its climate is mainly of Mediterranean type with hot summers and cool winters. Severe winter weather is common in the central and western parts of Pieria, especially in the Pierian Mountains and on Mount Olympus. On June 8, 2007, a low pressure weather system from Southern and Central Europe resulted in heavy rainfall that ravaged the prefecture and caused great damage in fruit and vegetable production. The worst hit area was

Korinos Korinos ( el, Κορινός) is a town and a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Katerini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 7 ...

Administration

The regional unit Pieria is divided into 3 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): *

Pydna-Kolindros Pydna–Kolindros ( el, Πύδνα-Κολινδρός, ''Pýdna-Kolindrós'') is a municipality in the Pieria regional unit, Central Macedonia, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southea ...

(3) *

(1) * Dion-Olympos (2)

Prefecture

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Pieria was created out of the former prefecture Pieria ( el, Νομός Πιερίας). The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganized, according to the table below.

History

The region, known as Pieria or Pieris () in Antiquity, took its name from the Pieres (), a Thracian tribe that was expelledArchaic Eretria: A Political and Social History from the Earliest Times to 490 BC by Keith G. Walker, 2004, page 154: "... 498-54)12' had incorporated coastal Pieria into Macedonia and expelled the 'Pieres', who afterwards took up their abode in areas at Mt.Pangaion..." by the

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled b ...

ians in the 8th century BC from their original seats, and driven to the North beyond the Strymon river and Mount Pangaeus, where they formed a new settlement in

Edonis The B Engineering Edonis is a sports car developed in the year 2000 and manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer B Engineering with overall engineering by Nicola Materazzi (ex Lancia, Ferrari & Bugatti) and styling by Marc Deschamps ( ...

. The name Pieria has been connected to Homeric ' "fat", ' "fertile land" in a metaphorical sense. At some time before the archaic period Pieria was incorporated in the

Kingdom of Macedon Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama ...

(808 BC, see below) when it became the second province of the ancient kingdom, following its fate through the rule of the

Antipatrid dynasty The Antipatrid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιπατρίδαι) was a Dorian Greek dynasty of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon founded by Cassander, the son of Antipater, who declared himself King of Macedon in 302 BC. This dynasty did not l ...

(302 BC - 277 BC) and the

Antigonid dynasty The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic dynasty of Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled mainly in Macedonia. History ...

(306 BC - 168 BC). It became part of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...

after the

Fourth Macedonian War The Fourth Macedonian War (150–148 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by the pretender Andriscus, and the Roman Republic. It was the last of the Macedonian Wars, and was the last war to seriously threaten Roman control of Greece until the ...

, and remained part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

and its successor, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. It was later invaded and became a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. During 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. The Greeks were later assisted ...

in 1821, Pieria took up arms along with the rest of Greece, but their struggle failed and Pieria did not join the rest of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

until the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

in 1913. Until 1947, Pieria was part of the Thessaloniki Prefecture (at that time the largest Greek prefecture), as a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

. Pieria saw an economic boom in agriculture and business. During the Greco-Turkish War, it saw an influx of refugees from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

, now a part of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and several places were named after their former homelands including Nea Trapezounta from Trebizond (now

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

) and Nea Efesos from

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

(now Efes). The village of Elafos in the municipal unit

Elafina Elafina ( el, Ελαφίνα) is a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Katerini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 160.690 ...

, formerly a community in the Imathia prefecture, was attached to Pieria in 1974.

Transport

* A1/ E75 * GR-1 * GR-13

Notable people

* Katerina Nikolaidou (born 1992), rower athlete, 4th place 2016 Olympic Games, silver medal in the lightweight single sculls at the 2013 World Rowing Championships * Christos Tsolakis (1935-2012), philologist, author, professor emeritus of

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...

* Eleni Chatziliadou (born 1993),

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

athlete, Kumite +68 kg 2018 World Karate Championship * Theodoros Terzopoulos, theater director * Konstantinos Papachronis (1977-2008), actor *

Patriarch Callinicus of Alexandria Callinicus served as Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria between 1858 and 1861. He was a Greek cleric, born as Konstantinos Kyparissis in Skotina Skotina () is a rural settlement of the former municipality of East Olympos, itself part of the ...

Yannis K. Semertzidis Yannis K. Semertzidis is a physicist exploring axions as a dark matter candidate, precision physics in storage rings including muon ''g''-2 and proton electric dipole moment (pEDM). The axion and the pEDM are intimately connected through the stron ...

, physicist *

Giorgakis Olympios Giorgakis Olympios ( el, Γιωργάκης Ολύμπιος; ro, Iordache Olimpiotul; sr, Капетан Јоргаћ; 1772–1821) was a Greek '' armatolos'' and military commander during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Emp ...

* Christos Kakkalos *

Zorba The Greek ''Zorba the Greek'' ( el, Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, , Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. It is the tale of a young Greek i ...

Sporting teams

* Pierikos - Greek Third Division * Pierian Sodality

References

External links

* Αρχειοθετημένο από το στις 19 Ιουνίου 2004 * * {{Authority control Prefectures of Greece Locations in the Iliad Regional units of Central Macedonia