Vevi (, before 1926: Μπάνιτσα – ''Banitsa''; Macedonian and , ''Banica'' or ''Banitsa'') is a village located in the municipal unit of Meliti in Florina regional unit,

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 ...

. The village is passed by two national roads which lead to

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Kozani Kozani (, ) is a town 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 Aliakmonas, Aliakmonas riv ...

. Additionally, it has a railway station on the line between Florina and Thessaloniki. The Official

Football Club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

of Vevi is Vevi FC The church of St. Nicholas was built in 1460. "St. Nikolaos church in Vevi (Banitsa) is a small single-nave church covered with a timber roof, which was built, according to the founder’s inscription, in 1460"

Economy

It is mainly a

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

community and is the site of the Achlada, the Vevi

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

mines from

Upper Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

History

The city dates back to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times. Archeological finds from this period, such as the marble torso of a male statue, are housed at the Archaeological Museum of Florina. The local church St. Nicolas was built and painted in 1460. There were 132 Christian households in the village in the first half of the 17th century. In 1845 the Russian

slavist Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...

Victor Grigorovich recorded ''Banci'' as mainly Bulgarian village. According to local tradition, the settlers who laid the foundation of the modern village included various people from the region such as

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

, Turks, etc. There were two Bulgarian schools in the beginning of 20th century.D.M.Brancoff. "La Macedoine et sa Population Chretienne". Paris, 1905, p.176-177. The village participated in the Ilinden Uprising (1903) and during the conflict it was razed by the

Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

. Immigrants from Banitsa in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

participated in the early Bulgarian community to build church infrastructure. Vevi School

In 1913, with the conditions of the Treaty of Bucharest, when this part of

became part of

, and after 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 ...

, a lot of locals emigrated to

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 ...

. The village was renamed Vevi in 1926. During the occupation of Greece in the

Second World War 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 ...

and 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 ...

the village supported the separatist side and retaliation followed from supporters of the Greek side. Following World War II as well as the Greek Civil War it saw more exodus on the part of the town's non-Greek inhabitants.

Demographics

Vevi had 806 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Vevi was populated by Slavophones. The

Macedonian language Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...

was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language but mostly did not use it. Table 3: Vevi, 806; S, M2; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien"

Transport

The settlement is served BY

Regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and

Proastiakos The Proastiakos (; "suburban") is Greece's commuter rail service, run by Hellenic Train, on rail infrastructure owned by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) (lines) and GAIAOSE (buildings and Trains). These services connect a participating ...

services to

and

Notable people

* Dzole Gergev (1867 - 1909), Macedonian Bulgarian chieftain * Antigonos Choleris (-1913), Greek 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 ...

and soldier of the

. *

Stavros Kotsopoulos Stavros Kotsopoulos () was a Greeks, Greek revolutionary chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle and the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, North Epirote Struggle, an irregular fighter in the Balkan Wars, and a member of the resistance in World ...

, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle and soldier of

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 ...

. * Peter Daicos, Australian AFL footballer whose parents migrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia.

References

External links

Florina Official Site

Website operated by expatriates
{{Authority control Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Florina