Agia (Thessaly)

Municipality of Agia
Δήμος Αγιάς (Αγιά)

Basic data

State :

Greece

Region :

Thessaly

Regional District :

Larisa

Geographic coordinates :

39 ° 43 ' N , 22 ° 45' E Coordinates: 39 ° 43 ' N , 22 ° 45' E

Area :

668.26 km²

Residents :

11,470 (2011)

Population density :

17.2 inhabitants / km²

Seat:

Nikea

LAU-1 code no .:

2202

Districts :

4 municipal districts

Local self-government :

1 city district
21 local communities

Website:

www.dimosagias.gr

Location in the Thessaly region

Agia ( Greek Αγιά [ aˈʝa ] ( f. Sg. )) Is a municipality on the Aegean coast of the Greek region of Thessaly . The largest settlement and seat of the municipality is the small town of the same name with around 3000 inhabitants. The area of Agias is congruent with that of the province of Agia, which was abolished in 1997 .

Origin of name

The city of Agia was officially spelled Agyia until 1927, which was derived from ancient Greek ἀγυιά '(country) road'. One of the epithets of the Greek god Apollo as the protector of the streets was Agyiates. Another theory derives the name from an Arabic loan word ajan in Ottoman, which means something like 'capital' and would have indicated the position of Agias in the center of the surrounding villages. A third thesis is based on a substantiation of the feminine form of the Greek adjective agios 'holy'. In addition, the Turkish name Yenice (cf. Giannitsa ) is given from the Ottoman period .

geography

Agias topographic map

Agia extends 36 kilometers along the east coast of Thessaly to the Aegean Sea . The landscape is shaped by the Thessalian coastal mountains: The municipality includes the southern half of the Ossa massif in the north with its main peak at 1978 m ; the south of the municipality forms the northern half of Mavrovouni , the mid-mountainous, northern continuation of the Pelion Mountains, where Agia borders the municipality of Rigas Fereos . The mostly forested mountains drop quite steeply towards the sea and leave little room for rural settlement, the villages on the coast have beautiful beaches and the corresponding tourist infrastructure. In the north, the municipality has a share in the Pinios Delta , which it shares - like the Ossa - with the northern neighboring municipality of Tembi . A few kilometers narrow strip in the west forms the eastern edge of the Thessalian plain, the villages on the western edge of the mountains lie on the border with Kileler , which is adjacent to the west . The plain rises gently to the east as Dotio pedio (Δώτιο πεδίο) between Ossa and Marvrovoni, here the city of Agia is located on the southern slope of the Ossa at about 250 m height. On the east side of the saddle, the coastline is also less steep, here a 13 km long sandy beach stretches along the Aegean Sea.

Church history

After Thessaly was annexed to Greece in 1881, numerous parishes were founded, each comprising a few villages. Most of the localities of modern Agia belonged to three communities from 1883: the area around Agia zu Dotion (after the level Dotion pedion on the Ossa mentioned in Pindar , ancient Greek Δώτιον πεδίον ), the area on Mavrovouni zu Kasthanea (after the ancient Kasthanaia Κασθαναία) with Keramidi in the center, finally around Stomio the small community Evrymenes (after the ancient Eurymenai Εὐρυμεναί at the foot of the Ossa). These larger communities were divided into small rural communities in 1912. During the municipal reorganization in 1997 , four new municipalities were formed in the now established province of Agia: The municipality of Agia as a smaller successor to Dotion, the revived municipality of Evrymenes, to which Paleopyrgos and Omolio were added to the north of Pinios, the municipality of Lakeria (after one near Pindar mentioned city above the Dotion plain), which included the western places in the Thessalian plain, finally the municipality Melivia on the southern section of the coast (after the ancient Meliboia, which was meanwhile the name of the ancient Athanato). These four municipalities were merged with the 2010 administrative reform to form today's municipality of Agia.

As in all of Greece, in the area of today's municipality of Agia, many villages, especially those with non-Greek names, were renamed in the course of the 20th century:

Old names of the villages of Agias
Today's name	Greek	old name	Greek	to
Aetolofos	Αετόλοφος	Desiani	Δέσιανη	1927
Agia	Αγιά	Agyia	Αγυιά	1927
Amygdali	Αμυγδαλή	Koukourava	Κουκουράβα	1957
Anatoly	Ανατολή	Selitsani	Σελίτσανη	1927
Anavra	Ανάβρα	Dogani	Δογάνη	1957
Dimitra	Δήμητρα	Tsouxani Tsouzani	Τσούξανη Τσουζάνη	1912 1957
Elafos	Έλαφος	Voulgarini	Βουλγαρινή	1940
Karitsa	Καρίτσα	Karytsa	Καρύτσα	1940
Marmarini	Μαρμαρίνη	Marmariani	Μαρμάριανη	1940
Megalovtyso	Μεγαλόβρυσο	Nivoliani	Νιβόλιανη	1927
Metaxoxhori	Μεταξοχώρι	Retsani Melissi	Ρέτσανη Μελίσσι	1927 1929
Melivia	Μελίβοια	Athanaton	Αθάνατον	1920
Neochori	Νεοχώρι	Plasia	Πλασιά	1958
Neromyli	Νερόμυλοι	Tourkochori	Τουρκοχώρι	1927
Omolio	Ομόλιο	Laspochori	Λασποχώρι	1915
Paleopyrgos	Παλαιόπυργος	Nykterem Paliopyrgos	Νυκτερέμ Παληόπυργος	1925 1940
Prinias	Πρινιάς	Kermenli	Κερμενλή	1927
Sotiritsa	Σωτηρίτσα	Kapitsa Kapitsa or Kapista	Κάπιτσα Κάπιτσα ή Κάπιστα	1912 1927
Stomio	Στόμιο	Tsagezi	Τσάγεζι	1927

Community structure

The 22 municipalities that existed until 1997 have had the status of an urban district (Ez. Gr. Dimotiki kinotita ) - namely Agia - or of local communities (topiki kinotita) since 2011 and elect a council or an individual representative as local representative depending on the number of inhabitants. The population figures come from the results of the 2011 census.

Location of the municipality of Agia

Agia parish - Δημοτική Ενότητα Αγιάς - 5,855
- Agia Municipality - Δημοτική Κοινότητα Αγιάς - Αγιά - 3.169
- Local community Aetolofos - Τοπική Κοινότητα Αετολόφου - Αετόλοφος - 323
- Local community Anavra - Τοπική Κοινότητα Ανάβρας - 678
  - Anavra - Ανάβρα - 599
  - Prinias - Πρινιάς - 79
- Local community Gerakari - Τοπική Κοινότητα Γερακαρίου - Γερακάρι - 266
- Local community Elafos - Τοπική Κοινότητα Ελάφου - Έλαφος - 219
- Local community Megalovryso - Τοπική Κοινότητα Μεγαλοβρύσου - Μεγαλόβρυσο - 199
- Local community Metaxochori - Τοπική Κοινότητα Μεταξοχωρίου - Μεταξοχώρι - 478
- Local community Meromyli - Τοπική Κοινότητα Νερομύλων - Νερόμυλοι - 261
- Local community Potamia - Τοπική Κοινότητα Ποταμιάς - Ποταμιά - 262

Location of the Evrymenes parish

Evrymenes parish - Δημοτική Ενότητα Ευρυμενών - Ευρυμενές - 1.939
- Local community Karitsa - Τοπική Κοινότητα Καρίτσης - 536
  - Agia Paraskevi - Αγία Παρασκευή - 2
  - Karitsa - Καρίτσα - 436
  - Kokkino Nero - Κόκκινο Νερό - 95
  - Platia Ammos - Πλατιά Άμμος - 3
- Local community Omolio - Τοπική Κοινότητα Ομολίου - Ομόλιο - 606
- Local community Paleopyrgos - Τοπική Κοινότητα Παλαιοπύργου - 244
  - Alexandrini - Αλεξανδρινή - 83
  - Paleopyrgos - Παλαιόπυργος - 161
  - Strintzios - Στρίντζιος - 0
- Local community Stomio - Τοπική Κοινότητα Στομίου - 553
  - Apostolos Pavlos - Απόστολος Παύλος - 0
  - Kataskinosis Agiou Dimitriou - Κατασκηνώσεις Αγίου Δημητρίου - 0
  - Moni Agiou Dimitriou - Μονή Αγίου Δημητρίου - 0
  - Stomio - Στόμιο - 553

Lakeria parish location

Lakeria parish - Δημοτική Ενότητα Λακέρειας - Λακέρεια - 1,481
- Local community Amygdali - Τοπική Κοινότητα Αμυγδαλής - 360
  - Amygdali - Αμυγδαλή - 8
  - Kato Amygdali - Κάτω Αμυγδαλή - 352
- Local community Anatoli - Τοπική Κοινότητα Ανατολής - 265
  - Anatoly - Ανατολή - 265
  - Tsairi - Τσαΐρι - 0
- Local community Dimitra - Τοπική Κοινότητα Δήμητρας - Δήμητρα - 315
- Local community Kastri - Τοπική Κοινότητα Καστρίου - 248
  - Kastri - Καστρί - 207
  - Neochori - Νεοχώρι -
- Local community Marmarini - Τοπική Κοινότητα Μαρμαρίνης - Μαρμαρίνη - 293

Location of the municipality of Melivia

Melivia municipality - Δημοτική Ενότητα Μελίβοιας - 2.195
- Local community Melivia - Τοπική Κοινότητα Μελιβοίας - 1,173
  - Velika - Βελίκα - 291
  - Kokkino Nero Melivias - Κόκκινο Νερό Μελιβοίας - 15
  - Koutsoupia - Κουτσουπιά - 35
  - Melia - Μέλια - 0
  - Melivia - Μελίβοια - 805
  - Ostrovos - Οστροβός - 2
  - Paliouria - Παλιουριά - 25
- Local community Skiti - Τοπική Κοινότητα Σκήτης - 523
  - Agiokambos - Αγιόκαμπος - 315
  - Kato Polydendri - Κάτω Πολυδένδρι - 36
  - Metochia - Μετόχια - 0
  - Skiti - Σκήτη - 172
- Local community Sklithro - Τοπική Κοινότητα Σκλήθρου - 153
  - Isiomata - Ισιώματα - 1
  - Rakopotamos - Ρακοπόταμος - 12
  - Sklithro - Σκλήθρο - 140
- Local community Sotiritsa - Τοπική Κοινότητα Σωτηρίτσης - 346
  - Kato Sotiritsa - Κάτω Σωτηρίτσα - 306
  - Sotiritsa - Σωτηρίτσα - 40

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
^ Website of the municipality (Greek)
↑ Renaming and administrative history of the database of the EETAA (Greek Society for Development and Decentralization) ( Memento of October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

[VZ2011-1] Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)

[2] Website of the municipality (Greek)

[EETAA-3] Renaming and administrative history of the database of the EETAA (Greek Society for Development and Decentralization) ( Memento of October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )