Epanomi

Epanomi municipality Δημοτική Ενότητα Επανομής (Επανομή)
Basic data
State :	Greece
Region :	Central Macedonia
Regional District :	Thessaloniki
Municipality :	Thermaikos
Geographic coordinates :	40 ° 26 '  N , 22 ° 56'  E Coordinates: 40 ° 26 '  N , 22 ° 56'  E
Height above d. M .:	0 - 50 - 124 m ( Thermaic Golf - Epanomi Center - Mesimeri)
Area :	91.700 km²
Residents :	10,810 (2011)
Population density :	117.9 inhabitants / km²
Code No .:	070502
Structure:	1 city district 1 local community
Located in Thermaikos Municipality and Thessaloniki Regional Unit

Epanomi ( Greek Επανομή ( f. Sg. )) Is a place in the northwest of the Chalkidiki peninsula a few kilometers from the coast of Thermaikos Bay . Although Epanomi is located in the geographic region of Chalkidiki, Epanomi belongs to the regional district of Thessaloniki and at the same time forms the southwest corner of the metropolitan area of ​​Thessaloniki .

Administrative structure

The small town of Epanomi was recognized as a rural community (kinotita) in 1918 (until 1940 with the spelling Επανωμή), expanded to include some surrounding settlements in the following decades, and in 1994 raised to the status of urban community (dimos) . With the entry into force of the Greek Local Government Reform Act 1997, the neighboring municipality of Mesimeri was added; the city of Epanomi became the seat of this community. Mesimeri is located east-southeast of the small town of Epanomi at a distance of 7 km as the crow flies. In the autumn of 1998, elections were held for the first time to represent the people in the Epanomi community. With the administrative reform in 2010  , Epanomi was incorporated into the Thermaikos municipality together with the neighboring municipality of Michaniona , where it has since formed one of the three municipal districts.

population

The municipality of Epanomi had a population of 10,810 at the last Greek census in 2011. Mesimeri has only 1842 inhabitants in contrast to the 8979 inhabitants of the small town Epanomi. In 1991, 1831 inhabitants lived in the area of ​​the then independent communities of Epanomi and Mesimeri. In 1981 there were 761 inhabitants in Mesimeri and 4908 in Epanomi. In line with the other municipalities of the Thessaloniki metropolitan area, there has been a population increase in the last decade of the 20th century.

Geography and environment

The area of ​​the municipality Epanomi extends from the coast of the Thermaic Gulf in the west into the interior of the Chalkidiki peninsula to the east and borders in the north on the municipalities Michaniona and Thermaikos , in the northeast and east on the municipalities Thermaikos and Mikra and in the south on the Kallikratia municipality , which is already part of the Chalkidiki regional district. The port of Epanomi, Skala Epanomis, is 4 km as the crow flies in the southwest of the center of Epanomi. The area of ​​the municipality of Epanomi is flat on the Thermaic Gulf. Towards the northeast and east, the terrain rises through hills and foothills of the Kalavros mountain to more than 100 m above sea level. Epanomi's center has a height of 40 m, the center of Mesimeri a height of 124 m above sea level. The part of the Thermaic Gulf from Cape Megalo Karaburnu in the north to Cape Epanomi in the south is also known as the Gulf of Epanomi or Bay of Epanomi, as the two promontories with Cape Megalo Karaburnu and Cape Epanomis divide this part of the Thermaic Gulf.

In the southwest of the municipality (5 km as the crow flies from the center of Epanomis) there is a lagoon (Limnothalassa Epanomis; Tsairi), which, according to the Greek ornithological society, is one of the most important areas with birds in Greece. The so-called area has an area of ​​450 hectares and consists of low sand dunes, salt marshes and the lagoon itself, as well as sandy beaches directly on the Thermaic Gulf. At national and international level, this area is particularly protected as part of the Natura2000 program of the European Union. The lagoon came into the focus of public attention in 2006 with the outbreak of the H5N1 virus. The lagoon and the protected area are located on a flat peninsula of the Chalkidiki facing west-southwest, which extends into the thermal gulf as described above and ends in Cape Epanomi.

The municipality has no year-round water-bearing rivers. There are also no lakes to be found.

The distance from Epanomi to Thessaloniki in the north is 22 km, from Epanomi to Thessaloniki airport in the north-northwest 11 km, from Epanomi to the neighboring town of Nea Michaniona in the northwest 7 km and to Nea Moudania in the southeast 37 km (all information as the crow flies).

history

The area of ​​today's Epanomi municipality belonged in antiquity to the Krusis landscape, which comprised the western tip of the Chalkidiki peninsula with Cape Megalo Karaburnu and extended inland to the Kalavros ridge. In the western part of the Krusis landscape was the settlement area of ​​the city of Aineia ( Greek  Αἴνεια ), which today would encompass the western and northwestern parts of the municipality of Epanomi. The city of Aineia itself was on Cape Megalo Karaburnu, the northern limit of the Bay of Epanomi. Their settlement area stretched east and south along the coast of Epanomi Bay. The ancient settlements Skapsa and Smila were located just south of Cape Epanomi, the latter being the closest to today's municipality of Epanomi. Inland in the area of ​​today's Mesimeri and Kato Scholario were the ancient settlements of Tinde and Kithas.

The first recorded mention of Aineia comes from Herodotus . In the 6th century BC, the city of Aineia minted silver coins. Ainia and Skapsa have belonged to the Attic League since the beginning of the alliance . Tinde, Kithas and Smila, on the other hand, are only mentioned in the tribute lists of the Attic League from the 30s of the 5th century BC. When the Chalcidian or Chalcidian cities fell from the Attic League in 432 BC, the city of Ainia and thus also the area around today's municipality of Epanomi remained in the Attic League and stood with Athens against the Chalcidian League led by the city of Olynthos . Its further expansion probably also ended Aineai's membership of the Attic League in 382 BC. A certain knowledge about this is not available. With the defeat of the Chalkidiki League under Olynthos when it was conquered and destroyed by Philip II in 348/349 BC, Aineia, like the entire other area of ​​Chalkidiki, came under the control of the Kingdom of Macedonia. With the founding of Thessaloniki in 315 BC, Aineia loses part of its population to the new foundation. The existence of Aineia is recorded during the Roman-Macedonian wars up to 168 BC.

economy

The main economic activities of the inhabitants of the Epanomi municipality are agriculture and tourism . The cultivation of wine plays a separate role in agriculture . The production of the pomace schnapps Tsipouro has a long tradition in Epanomi.

traffic

In the east of Epanomis in the immediate vicinity of Mesimeri, the national road 67 runs from north to southeast , which leads from Thessaloniki to Nea Moudania. This has meanwhile been developed as a four-lane motorway. In addition, Epanomi is connected to the Greek road network by paved roads, which carries the bulk of the public transport (buses, e.g. KTEL or OASTh) as well as private transport. Epanomi does not have a railway connection. However, analogous to Athens, there are considerations and plans to provide the metropolitan region of Thessaloniki with a local rail system (comparable to the German S-Bahn ). One of the planned routes would lead from Thessaloniki to Nea Moudania via Epanomi. A short or medium term realization is not to be expected due to the costs due to the topographical conditions.

literature

• Michael Zahrnt : Olynthos and the Chalkidians. Studies on the formation of states on the Chalcidian Peninsula in the 5th and 4th centuries BC Chr. Vestigia - Contributions to ancient history, Volume 14. Verlag CH Beck, Munich. 1971. ISBN 3-406-03097-1

Individual evidence

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. ↑ Law 2539/1997 ( Schedio Kapodistria ), Article 1, paragraph 19.10. (in Greek)
3. ^ Website of the Greek Ornithological Society for the Epanomi Lagoon (in English).
4. ^ Report from Bird Life International: Wild Bird H5N1 Outbreaks. August 4, 2006 (PDF; 273 kB)