Giannitsa

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Giannitsa municipality
Δημοτική Ενότητα Γιαννιτσών
(Γιαννιτσά)
Giannitsa (Greece)
Bluedot.svg
Basic data
State : GreeceGreece Greece
Region : Central Macedonia

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Regional District : Pella
Municipality : Pella
Geographic coordinates : 40 ° 47 '  N , 22 ° 24'  E Coordinates: 40 ° 47 '  N , 22 ° 24'  E
Height above d. M .: 10 - 45 - 150 m
Melissi - Giannitsa - Ambelies
Area : 208.105 km²
Residents : 34,229 (2011)
Population density : 164.5 inhabitants / km²
Code No .: 100301
Structure: f121 city district
2 local communities
Located in the municipality of Pella and in the regional unit of Pella
File: DE Giannitson.svg
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Giannitsa ( Greek Γιαννιτσά ( pl.. ); Spoken about Janitsá until 1926 Genitsa Γενιτσά, Bulgarian Пазар Pazar or Ениджѐ Вардар , Turkish Yenice-i Vardar ) is a town and seat of the municipality of Pella in the Greek region of Central Macedonia . Since it was incorporated into Pella in 2010, the area of ​​the previously existing municipality (dimos) has been a municipality.

Giannitsa, with 29,789 inhabitants in the 2011 census year, was the largest city in the Pella prefecture even before its administrative seat Edessa . Giannitsa was the site of a battle in the First Balkan War and a war crime in World War II .

geography

Giannitsa is located at an altitude of 40 m in the middle of the fertile Macedonian lowlands west of Thessaloniki , which is mainly composed of the alluvial land of the rivers Axios , Loudias , Gallikos and Aliakmonas . To the south of today's city of Giannitsa stretched 500 BC. Another bay of the thermal gulf in the interior to the northwest and reached both the area of ​​today's city of Giannitsa and the area of ​​the then capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, Pella . Over time, the shallow bay initially became a lake (Loudias Lake or Giannitsa Lake ), and in modern times it became a marshland, which was fed by the waters of the Loudias river. Between 1926 and 1937 this wetland or the remaining lake was finally drained - also because of the recurring cases of malaria there. The southern foothills of Mount Paiko rise north and northwest of Giannitsa.

Giannitsa is located 48 km west of the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki and just under 30 km east of the prefecture capital Edessa.

For the classification into localities and settlements see Pella (Macedonia) #Gemeindegliederung .

history

The Giannitsa area has been known since the end of the 7th millennium and the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. Inhabited in BC (Neolithic, New Stone Age). Corresponding remains of a Neolithic settlement have been found on the southern hill of the city near the old market. Even in the Bronze Age (3200 to 1100 BC) the area of ​​Giannitsa - especially the area of ​​the village of Archontiko - remained populated. A grave dates from the Iron Age (1100 to 750 BC), which was discovered at the western exit of the city in the direction of Edessa. According to coins found, Giannitsa was also settled during classical antiquity. During the time of the Roman rule over Macedonia (from 168 BC) the Via Egnatia ran here , which led from Byzantium in the east via Thessalonike to Dyrrhachium and then along the Adriatic to Rome. However, on the soil of the later Giannitsa there was no significant or large settlement between the east neighboring Pella and Thessalonike and the west neighboring Edessa. This did not change in the early years of the Byzantine Empire from 395 AD. During the expansion of the first Bulgarian Tsarist Empire in the 9th and 10th centuries AD, the presumed location was in the border area between the Bulgarian territory and the theme of Thessalonica . With the fall of Constantinople in 1204 as part of the Fourth Crusade , the region was added to the Kingdom of Thessalonike and thus came under the rule of Boniface von Montferrat . But this did not last long: As early as 1224, the kingdom of Thessalonica and most of its territories fell to the despotate of Epirus . This was able to maintain control until the middle of the 14th century. With the advance of the Serbian King Stefan Dusan, control of the Despotate of Epirus was ended and replaced by that of the Kingdom of Serbia.

A place called Bardarion was probably founded in the late period of the Byzantine Empire . In 1385 the first military leader of the Ottoman Empire, Gazi Akhmet Evrenos , settled there and gave the city the name Jenice Vardar (new city on the Vardar). Under Gazi Akhmet Evrenos the Ottoman settlement of the city began, which amounted to a re-establishment. In addition to a permanent garrison of the Ottoman armed forces, many Ottoman settlers also found their home in Jenice in the years and centuries that followed, making the city a center of Ottoman culture and population in northern Greece. Here is also the birthplace of the Ottoman court poet Hayâlî (1500? -1557). This was also the case during the Greek War of Independence from 1821 to 1829. Jenice resisted the efforts of Greek insurgents to join Greece from 1821 to 1822 and remained part of Ottoman Rumelia during the war between Greece and Turkey in 1897 and after the border adjustment in 1881 . From 1900 onwards there were repeated armed conflicts between the Turkish occupation forces and Bulgarian insurgents on the one hand and Greek insurgents on the other in the wetland around Giannitsa Lake in the south of Giannitsa. In addition to the Greek rebels, Bulgarian rebels also used Lake Giannitsa and its wetland as a retreat during armed actions, against Turkish occupation forces, but also against the Greek population themselves. In October 1912, Giannitsa moved into the center of the First Balkan War with the Battle of Giannitsa. Greek troops won a victory against the Ottoman army between November 1st and 2nd, 1912 ; Giannitsa was occupied by the Greeks on November 2, 1912, paving the way for the capture of Thessaloniki a few days later. Despite the incorporation of Giannitsa into the Kingdom of Greece from 1912, the majority of the population of the city remained Ottoman or Turkish. The Salonikifront during the First World War ran near Giannitsa. In 1918, the city, now part of Greece, was recognized as a rural community (kinotita) under the name Genitsa (Γενιτσά) .

The end of the Ottoman and Turkish settlement history ushered in the Greco-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922. After the Greek defeat in 1922, Greece and Turkey agreed on a so-called population exchange in the Treaty of Lausanne 1923, which determined the compulsory resettlement of 1.5 million Greeks from Turkey to Greece and 0.5 million Turks from Greece to Turkey. The majority of the Turkish population in Giannitsa was affected by this: all Turkish residents left the city between 1923 and 1926 and had to relocate to Turkey. The Slavic population left Giannitsa for Bulgaria at the same time. The majority of them settled in and around the Black Sea city of Burgas . The Greek population was increased by the settlement of Greek refugees from Eastern Thrace and the Pontos region . In 1928, after these forced “population movements” ended, Giannitsa had a share of refugees in the total population of 58 percent: more than half of the city's population had been “exchanged”. In 1924 Genitsa was recognized as a township (dimos), and in 1926 it was officially renamed Giannitsa.

The lake and wetland south of Giannitsa were completely drained between 1926 and 1937. The Loudias river, which flows south of Giannitsa from west to east towards the thermal gulf, was canalized and its water was used for irrigation purposes as part of agriculture. Since then, cotton has been grown in particular on the fertile soil with a good water supply from the surrounding rivers, especially the Loudias. In April 1941, Giannitsa was conquered by the troops of the German Wehrmacht as part of the Marita company during the Second World War and then held until October 18, 1944. Gunmen from the resistance group ELAS , which fought against the German occupation forces, were also recruited from Giannitsa . On September 14, 1944, about 120 residents of Giannitsa were executed by Greek units under German command (Jagdkommando Schubert; commanding Sergeant Fritz Schubert) and Greek security battalions under the leadership of Georgios Poulos. In addition, part of the city was set on fire. The "regular" German occupation troops under the command of Max Reskow favored this massacre by imposing a curfew: it took place for the most part in the courtyard of the German garrison site (today the 1st primary school in Giannitsa). The officers of the German garrison witnessed the attacks and killings and photographed them.

In 1997 the neighboring communities of Ambelies and Melissi were merged with Giannitsa, and together in 2010 they merged into the community of Pella.

Economy and Infrastructure

Πάρκο Αγίου Γεωργίου 1.jpg

Giannitsa was a regional center in a predominantly agricultural region until modern times. In particular, tobacco cultivation was practiced, partly with trade connections to cities in Central Europe such as Dresden (see the Yenidze there ). Under the Ottoman occupation, the Ottoman garrison also had economic importance. By draining Lake Giannitsa, agricultural production was increased and expanded again. Agriculture is still of considerable importance today. Meanwhile, however, the importance of industry and trade has increased.

Giannitsa has several general and secondary schools. There are no universities or technical colleges in Giannitsa.

The city of Giannitsa has had a hospital since 1993, which supplies the east of the Pella prefecture.

Giannitsa is passed in the south of the city by the national road 2 ( European route 86 ) from Florina via Edessa to Thessaloniki. The street has four lanes in the area of ​​the city, but is not free of intersections. Giannitsa does not have a railway connection. The nearest railway connection is in Edessa and Alexandria. The city does not have an airport either. The closest airport is Thessaloniki International Airport .

The clock tower of Giannitsa from Ottoman times.
The new Episcopal Church in Giannitsa.
Memorial for those who fell in the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913 in Giannitsa.

Attractions

Giannitsa has sights from antiquity, the Ottoman occupation and the more recent past.

Macedonian tombs . In the east of the city of Giannitsa on the way to Pella along the national road 2 (Greece) (European route 86) there are several graves from ancient Macedonian times. The Macedonian graves 3 and 4 (C and D) are on the territory of the municipality of Giannitsa. The Macedonian graves were laid out in the form of burial mounds. The Macedonian grave D or 4 has an entrance with Doric columns and dimensions of 6.15 wide, 6.15 m high and a length of 10 m. Both the entrance and an anteroom are made of stone or marble. The vestibule also contains a representation of a head of Medusa. The tomb also contains some form of ancient graffiti dating both the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD. The grave D itself is apparently in the 4th century BC. BC and was only discovered or systematically excavated in 1994. The Macedonian grave C or 3 has ionic columns in the entrance. This grave has dimensions of 4.7 m wide and 7.5 m long and is therefore smaller than grave D. The grave itself consists of two rooms. The construction of the tomb apparently took place around 300 BC. The excavations began in 1994 and were completed after a year.

Clock tower . The clock tower (see picture) is located in the center of Giannitsa. It is a building from the Ottoman period and dates from 1667 to 1668. The clock tower is in a strategically favorable position, which allows a view of the city's surroundings from its top. Thus, the tower could serve as an early warning system. The height of the tower is 25 m; the first four meters of the building are made of pure stone. The floor plan is rectangular.

Mausoleum of Gazi Evren . The mausoleum of Gazi Evren dates back to Ottoman times. It is only a short distance from the clock tower in the middle of the city of Giannitsa. According to the inscriptions on the building, the mausoleum was built in 1417.

Canoeing Center Loudias Canoeing can be done on the Loudias river section, which was straightened between 1926 and 1937 as part of the drainage of Lake Giannitsa. In the affected section, the Loudias has the morphology of a canal with a width of up to 40 m from bank line to bank line and a maximum depth of up to 5 m.

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Giannitsa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Results of the 2011 census. ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) ( MS Excel ; 2.6 MB) National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ)
  2. Ivan Bobew: Македонска голгота - Спомени и изповеди от Ениджевардарско. Publishing house ТАНГРА ТанНакРа, Sofia, 2009, p. 687.
  3. Angeliki Pilali-Papasteriou: The prehistoric settlement of Archontiko Giannitson (original title: Ο Προϊστορικός οικισμός του Αρχοντικού Γιαννιτσών). ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Dissertation. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2003. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aegeussociety.org
  4. Nikos Merousis: Settlement patterns in prehistoric Imathia and Pella, Western Macedonia, Greece. In: Mediterranean Archeology and Archaeometry , Volume 4, Number 1. 2004. pp. 73-82.
  5. ^ Richard C. Hall: The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge, 2000. pp. 52, 60 ff ISBN 0-415-22947-2
  6. ^ Friedrich Immanuel: The Balkan War 1912/13 . Second and third booklet. The war up to the beginning of the armistice in December 1912 . Verlag Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, 1913, p. 91.
  7. Renée Hirschon: Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchange Between Greece and Turkey . Berghahn Books, 2003, ISBN 978-1-57181-767-9 , p. 140
  8. a b c d e Stratos Nikolaos Dordanas [Στράτος Νικόλαος Δορδανάς]: Reprisals of the German Authorities of Occupation in Macedonia 1941–1944. [Αντίποινα των γερμανικών αρχών κατοχής στη Μακεδονία (1941–1944)], dissertation. Faculty of History and Archeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2002. pp. 735–737. Online (greek)
  9. Dimitrios Pelkas , soccerbase.com