Zoniana
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Zoniana parish Δημοτική Ενότητα Ζωνιανών ( Ζωνιανά ) |
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| Basic data | |||
| State : |
 Greece
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| Region : |
Crete
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| Regional District : | Rethymno | ||
| Municipality : | Mylopotamos | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 35 ° 18 ′ N , 24 ° 50 ′ E | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 630 m (average) |
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| Area : | 17.926 km² | ||
| Residents : | 1,117 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 62.3 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Code No .: | 730502 | ||
| Structure: | 1 locality | ||
| Website: | www.zoniana.gr | ||
| Located in the municipality of Mylopotamos and in the regional district of Rethymno | |||
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Zoniana ( Greek Ζωνιανά [ zɔnjaˈna ] ( n. Pl. )) Is a village with around 1100 inhabitants and a former rural community ( κοινότητα kinotita ) in the center of the Greek island of Crete .
geography
Geographical location
The area of Zoniana lies in the northern foothills of the Psiloritis massif at an altitude of about 630 m. Zoniana is about halfway between the island's capital Heraklion and the prefectural seat in Rethymno . Zoniana is 52 km from Rethymno and 43 km from Heraklion.
politics
Zoniana had been an independent rural community since 1925 and was incorporated into the neighboring town of Anogia to the east in 1997 , where it formed a municipality. Before the local elections in 2006, the mountain village broke away from the community after constant disputes, the residents boycotted the election and again founded an independent community, which was recognized as kinotita, the legal form for small communities, by the Greek Ministry of the Interior. As part of the 2010 administrative reform , Zoniana was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Geropotamos and Kouloukonas to the west on January 1st to form the new municipality of Mylopotamos , where it has since formed a municipality again.
Zoniana as a criminal center
In Crete and Greece it is an open secret that in the so-called “devil's triangle” between the villages of Zoniana, Livadia and Anogia, drug cultivation and trafficking (especially marijuana ) as well as arms trafficking are increasing . Mafia-like structures have emerged, the local police had given up control of the area after various incidents, and they are also suspected of being corrupt .
After the arrest of a drug dealer from Zoniana on November 2, 2007 in Rethymno, a special unit of the Greek police (EKAM) was sent from the mainland to search Zoniana on November 5. The motorcade was ambushed and the vehicles were targeted by an estimated twenty riflemen, injuring three police officers, one seriously.
During the search of the village and the surrounding area two days later by a heavily armed special unit of around 400 men that was now advancing with armored vehicles and helicopters, only women, children and old men were found in the village. Numerous marijuana plants were discovered and destroyed, and illegal weapons were found. Some men were later picked up and arrested as suspects, and the police initially encountered a wall of silence among the residents.
During further searches in the following week, not only were more marijuana plantations and equipment for processing hashish and cocaine discovered, but also larger amounts of explosives, automatic weapons and the remains of ATMs torn from the wall. Amounts of up to five million euros were found on some villagers' bank accounts that were blocked in the course of the investigation.
At the end of April 2009, a mammoth trial began against 42 villagers who had to answer for drug trafficking, illicit weapons and explosives possession, and some for attempted murder.
The incident brought the village into the spotlight in the Greek media. Politicians from all parties spoke out in favor of ending the grievances and castigated the village and its surroundings as a "state within the state", whereas many villagers felt harassed by the "police state of Greece" and lumped together with the "black sheep". In the media it was unanimously assumed that criminal activities of the extent revealed could not be carried out without cover from contact persons within the police and politics.
Culture and sights
Museums
“Potamianos' Wax Figure Museum” in Zoniana shows over eighty wax figures, most of which depict celebrities from Greek and Cretan history.
Natural monuments
In the vicinity of Zoniana is the relatively unknown "Sfendoni Cave" ( Greek σπήλαιο Σφεντ ) νη ), which can be visited all year round (in winter only after registration) and has interesting stalactites and stalagmites.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
- ↑ Die Presse of April 28, 2009: "Half a village is on trial"
Web links
- Zoniana becomes a battlefield ( Memento of February 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Zoniana on the Yahoo News
- Detailed article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung