Administrative Region : Central Macedonia
Regional unit : Imathia
Kypseli (Κυψέλη) Imathia
The village of Kypseli, Imathia, belongs administratively to the Municipality of Alexandreia, Central Macedonia Region. It is located at the foot of the Pieria Mountains and next to the Aliakmonas River, on the old Thessaloniki-Alexandreia-Katerini national road. The population of the village according to the 2021 census is 374 inhabitants.
General information
Kypseli is a relatively new village. It was built on this site in the 1930s. After the construction (alignment, 1928) of the new bed of the Aliakmonas River and the large embankment on its left side to protect the villages of the plain, the Aliakmonas overflowed every spring and covered with its waters a large part of the plain on its right side, where the villages of Gritzali (today's Agathia), Sermeli (Kalyvia) and Neochori (the first settlement of the refugees) were then located.
Precisely because of these frequent floods, the then operating State Service for Rehabilitation and Settlement planned the transfer of the affected settlements to a higher place. To the place where Kypseli is located today. To this location, it was decided to relocate the settlements of Sermeli (Kalyvia) with native residents, Neochori with refugees and Sfinitsa with natives. The final decision was made when in the spring of 1929 a major flood covered the village of Sermeli. It was therefore decided to immediately move the village to a safer place. A road map was drawn up, and plots of 2 acres were given to each of the 25 families of the village.
The continuous threats of Aliakmonas forced the service to decide to move the settlement of Neochori, between 1931-1932, to the same location exactly next to and west of the settlement of the Kaliviots. A road map was drawn up and plots of one acre were designated for the 75 families of the settlement. At public expense, contractors and workers built new houses all in the same design. Wells and taps were opened.
The third settlement that was relocated to the area was Ano first and then Kato Sfinitsa with 17 native families. In 1937, the candidate agronomist Dim. Kempentzoglou came and stayed in the village to do his internship and thesis. In his thesis (Archive of the Agricultural School) he writes the following about the new village: "The total population amounts to 452 residents - 114 families. Almost all are farmers and livestock breeders. The houses are all new. The toilets are at a distance from the houses, above a cesspool fenced off by a wall or reeds. The stables are usually located on another roof. You should be pleased with the cleanliness of the village compared to other villages.” Although the residents of the new village, which now bore the name Neochori, came from different places and had differences among themselves due to customs, morals and lifestyle, nevertheless, no problems arose in their new life in their relationships with each other. They harmoniously passed their hard and difficult rural life. They all built the church and the school together with their personal work. They collaborated to have the village recognized as a Community. They developed friendly and kinship relations among themselves.
Historical data
Neochori
The Neochori people, 75 families, came here as refugees in 1924. They come from the village of Neochori in Eastern Thrace, in the Metres-Silyvria region. They were forced to emigrate with the implementation of the Treaty of Lausanne (1/1923) for the exchange of populations. Thus, on July 7, 1924, they were forced to load as much of their belongings as they could onto carts and animals, along with the sacred vessels of the church, and walk to the train station in Metres (Tsataltza). The train took them to Alexandroupoli, then Dede Agats. From there, after 4-5 days, they arrived in Thessaloniki at Harmankioi by ship, where they lived in tents under dramatic conditions for about two months. On 12-9-1924 they loaded their belongings back onto the train and got off at Alexandria Imathia (Gidas). From there they were picked up by Nik. Hasiotis and led them to the estate of the monastery of Agios Athanasios, a little below the monastery, east of today's Agathia.
Sfinitsa or Sfinsta
A small village (1930) with two settlements, Ano and Kato Sfinitsa, about two kilometers south of Kypseli on the first hills of Pieria. The life of its inhabitants was directly related to the Monastery of Agios Athanasios, from which it was completely dependent, because they did not have their own estates or residences and worked on the estates and animals of the Monastery. The residents of Kato Sfinitsa had houses but cultivated the monastery's lands on rent.
When the village was founded is unknown. According to data from the General Consulate of Thessaloniki for the period 1877-78, this village is mentioned as a tsifliki of the monastery of St. Athanasius with 35 families. It is also mentioned that it was a metohi of the monastery where the abbot's summer residence, the warehouses and the stables were located. About this village, Yannis Moschopoulos in his book "To Roumlouki kata tin Byzantini k.l.." writes "It is therefore not excluded that the founders of the village were the residents of Aloro, since it is most likely that those who survived a disaster moved somewhere nearby. The fact that there are common names among residents of Sfinitsa and Kolindros does not only mean that the residents of Sfinitsa are of Kolindros origin, but also the opposite, since we do not know which of the two villages existed before”.
During the Olympus Revolution, which was proclaimed in Kolindros in February 1878 by Bishop Kitros Nikolaos Lousis, the village of Sfinsta not only found itself at the epicenter of operations, but also provided fighters to the struggle. In the book of the above bishop there is a list of names with 13 names of fighters from this village.
During the Macedonian Struggle (1904-1907) Sfinsta again found itself at the epicenter of the conflicts. The men of the village flanked the guerrilla forces and fought the Bulgarians alongside famous captains.
Sermeli
A small village (1930) with 25 native families. It was located northwest of Kypseli, where the small church of Agia Paraskevi still survives today. The houses were small and rough, which is why they were also called Kalyvia by foreigners.
This area during the Ottoman Empire belonged to a Turkish Bey. We learn from tradition that Greeks from the Pella-Edessa region came to work on the Bey's estates. Some of them also stayed in the area in the winter. During the exchange of 1923-1924, the Bey, before leaving for Turkey, sold as much of his estates as he could to those who worked in his services. Thus the village of Sermeli was created.
Demographic evolution
The demographic evolution of the settlement in recent years is as follows:
Year Population
1991 517
2001 435
2011 376
2021 374
Archaeological findings
About 800m. southeast of the village there is the trapezoidal-shaped hill "Vasilia Toumpa". From this point there is a view of the plain of Thessaloniki. During the period 1988-1997, research excavations were carried out under the supervision of archaeologist Maria Apostolou. The results of these works are described in the four announcements of Ms. Apostolou. Very briefly it is stated that: "The archaeological material was collected at the 17th Ephorate of Antiquities of Imathia. The excavation was of a limited and exploratory nature. Mainly foundations of buildings were discovered. Chronologically, from the coins and ceramics, the constructions are placed in the 3rd century BC. The material found is clay vessels, a bronze helmet, 16 bronze coins of Amyntas III, Philip II, Alexander III, Demetrius II and others. A Doric capital, ten jars with a diameter of 1 m, a stone hand mill, a stone grinder, a marble mortar, clay figurines, lamps and other metal objects were also found. On the nearby hills, unmarked, tiled burials were found.
Agriculture
In earlier years, the inhabitants of the village were literally devoted to agriculture. They mainly cultivated grain and, to a lesser extent, corn. The cultivation of cotton and fruit trees began in the 1970s.
Traditions and customs
A custom that was practiced until the 1950s was the custom of the swallow. On March 1, groups of children from the Sixth Primary School would climb the mountain to collect ivy branches and a stick with a thick tip. At the tip of the stick, with a pocket knife, they would make a model of a swallow, which they would decorate with ivy leaves and branches in such a way that the swallow would go up and down through the leaves. So on the morning of March 1, the group of children would go through all the houses in the village and dance the swallow, singing the lyrics: March, my good March, and April, what good things you have brought us, etc. The housewives usually gave them eggs that they collected in a basket and the next day offered to the teacher.
Personalities
Ptolemy of Alor, king of ancient Macedonia
Sources
All information about Neochori and Sfinitsa comes from the book by Kost. Vassiliadis "Neochori, another unforgettable homeland".
Angelochori, Imathia. Settlement of the Late Bronze Age, Evangelia Stefani, 2010
| Municipal unit Meliki |
|---|
| Municipal Community Meliki |
| Meliki (Μελίκη, η) |
| Community Agkathia |
| Agkathia (Αγκαθιά, η) |
| Trilofia (Τριλοφία, η) |
| Community Kypseli |
| Kypseli (Κυψέλη, η) |
| Moni Agiou Athanasiou Sfinisis (Μονή Αγίου Αθανασίου Σφηνίσσης, η) |
| Community Neokastro |
| Neokastro (Νεόκαστρον, το) |
| Community Prodromos |
| Agia Triada (Αγία Τριάς, η) |
| Neos Prodromos (Νέος Πρόδρομος, ο) |
| Prodromos (Πρόδρομος, ο) |
Greece :
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M -
N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
| Ancient Greece
Science, Technology , Medicine , Warfare, , Biographies , Life , Cities/Places/Maps , Arts , Literature , Philosophy ,Olympics, Mythology , History , Images Medieval Greece / Byzantine Empire Science, Technology, Arts, , Warfare , Literature, Biographies, Icons, History Modern Greece Cities, Islands, Regions, Fauna/Flora ,Biographies , History , Warfare, Science/Technology, Literature, Music , Arts , Film/Actors , Sport , Fashion --- |
