Listed 6 sub titles with search on: History for wider area of: "VIO Province KOZANI" .
SIATISTA (Town) KOZANI
4/11/1912
4/5/1943 - 6/5/1943
ERATIRA (Small town) KOZANI
Built in an advantageous position at the foot of Mount Siniatsiko,
Eratyra lies on the road between Siatista
and Kozani. The town
was founded in the 16th century by people from the plains of western Macedonia
seeking a safer
home in the mountains. Also known as Selitsa, the town was populated solely
by Greeks and enjoyed relative autonomy and certain privileges.
From 1804 to 1820 it was one of Ali Pasha's chiftliks, whereupon it
was declared a royal estate, but later (1846) obtained its independence within
the context of the Tanzimat
reforms. Its prosperity made it prey to the raids of Turkish Albanian irregulars
from the 17th to the 19th century.
The residents of Selitsa worked at farming, stock
breeding, craft industries (especially tanning), vine cultivation and trade
with Constantinople,
the northern Balkans and central Europe. Many of them, organized into guilds
of builders, worked all over the Ottoman Empire.
In later years, the business activity and emigration (both seasonal
and permanent) of its inhabitants contributed to the cultural development of the
town, which boasted a school as early as the 17th century. The commercialization
of the economy beginning in the 18th century created a new class of urban
merchants who erected mansions up until the early 20th century in order to
display their wealth.
By kind permission of:Ekdotike Athenon
This text is cited Nov 2003 from the Macedonian Heritage URL below, which contains image.
SIATISTA (Town) KOZANI
Siatista is built on the west slope of Mount Velia, which is a continuation
of the Siniatsiko range. The original settlement must have sprung up at the start
of the 15th century after the Ottoman
conquest and the subsequent withdrawal of the Christians to the mountains
of the region.
As early as 1600 Siatista had grown into a sizable town with a considerable
manufacturing
industry. The residents worked at the trades of the weaver, furrier, wine-maker
and stock breeder, while many of their compatriots piled goods on their mules
and peddled
them well into central Europe (Budapest,
Vienna), not to mention
Venice and Russia.
In 1697, the town became the seat of the metropolitan of Prespes and
Ochrid. In the 18th
and 19th centuries, its wealth made it the target of frequent raids by Turkish
Albanians, but its economic prosperity was shaken by the bankruptcy of many businesses
after the crisis in Austria (circa 1800), a consequence of the Napoleonic Wars.
Beginning in the 18th century, Siatistan merchants
living abroad sent donations towards the upkeep of schools and the formation
of libraries in their homeland, which was the birthplace of many noteworthy men
of letters,
as well as freedom
fighters in the 19th and 20th century.
By kind permission of:Ekdotike Athenon
This text is cited Nov 2003 from the Macedonian Heritage URL below, which contains image.
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