Agios Nikolaos ( el, Άγιος Νικόλαος, meaning

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

located 110 kilometers south-east of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

on the

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

peninsula in Macedonia,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Geography

The village Agios Nikolaos itself is 2 km inland from the

Singitic Gulf The Singitic Gulf (), also known as the Mount Athos Gulf or the Holy Mountain Gulf () is a gulf of the Thracian Sea, part of the northern Aegean Sea, in Chalkidiki, Greece. It is bounded by Sithonia in the west, and Mount Athos in the east. The is ...

. However, its territory is quite extensive. To the north-east it borders the village of Pyrgadikia at Salonikiou Beach (8 km from Agios Nikolaos). To the north it borders the village of Metangitsi. In the west and south-west it is neighboring the village of

Nikiti Nikiti ( el, Νικήτη) is a village located 100 kilometers south-east of Thessaloniki on the Chalkidiki peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. It is the seat of both the municipal unit and municipality of Sithonia. The town has a preserved old part ...

(9 km from Agios Nikolaos). To the south it borders the village of

Sarti The Italian language surname Sarti is derived from the occupation of tailor. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolfo Sarti (1928–1992), Italian Christian Democrat politician *Alessio Sarti (born 1979), Italian football (soccer) goalkee ...

at Armenistis Beach (28 km from Agios Nikolaos).

Landscapes

Agios Nikolaos' landscapes show a substantial variability. In the

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s east and south-east of the village

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

predominates with

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

trees as the main cultivated plant. Toward the south, rises the

Itamos Itamos ( el, Ίταμος) is a former municipality in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Karditsa Karditsa ( el, Καρδίτσα ) is a city in western Thessaly ...

mountain range of

Sithonia Sithonia ( el, Σιθωνία), also known as Longos, is a peninsula of Chalkidiki, which itself is located on a larger peninsula within Greece. The Kassandra Peninsula lies to the west of Sithonia and the Mount Athos peninsula to the east. Sithon ...

and is completely covered with pine forest. Towards its northeastern extension ( Salonikiou Beach) significant parts of the village territory are covered with forests. In all parts of the village territory plains or smooth hill segments are devoted to agriculture. On the beaches there are

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and

pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

as well as individual homes that have been built since the 1980s. The highest point within Agios Nikolaos territory is mount Karvounas (height approx. 550 m) in the south-west ( Vourvourvou).

Settlements

A couple of coastal settlements belong to Agios Nikolaos, these are: * Vourvourou – located 10 km south-east. Vourvourou is a village near Agios Nikolaos, in the Chalkidiki peninsula of northern Greece. It is best known as a holiday destination. Close to Vourvourou are the beaches of Karidi and Fteroti. Diasporos island is very close to Vourvourou. * Salonikiou Beach – located 8 km north-east. Salonikiou is the area around the beach of Salonikiou on the northeast coast of Sithonia, between Ormos Panagias and Pyrgadikia. The closest village is Metangitsi (4 km inland). Most of the buildings in the region are private villas but there are some studios and apartments to rent. The beach is more than 1 km long. * Ormos Panagias – located 4 km east/south-east, serves as the village port. Ormos Panagias is an important port for

, Halkidiki. Considered as being a part of Agios Nikolaos, the port of Ormos Panagias is located just a few kilometres to the south. The amount of accommodation and restaurants that have been built around this harbour has made it grow into somewhat of a village on its own, built around an existing old church. Even though it is not officially recognized as a village, Ormos Panagias is considered a Halkidiki resort in its own right that attracts many people. Tourist boat tours of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

and it's monasteries leave from this port.

Population

Agios Nikolaos has 1,714

inhabitants Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...

(based on the core village of Agios Nikolaos). Including the settlements of Vourvourou, Salonikiou Beach, and Ormos Panagias, the population is 2,141 (2011 census). Almost all inhabitants are

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

. After the rise of tourism, some non-Greeks have settled permanently in Agios Nikolaos, for example,

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

. During the summer holiday period, the population may rise to 10,000.

Economy

Traditionally, inhabitants of Agios Nikolaos had two economic mainstays: agriculture and fishery. Agriculture was mostly devoted to olive trees (and olive oil production), wheat, and winery. Fishery was limited to the waters of the Singitic Gulf. Since the 1980s,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

replaced

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

and

as economic mainstay. Inhabitants have built own hotels, homes, and pensions or sold-off their agricultural land for real estate purposes. Concomitantly, living standards have risen significantly.

History

Tower ruins Agios Nikolaos Chalkidiki 001

The

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

city of Singos, which gave its name to the

, was located within Agios Nikolaos' territory and dates back to 454 BCE. It was probably near the Vourvourou bay on Livari peninsula, where an ancient wall of large stones is still visible (Mega Teichos). Individual reports even mention remains of an ancient

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

at the very same location. No excavation was performed to confirm position and location of ancient Singos and significant remains of buildings are not evident. The village's history dates back to the 14th century when inhabitants moved inland from the sea because of repeated attacks by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. A likely position of a previous settlement can be found 2 km away on the coast at Pyrgos Beach, where remains of a

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

presumably of

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...

origin can be found. Agios Nikolaos fell under Ottoman Turkish rule from the 15th century until liberation in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

of 1912. The town suffered further in the 1940s during

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and fighting in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. After the 1950s, peaceful times returned and the Agios Nikolaos area saw a tourism boom from the 1980s onwards which increased prosperity in the region. Many villagers built summer homes in the coastal areas of Ormos Panagias and Vourvourou.

Infrastructure

Public facilities

Agios Nikolaos has following public facilities: * police station * health center (equal to a very small hospital) * pharmacies * post office * ATM * radio station * volunteer firefighters station Agios Nikolaos does not have a bank. The nearest bank is located in Nikiti (9 km away).

Transportation

Agios Nikolaos lies adjacent to the road leading from

(

west ring) and from

to Pyrgadikia (semicircular road around Singitikos bay leading east). All roads are covered with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

. There is no link to a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. (

has no railroad at all). Ormos Panagias serves as

of Agios Nikolaos. Daily cruises to

' west coast take off from that port. It serves also as home port of the village's

boats. Air traffic is managed by the

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

. Bus traffic is the mainstay of public transport in Agios Nikolaos, as in

as a whole. Daily connections to

Polygyros Polygyros ( Greek: Πολύγυρος) is a town and municipality in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is the capital of Chalkidiki. Geography Polygyros town (pop. 6,121 at the 2011 census) is built in the shape of an amphitheatre on a plateau on ...

, and

Nea Moudania Nea Moudania ( el, Νέα Μουδανιά, ''Néa Moudaniá''; often referred to as Moudania (Μουδανιά, ''Moudaniá''), the name of the municipal unit to which the town belongs, is the seat of the municipality of Nea Propontida, Chalkidi ...

exist. In the summer, at least 3 buses a day do provide transportation, whereas in the winter bus frequency is lower.

Architecture

Agios Nikolaos is primarily a

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

ly built village with characteristic Macedonian architecture. However, a lot of traditional homes and houses have been replaced with modern ones. This is partially due to a higher

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...

as well as to stricter building standard because of

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

concerns.

Sightseeing

Pirgos Beach Agios Nikolaos Chalkidiki 001

Ancient remains in the area are not noteworthy. However, one may want to take a look at: *

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

watch tower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is t ...

at Pyrgos Beach (only ruins visible) *Ancient Mega Teichos at Vourvourou (Livari) *The village of Agios Nikolaos has traditional architecture *The central square (πλατεία) of Agios Nikolaos is surrounded by restaurants and cafes and is especially busy on summer nights. Agios Nikolaos is full of noteworthy

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, as there are: * Salonikiou Beach * Pyrgos Beach * Livrochio Beach * Latoura Beach * Lagonisi Beach * Livari Beach * Vourvourou Beach * Karidi Beach * Zografou Beach * Galana Nera, a beach located between Diaporos and Agios Isidoros. Beside the beaches, the bay of Vourvourou has approx. 9 islands giving it a lagoon appearance. *

Diaporos Island Diaporos Island ( el, Διάπορος) is an island of about one and a half square miles in the Singitic Gulf, Chalkidiki, northern Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It ...

, largest island, partially inhabited * Agios Isidoros, the most eastern island All islands and islands' beaches can only be reached by boat.

References

GTP - Agios Nikolaos
{{Sithonia div Populated places in Chalkidiki