![Aridea 228](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Aridea_228.jpg)
Aridaía (; mk, С'ботско, ''S'botsko''; bg, Съботско) is a town and a former
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
Pella regional unit,
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 ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Almopia, of which it is a municipal unit.
It was the capital of the former
Almopia eparchy
Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...
. It is located in the northwest corner of the Pella regional unit, bordering the southern part of the
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
and the northeast corner of the
Florina regional unit. Its land area is .
The population of Aridaia proper is 7,057, while that of the entire municipal unit is 20,313 (2011 census).
[ Its largest other towns are Prómachoi (pop. 1,740), Sosándra (1,078), Ápsalos (1,121), Loutráki (1,146), Polykárpi (1,049), Tsákoi (961), Voreinó (766), and Χifianí (767). The municipal unit is divided into 17 communities.
The town was used to be called "Αρδέα" (Ardea).
The Municipal Department of Aridea includes the settlement of Ydrea with a population of 600 inhabitants.
Aridea was freed on November 4, 1912, during the 1st Balkan War, and started to develop as a town after the installment of refugees from ]Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
Etymology
There are two possible etymologies of the name Aridea. One is that "Aridea", is a corruption of the old name of the town "Ardea", which comes from the verb " el, Αρδεύω, lit= Irrigate, which is explained by the multiple rivers, streams, irrigation canals, etc. Another explanation is that the name "Aridea" comes from Philip III Arrideus, half-brother of Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
.
Sights
At a distance of 7 km from Aridea is the Byzantine Castle of Chrysi which dates back to the 8th century AD. North of Aridea is a historic, though not very well known Monastery of the Province of Almopia, the Holy Monastery of Saint Hilarion, bishop of Moglena. This monastery has as its owner and founder Saint Hilarion himself, who was a great Hierarch of the Church of Greece in the 12th century, who lived and worked in the area of today's Almopia.
At a distance of 10 km from Aridea are the with impressive natural beauty and thermal waters. It is a tourist destination with many infrastructures and all the amenities in combination with the Kaimaktsalan Ski Center which geographically belongs to the Municipality of Almopia. Next to the tourist village of Loutraki
Loutraki ( el, Λουτράκι) is a seaside resort on the Gulf of Corinth, in Corinthia, Greece. It is located west of Athens and northeast of Corinth. Loutraki is the seat of the municipality Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi. The tow ...
, seat of Loutra Pozar, is the tourist village of Orma from which the road to the Ski Center starts.
Sports
A well-known football team based in Aridea is Almopos Arideas.
Transport
Bus service
The KTEL station is located on Passia Street, on the road to Exaplatanos and Notia. The KTEL of Pella connects Aridea locally with Edessa, with regular itineraries, and there are also routes to Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Skydra
Skydra ( el, Σκύδρα, in modern Greek, before 1926: Βερτεκόπ - ''Vertekop'', Slavic: Вртикоп, ''Vrtikop'') is a municipality in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia in Greece.
Municipality
The municipality Skydra was forme ...
and 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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
.
Rail service
The town does not have a railway station and is served by the railway stations of Edessa and Skydra, while in the period 1916-1936 there was a railway station, since there was a railway line from Skydra to Aridea and Orma that closed in 1936. Railway Station, houses the Museum of Natural History. On February 19, 2019, the construction of the railway line Agios Athanasios – Chalkidona
Chalkidona ( gr, Χαλκηδόνα) is a municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is Koufalia. The town is a hub for trucking traffic around the Thessaloniki area.
Municipality
The municipality Chalk ...
– Koufalia
Koufalia ( el, Κουφάλια) is a municipal unit and a town of the Chalkidona municipality. Koufalia is the seat of the municipality of Chalkidona. Before the 2011 local government reform it was a municipality.
Administrative division
The mu ...
– Pella
Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
On site of the ancient cit ...
– Nea Pella – Giannitsa
Giannitsa ( el, Γιαννιτσά , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece.
The municipal unit Gian ...
– Galatades – Karyotissa – Dafni – Kalivia – Skydra-Edessa and bypass from Skydra to Aridaia was announced, however no study has been presented, and it is currently unknown when the project will be completed.
Roads
There is no National Road passing through the town, but there are five (5) provincial roads that connect Aridea with the surrounding settlements. The following streets pass through the town
# Edessa - Apsalos - Aridea. (Pella 1)
# Aridea - Exaplatanos to Skra and Axioupoli
Axioupoli ( el, Αξιούπολη), known until 1927 as Boymitsa (Боймица, Μποέμιτσα), is a small town and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province of Kilkis regional unit, Greek Macedonia. Since the 2011 local gov ...
, Evropos
Evropos ( el, Ευρωπός), known before 1925 as Ashiklar ( el, Ασικλάρ) is a village and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province, Kilkis regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the munici ...
Notia and Lagadia. (Pella 6)
# Aridea - Pozar Baths. (Pella 7)
# Aridea - Tsakona - Polykarpi. (Pella 8)
# Aridea - Sosandra
Sosandra ( el, Σωσάνδρα, before 1922: Πρεμπόδιστα - ''Prempodista'') is a village in Pella regional unit, Macedonia, Greece.
Sosandra had 1291 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Sosand ...
- Promachos. (Pella 9)
Air service
In the Prefecture of Pella there is no airport, so Aridea is served by the Airport "Macedonia" of Thessaloniki.
People from Aridaia
* Petros Dourdoumpakis, singer
* Haris Kostopoulos,singer
*Antonis Minou
Antonis Minou ( el, Αντώνης Μήνου, born 4 May 1958) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career
Minou took his first football steps in Almopos Aridea and to Kastoria in 1980 and two years later ...
, football player
*Giorgos Paschalides, civil mechanic and minister
*Nikodim Tsarknias
Nikodim Tsarknias ( el, Νικόδημος Τσαρκνιάς, mk, Никодим Царкњас, born 1942 in Aridaia) is an ethnic Macedonian Orthodox Christian monk and Archimandrite who originates from the Greek region of Macedonia. In 197 ...
, priest of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; mk, Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese o ...
* Unboxholics, Youtubers
YouTubers are people mostly known for their work on the video sharing platform YouTube. The following is a list of YouTubers for whom Wikipedia has articles either under their own name or their YouTube channel name. This list excludes people wh ...
, Twitch streamer
An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience.
History
Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
s
*Loukas Vyntra
Loukas Vyntra ( el, Λουκάς Βύντρα; born 5 February 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer. Mainly a central defender, he could also play as a right back, left back, or a defensive midfielder.
Early life
Vyntra was born Luk ...
, Greek footballer
*Nikolaos Xenitides, businessman and benefactor
*Despina Zapounidou
Despina Zapounidou ( el, Δέσποινα Ζαπουνίδου; born 5 October 1985 in Thessaloniki) is a Greece, Greek Racewalking, race walker. She competed in the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk, 20 kilome ...
, Greek Olympic race walker
References
External links
Official site of the municipality of Almopia
Here, you can see pictures from the local community
{{Authority control
Populated places in Pella (regional unit)