Dimitritsi ( el, Δημητρίτσι) is a village in the region of Serres, northern

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 ...

. According to the

2011 Greek census The 2011 Population and Housing Census ( el, Απογραφή Πληθυσμού-Kατοικιών 2011), branded as ( el, Γενικές Απογραφές 2011), was a population census in Greece conducted by the Hellenic Statistical Authority o ...

, the village had 989 inhabitants.

Geography and history

Dimitritsi is located to the west limits of the Kilkis Regional Unit, in the plain of Serres, nearby to the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Strymonas River with one of its tributaries, Kopatsianos. It is located 19 km southwest of Serres and 12 km northwest of Nigrita. Its inhabitants are engaged in

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

and

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 ...

, notably in cultivation of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

s, Gossypium,

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'' ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s. According to

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 ...

historian

Niketas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates ( el, Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek government official and historian – like his brother Michael Akominatos, wh ...

in 1185 a battle took place at the place called "Dimitrizis". The historic Battle of Demetritzes between the Byzantine troops and the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

took place on 7 November 1185 and ended with a victory of the Byzantines following a surprise attack as the Normans attempted to enter into deliberate negotiations. According to the statistics of the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

geographer Vasil Kanchov, the village had a total population of 700 residents in 1900, consisting of 350 Orthodox Greeks, 200 Orthodox Bulgarians and 150 Turks. Following the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, the Turkish inhabitants of the village were forced to leave, and in return, Greeks 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 ...

from the regions of

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

settled in the village as the Population exchange demanded. They established their own settlement on the east side of the village, where there were no locals.

Administration

The village was officially mentioned in 1920 to be attached to the community at that time. According to the Kallikratis Plan, the local community of Dimitritsi, belongs to the municipality of Visalia. According to the 2001 census, the village had a population of 1.461 inhabitants which got dramatically decreased in the 2011 Census to 989.Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ.) Πραγματικός Πληθυσμός 2001
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External links

Photo compilation of some neighborhoods of the village

References

{{Visaltia div Populated places in Serres (regional unit)