Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα;
Katharevousa
Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...
: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the
Larissa regional unit in
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 ...
. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the
Perrhaebi
The Perrhaebi () were an ancient Greek people who lived on the western slopes of Olympus, on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia. They took part in the Trojan War under Guneus and also fought in the Battle of Thermopylae.
History
Still i ...
tribe. It is situated at the foot of
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
. Elassona is bypassed by the
GR-3 (
Larissa -
Kozani
Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley. The city lies above sea ...
-
Florina
Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'.
The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
).
History
![Alasonya Civarında bir Vadi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Alasonya_Civar%C4%B1nda_bir_Vadi.jpg)
Due to its location on the passes leading from the
Thessalian plain
The Thessalian plain ( el, Θεσσαλική πεδιάδα, Θεσσαλικός κάμπος) is the dominant geographical feature of the Greek region of Thessaly.
The plain is formed by the Pineios River and its tributaries and is surrounded ...
to
Macedonia, the site of Elassona was always of some strategic importance.
Known as ''Olo
�son'' (Ὀλο
��σών) in antiquity, in the early
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 ...
period it was known as ''Lossonos'', and was one of the sites refortified under
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
().
the modern name first appears in the writings of the 12th-century scholar and archbishop
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the ...
, who considered it "barbaric".
At the turn of the 14th century, the
Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery
The Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery ( el, Μονή Παναγίας Ολυμπιώτισσας, 3=Panagia of Mount Olympus) is a Greek Orthodox monastery in Elassona, Thessaly, Greece.
History
The monastery is located on the medieval citadel of th ...
was founded on the hilltop citadel.
In 1304,
Guy II de la Roche
Guy II de la Roche, also known as Guyot or Guidotto (1280 – 5 October 1308), was the Duke of Athens from 1287, the last duke of his family.''The Latins in Greece and the Aegean from the Fourth Crusade to the End of the Middle Ages'', K. M. S ...
,
Duke of Athens
The Duchy of Athens ( Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of ...
, passed through during a campaign against the
Despotate of Epirus.
Following the death of
Stephen Gabrielopoulos Stephen Gabrielopoulos ( el, Στέφανος Γαβριηλόπουλος, died 1332/1333) was a powerful magnate and semi-independent ruler in western Thessaly, who pledged allegiance to the Byzantine Empire and was rewarded with the title of ''se ...
in 1333, Elassona was one of the Thessalian towns (along with
Stagoi,
Trikala
Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
,
Damasis, and
Fanari) that for a short while fell under the rule of the Epirote ruler
John II Orsini ().
Under
Andronikos III Palaiologos (), privileges were granted to the Olympiotissa monastery, and the town became the seat of an
archbishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
, a status it retained into the
Ottoman period
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
During the Ottoman period
devshirme
Devshirme ( ota, دوشیرمه, devşirme, collecting, usually translated as "child levy"; hy, Մանկահավաք, Mankahavak′. or "blood tax"; hbs-Latn-Cyrl, Danak u krvi, Данак у крви, mk, Данок во крв, Danok vo krv ...
was practiced in the area and there were
janissaries from Elassona. For example, Ottoman registrar from 1603-4 state that boys were taken from "Alasonya" and "
Dominik".
Some Christians of Elassona also rebelled in 1821 under the
Captain of Elassona. However, in less than a year they asked for amnesty under the same captain and stated that the
reaya of some other localities are about to follow suit and were granted amnesty. The Ottomans declared in February 1822 that if the rebellious reaya beg for pardon, their appeal were to be accepted, so long as they meet the specified conditions.
![ELASSONA-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/ELASSONA-1.JPG)
Unlike the rest of Thessaly, which was
annexed by Greece in 1881, Elassona (Alasonya
) remained part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
until 1912, when it joined Greece (along with Crete, Macedonia and Epirus) following victory in the
Balkan Wars.
Municipality
![ELASSONA-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/ELASSONA-2.JPG)
The municipality Elassona was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 9 former municipalities, that became municipal units:
*
Antichasia
*Elassona
*
Karya
*
Livadi
*
Olympos
*
Potamia
*
Sarantaporo
*
Tsaritsani
*
Verdikoussa
Subdivisions
The municipal unit of Elassona is divided into the following communities:
[
*Elassona (Elassona, Agioneri, Aetorrachi, Mikro Eleftherochori)
* Drymos
* Evangelismos
* Galanovrysi
* Kefalovryso
* Palaiokastro
* Stefanovouno (Stefanovouno, Lefki)
* Valanida (Valanida, Kleisoura)
* Kranea
]
Municipal changes
Until March 15, 2006, Tsaritsani was part of the municipality (now municipal unit) of Elassona and functioned as a municipal district. Under the law 3448/15-3-2006, Tsaritsani got separated from the municipality and declared a commune. The loss of its population and land leaves the remaining municipality with an adjusted 2001 census population of 12,056 and a land area of 291.097 km².
Province
The province of Elassona ( el, Επαρχία Ελασσόνας) was one of the provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the Larissa Prefecture. It had the same territory as the present municipality.[ ] It was abolished in 2006.
Population
(''Statistics, 1981-2011'')
Geography
The municipality Elassona has an area of 1565.2 km2, the municipal unit Elassona has an area of 291.097 km2 (excluding Tsaritsani), and the community Elassona has an area of 102.515 km2.
Its geography includes farmlands in the valley areas, the mountains to the west and east and forests in the west and east as well as grasslands, ledges are to be founded in some areas and barren area in the higher elevations.
The rivers Elassonitis (or Elassonitikos) and Titarisio flow through Elassona and they both flow into the Pineios River, Thessaly's longest river. The river divides the town into two parts, the older city built on the Olympiotissa hill and is also Varosi or Varossi (Βαρόσι), and the new city on the right bank of the river. These two parts of the city are connected by four bridges, one of which is an ancient stone arch bridge. The other part is near the Kefalovrysi Lake.
Transportation
Elassona is linked with the old GR-3 and is bypassed to the east. Elassona is located 70 km southwest of Katerini
Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, ...
, 38 km NNW of Larissa (old: about 50 km), 22 km NW of Tyrnavos
Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain ...
(old: 30 km), east of Deskati
Deskati ( el, Δεσκάτη) is a mountainous municipality in the Grevena regional unit. The current municipality of Deskati was formed in 2011 by the merge of the former municipality of Deskati and the municipality of Chasia. The main economic ...
and Grevena
Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Ath ...
and 78 km ESE of Kozani
Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley. The city lies above sea ...
.
Landmarks and monuments
*
* Elassona Mosque
*
* Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery
The Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery ( el, Μονή Παναγίας Ολυμπιώτισσας, 3=Panagia of Mount Olympus) is a Greek Orthodox monastery in Elassona, Thessaly, Greece.
History
The monastery is located on the medieval citadel of th ...
* Agia Triada Monastery, Sparmos
The Agia Triada Monastery ( el, Μονή Αγίας Τριάδος) is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity (''Agia Triada''), on the southwestern slopes of Mount Olympus, Greece, near the village of Sparmos, whence it is also c ...
References
External links
Elassona.gr
- Elassona guide
Elassona.com.gr
- Elassona guide
{{Prefectures and provinces of Greece
Municipalities of Thessaly
Provinces of Greece
Populated places in Larissa (regional unit)