Itea ( el, Ιτέα, before 1926: Βύρμπενη - ''Vyrmpeni'';
mk, Врбени, translit=Vrbeni; bg, Върбени or Долно Върбени, translit=Varbeni or ), is a village and a community of the
Florina municipality.
Before the 2011 local government reform it was a part of the municipality of
Meliti, of which it was a municipal district.
The 2011 census recorded 542 residents in the village.
The community of Itea covers an area of 9.799 km
2.
History
In 1845 the Russian
slavist
Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Sla ...
Victor Grigorovich recorded ''Verbini'' as
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 ...
village.
Johann Georg von Hahn
Johann Georg von Hahn (11 July 1811 – 23 September 1869) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian and later Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian diplomat, Philology, philologist and specialist in History of Albania, Albanian history, Albanian language, lan ...
in his map from 1861 marked the village as Bulgarian, too.
In the book “Ethnographie des Vilayets d'Adrianople, de Monastir et de Salonique”, published in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1878, that reflects the statistics of the male population in 1873, Dolno Vrbeni was noted as a village with 200 households and 615 Bulgarian inhabitants. In 1886 al of its inhabitants were
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
. In 1900 there was a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n school and church.
[Georgios Lithoxoou, Florina villages](_blank)
/ref> According to Vasil Kanchov’s statistics, in 1900, Varbeni had 690 Bulgarian inhabitants. In 1903 all of its inhabitants were part of the Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...
.Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...
in the early 20th century. According to the evidences of Dimitar Mishev, the secretary of the Exarchate, there were 624 Bulgarians in Varbeni in 1905.[Brancoff, D.M. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, р. 176-177.] In 1910 Vyrbeni had 455 inhabitants.VMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
in the November bombing incident in 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 ...
.
Demographics
Itea had 713 inhabitants in 1981.Macedonian language
Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...
was spoken by people over 60, mainly in private.[ Table 3: Itea, 713; S, M3; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien"]
According to the 2011 census, the population of Itea was 542 people, a decrease of 14% compared to the previous census of 2001.
Notable persons
* Liolias, Greek Macedonian fighter and local chieftain
* Georgi Traykov
Georgi Traykov Girovski, also known as Georgi Traykov ( bg, Георги Трайков Гировски, 14 April 1898, Varbeni, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (today Itea, Greece) – 14 January 1975, Sofia, Bulgaria), was a Bulgarian poli ...
(1898–1975) - Bulgarian politician. Leader of BANU from 1947 and 1975 and head of state of Bulgaria from 1964 to 1971.
References
{{Florina div
Populated places in Florina (regional unit)
Florina