Krystallopigi ( el, Κρυσταλλοπηγή) is a former

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in Florina regional unit,

West Macedonia Western Macedonia ( el, Δυτική Μακεδονία, translit=Ditikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the 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 with ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Prespes Prespes ( el, Πρέσπες) is a municipality in the Florina regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Its population in 2011 was 7,380. The seat of the municipality is in Laimos. It was named after Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located o ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 101.984 km². The population is 359 (2011). The main village is also called Krystallopigi. After the Greek Civil War, the village was resettled with

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

from

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. Today they still form the majority of the towns population. Here is located the depopulated village

Vambel Moschochori ( el, Μοσχοχώρι, until 1927 , Vambeli); ( bg, Въмбел); ( mk, В'мбел) was a small village in the community of Krystallopigi, Greece. Its population was 488 at the 1940 census. History The village is mentioned ...

. Krystallopigi

borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

to the west; Prespes municipality to the north; Korestia municipality, Kastoria regional unit, to the east and southeast; and Kastraki community, Kastoria regional unit, to the south. A major road

border crossing Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

into

is located here. The Albanian side of the border crossing is known as Kapshtica, 9 km east from

Bilisht Bilisht ( sq, Bilisht) is a town and a former municipality in Korçë County, south-eastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Devoll. It was the seat of the former Devoll District ...

Name

Until 1926, the village was known as ''Smardesi'' ( gr, Σμαρδέσι). In 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 ...

it is known as Смърдеш, ''Smardesh'' or ''Smrdesh'', while in Macedonian as Смрдеш, ''Smrdeš''. The original name of the village is believed to be derived from the local Slavic name of a nearby mineral spring ''Smrdliva Voda'' meaning ''stinky water''. The modern name Krystallopigi means "crystal spring".

History

The village was mentioned in an Ottoman

defter A ''defter'' (plural: ''defterler'') was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Description The information collected could vary, but ''tahrir defterleri'' typically included details of villages, dwellings, household ...

of 1530, under the name of ''Ismirdesh'', and was described as having 53 households. The bigger part of the population of Smerdesh in 19th and in the beginning of 20th century was

. There were 1780 inhabitants in 1900. Many residents of Smardesh took part in the struggle of

IMORO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

. There was an illegal foundry and depot for

hand grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

in 1903. The village was burned by Turkish troops in May 1903. It was plundered and burned for the second time in 1903 during the

Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August–October 1903 ( bg, Илинденско-Преображенско въстание, Ilindensko-Preobrazhensko vastanie; mk, Илинденско востание, ...

.Шклифов, Благой и Екатерина Шклифова. Български диалектни текстове от Егейска Македония, София 2003, с. 32 (Shklifov, Blagoy and Ekaterina Shklifova. Bulgarian dialect texts from Aegean Macedonia Sofia 2003, p. 32)
Македония и Одринско (1893-1903). Мемоар на Вътрешната организация, 1904, с. 203 The name of the village was changed to Krystallopigi in 1926. By the 1950s, the Greek government assisted a group of nomadic transhumant

, known as the Arvanitovlachs, to settle in depopulated villages of the Prespa region like Krystallopigi. Aromanians are the only inhabitants of the village. Krystallopigi had 265 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Krystallopigi was populated by Aromanians. Table 3: Kristallopiyi, 265; V; V = Valaques (Aroumains)"

Demographics

Notable persons

Vasil Chekalarov Vasil Hristov Chekalarov ( Bulgarian/ mk, Васил Христов Чекаларов) or Vasil Tcakalarov (22 February 1874 – 9 July 1913) was a Bulgarian revolutionary and one of the leaders of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation ...

(1874–1913) -

revolutionary

References

{{Prespes div Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Albania–Greece border crossings Former municipalities in Western Macedonia