Lechovo ( el, Λέχοβο), renamed as ''Iroiko'' ( el, Ηρωϊκό) between 1955-1956, is a village and 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,

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

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

Amyntaio Amyntaio ( el, Αμύνταιο, before 1928: Σόροβιτς - ''Sorovits''; Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio p ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 22.844 km², and a population of 1,115 ( 2011 census). The village is set amongst the mountains of Northern Greece and the main road runs through the town's centre. There is a museum, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

pitch and an indoor

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

stadium. Lechovo has stone architecture common to many northern villages, and has an old upper square and church bell tower. The village of Lehovo became inhabited in the mid-eighteenth century and some of its villagers worked as master builders. "They praise, for example, its Albanian-speaking master builders from Lehovo (settled mid-18th century) Drosopigi (Belkameni) and Flambouro (Negovani)." In statistics gathered by

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician. Biography Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...

in 1900, Lechovo was populated by 750 Christian

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

and 90

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 ...

. Lechovo, with its population of hellenised Albanians, participated extensively on the Greek side of the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

in the late Ottoman period. "Lechovo, a village of hellenized Albanians in the Phlorina district". Following the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...

, the Greek clergy's prominent position in places like Lechovo was contested by Aromanian and Albanian nationalists. During the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

(1923), Lechovo’s pro-Greek sentiments resulted in Greek authorities removing it from consideration as a resettlement destination in the Florina region for incoming Greek Anatolian refugees. Lechovo had 1,194 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Lechovo was populated by

Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settlers ...

Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use ...

(close to Albanian) was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it. Aromanian was spoken by people over 60, mainly in private. para.1. "l’arvanitika (proche de l’albanais)"; Table 3: Lechovo, 1194, A, A2, V3; A = Arvanites, A = arvanitika, V = valaque (aroumain)" In the early 2000s, the

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

dialect was often spoken by village elders. Lechovo has not been influenced by the nearby predominant Slavic musical tradition of the area, and villagers have no knowledge of songs from their neighbours. Dances performed in Lechovo are the Berati, Hasapia,

Tsamiko The Tsamikos ( el, Τσάμικος, ''Tsamikos'') or Kleftikos ( el, Κλέφτικος) is a popular traditional folk dance of Greece, done to music of 3/4 meter. The dance The dance follows a strict and slow tempo not emphasising on the st ...

, Kalamatiano, along with the

Poustseno Poustseno Macedonian language Пуштено", ''Pushteno'', meaning "to let go" is a traditional Macedonian dance from Florina, Western Macedonia Greece. It is danced in the area of Florina by the native (Greek) Macedonians, and is also kno ...

. File:193 Lehovo Church.jpg, Lechovo Church File:192 Lehovo Andarts Monument.jpg, Macedonian Struggle Monument honouring Lechovo's participation File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-31.jpg, Lechovo Folklore Museum File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-32.jpg, Traditional home items File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-33.jpg, Icons and other religious items File:Macedonian Museums-7-Laografiko Lexovou-34.jpg, Traditional female clothing

References

Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Former municipalities in Western Macedonia Amyntaio Albanian communities in Greece {{WMacedonia-geo-stub

See also

References