Melas ( el, Μελάς) is a mountainous

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the regional unit of

Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...

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 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 ...

. It belongs to the municipality of

and specifically to the municipal unit of

Korestia Korestia ( el, Κορέστια) is a municipal unit of Kastoria municipality in Kastoria regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. The municipal unit has an area of 122.281 km2. Population 672 (2011). The seat of the former municipality was ...

. The previous name of the village was Statista (or Stathista or Agios Efstathios after the homonymous

Orthodox church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (di ...

of Agios Efstathios). A

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

dedicated to

Pavlos Melas Pavlos Melas ( el, Παύλος Μελάς, ''Pávlos Melás''; March 29, 1870 – October 13, 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first ...

and the

Greek struggle for Macedonia Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

now operates in the village.

Name

Before 1927 the village was called ''Statista'' ( el, Στάτιστα, bg, Статица, Statitsa). The name of the village was changed to Melas, after the Greek fighter ( makedonomachos)

who lost his life there.

History

In 1873, the village was recorded as having 60 households with 180 male

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 ...

inhabitants. In 1900,

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, ...

gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Statitsa was inhabited by about 600 Christian Bulgarian inhabitants. On October 12, 1904, Pavlos Melas and his group headed to Statista (modern-day Melas). In the village, the native collaborator of Melas, Dinas Stergiou () divided the men of the group into five houses. In the village, however, there was an organized Bulgarian army, a member of which alerted the

Ottoman army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

to the presence of the Greek army. On October 13, the village was surrounded by an Ottoman detachment of 150 men and a fighting broke out. The dawn of the next day would find Pavlos Melas dead under an unspecified area.

External links

The end of Pavlos Melas and the sources
(in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

) fro
istorikaxronika.com

References

{{coord, 40, 42, N, 21, 16, E, display=title, region:GR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in Kastoria (regional unit)