Mavrochori ( el, Μαυροχώρι(οv), meaning "black village"; before 1928: Μαύροβον - ''Mavrovon'') is a village on the shores of

Lake Orestiada Lake Orestiada or Lake of Kastoria ( el, Λίμνη Ορεστιάδα) is a lake in the Kastoria regional unit of Macedonia, northwestern Greece. Sitting at an altitude of 630 metres, the lake covers an area of 28 square kilometres. Nine rivul ...

in Kastoria regional unit of Macedonia,

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 ...

. Today Mavrochori is a tourist destination for a quiet vacation near the lake of Kastoria. In addition to the trade fair, festive events take place on the 13th - 15th of August of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

, where the

Monastery of Panagia Mavriotissa The Monastery of Panagia Mavriotissa ( el, Παναγία Μαυριώτισσα) is a monastery that is built on the spot where troops of Byzantine military commander George Palaiologos encircled the attacking Normans in 1083. It is believed that ...

celebrates (it was built by General

George Palaiologos George Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος) was a Byzantine general, one of the most prominent military commanders and supporters of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118). He was the son of the first know ...

in commemoration of the victory against the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

in 1083). The Mavrochori Nautical Club also operates in the village.

History

It was in existence at least from 1380 and is denoted, under the name ''Mavrobo'', in the British Baldwin & Craddock Map of Greece which was published on 1 January 1830. The name ''Mavros'', together with the name ''Krepeni'', is found in a title deed executed by Serbian nobleman

Nikola Bagaš ) or Župan of Edessa and Trikala , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reign = , reign-type = , predecessor ...

.Nicholas K. Moutsopoulos, Kastoria, the Virgin of Mavriotissa (Athens: Friends of Byzantine and Ancient Monuments of Kastoria, 1967), 85. Cited in http://www.pahh.com/mavrovitis/ch2/chapter2b.html In the end of the 18th century the patriarch of the Mavrovitis family moved his people from the nearby

Krepeni Krepeni ( el, Κρεπενή) is a village near the lake Orestiada in Macedonia, Greece, part of the Makednoi municipal unit of Kastoria municipality. History Ancient Greece Three necropolises of different dates have been identified in the ...

village to Mavrovo in order to avoid a

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

pandemic, and it is believed that people were frequently moving between Krepeni and Mavrovo. The

, originally named ''Mesonisiotissa'' (meaning "in the middle of the island"), was built near the village. Mavrochori had a historical relationship with both the Mavriotissa monastery as well as with the nearby village of Krepeni. During Ottoman rule, Mavrovo was populated by Christians and Muslims, it had one Greek school and one Muslim school and five inns. The Greek census (1920) recorded 1062 people in the village and in 1923 there were 450 inhabitants (or 45 families) who were Muslim. Following the

Greek-Turkish population exchange 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 ...

, in 1926 within Mavrovo there were refugee families from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(55),

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

(19) and one other from an unidentified location. The Greek census (1928) recorded 1065 village inhabitants. There were 72 refugee families (320 people) in 1928. There were two mosques and two Muslim cemeteries in the village, later all destroyed.

Notable people

* Konstantinos Papastavrou, Greek chieftain 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 ...

Filippos Petsalnikos Filippos Petsalnikos ( el, Φίλιππος Πετσάλνικος; 1 December 1950 – 13 March 2020) was a Greek politician of Macedonian origin for the Movement of Democratic Socialists. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Speaker of the Hellenic P ...

, Greek politician, served as

Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament The President of the Hellenic Parliament ( el, Πρόεδρος της Βουλής των Ελλήνων) is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Greece. The president's term coincides with the term of the assembly, and is chosen by a vote ...

References

{{Kastoria div Populated places in Kastoria (regional unit)