Neochorouda ( el, Νεοχωρούδα) is a village in the
Oraiokastro
Oraiokastro ( el, Ωραιόκαστρο) is a municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece and a suburb of Thessaloniki.
Municipality
The municipality Oraiokastro was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the foll ...
municipality,
Thessaloniki regional unit, northern Greece. It was formerly known as Tria Hania ( el, Τρία Χάνια, tr, Üç Hanlar, both mean "three inns"). The village itself was built on the crossroads of the road between
Kilkis
Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...
and
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and thus saw a lot of traffic, hence the name. It was situated in the swamps near the lake of
Giannitsa
Giannitsa ( el, Γιαννιτσά , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece.
The municipal unit Gian ...
. It was abandoned during the Turkish rule of
Macedonia, most likely in lieu of a better position, away from the swamps. Today the village is abandoned. The new village was named Neochorouda (''Νεοχωρούδα''), which literally means “new village”. Neochorouda is situated north-west of
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, on the southern slopes of
Mount Kardakli (''Καρδακλί'').
It is disputed whether Neochorouda pre-existed Tria Hania, or not, but it is clear today that the inhabitants of Tria Hania do, in fact, to this day reside in Neochorouda.
History of the area
During 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 ...
the area was a hotbed for partisan activity as
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 ...
,
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 ...
and other nationality
paramilitaries
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
as well as
Ottoman soldiers
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
waged a covert war for the allegiance of the native populations either “converting” people to their national identity, or exterminating them as the supporters of others. Due to this reason Macedonia had, up until a generation ago at most, a large concentration of Bulgarian-speaking villages, whose inhabitants nevertheless subscribed strongly to their Greek identity.
In popular culture
Both Tria Hania and Neochorouda are mentioned in
Penelope Delta
Penelope Delta (; 1874, Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt – 2 May 1941, Athens, Greece) was a Greek author. She is widely celebrated for her contributions to the field of children's literature. Her historical novels have been widely read and hav ...
’s book “The Secrets of the Swamp” (1937).
Notable people
Various people have been born in the village, especially people involved in the Greek liberation movement.
* Christos Papantoniou (1890-1995) veteran of the Balkan Wars and 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 ...
.
* Apostolos Toumbas, the founder of Neodent dental equipment company, which has exports abroad, was born in the village in 1949.
References
External links