Nea Zichni ( el, Νέα Ζίχνη) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, of

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

region,

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 ...

. Population 12,397 (2011). Nea Zichni is also the name of the administrative seat of the municipality, population 2,530 (2011).

History

The city was originally built next to the marches of Lake Achinos, on the hill of "Toumba" (2 km south of Nea Zichni) and it was called Ichna ( el, Ίχνα). It was a

Paionia In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia ( grc, Παιονία, Paionía) was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians or Paionians ( grc, Παίονες, Paíones). The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, a ...

n city, that was sometime in the 5th or early 4th century BC incorporated into the

Macedonian Kingdom Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

. Another city by the same name Ichna is mentioned by

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

being next to

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

, by the estuary of the

Loudias The Loudias ( el, Λουδίας) or Lydias (Λυδίας), popularly called Mavroneri (Μαυρονέρι, "Blackwater", from its Ottoman Turkish name ''Kara Asmak'' قره آصماق) is a river in Central Macedonia that flows through the r ...

and

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

rivers. The name Ichna is a Paionian cognate of the Greek word "ichnos" ( el, ίχνος) which means "stepping ground" a name appropriate for a city built on the sand between the marsh and the lake (or the sea). The original Ichna remained a city throughout the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

eras, only to be destroyed and was rebuilt far from the lake in its original position on the hills. During the Ottoman years it was a ''

kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

'' centre in the

Sanjak of Serres The Sanjak of Siroz or Serres ( Ottoman Turkish: ''Sancak-i/Liva-i Siroz''; el, λιβάς/σαντζάκι Σερρών, bg, Серски Санджак) was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the region aro ...

in the

Salonica Eyalet Salonica Eyalet ( ota, ایالت سلانیك; Eyālet-i Selānīk) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. Administrative divisions Sanjaks of the Eyalet in the mid-19th century: By James Henry Skene # Sanjak of Tirhala (Trikala) # Sanjak of Selan ...

.http://muhacirin.blogcu.com/su-albumden-selanik-hatiralari-ekleyen-selanik-selanik-vilayet/7614320 Administrative Division of Selanik Province (Turkish)

Municipality

The municipality Nea Zichni was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *

Alistrati Alistrati (Greek language, Greek: Αλιστράτη) is a small town in Serres, situated at the borders of the Drama, Greece, regional unit of Drama and Serres (regional unit), regional unit of Serres, in the Macedonia (region), Macedonia region ...

*Nea Zichni The municipality has an area of 404.307 km², the municipal unit 274.429 km².

Gallery

Image:Nea Zichni.jpg, General view of Nea Zichni with

Pangaion Mountain The Pangaion Hills (; ; Homeric Greek: Nysa; also called Pangaeon, Pangaeum) are a mountain range in Greece, approximately 40 km from Kavala. The highest elevation is 1,956 m at the peak of Koutra. The Aegean Sea lies to the south and ...

behind. Image:Nea Zichni countryside.JPG, Nea Zichni countryside in Toumba location. File:2010 Dimos Neas Zichnis.svg, Nea Zichni municipality

External links

*http://www.dimos-neaszixnis.gr

References

Municipalities of Central Macedonia Populated places in Serres (regional unit) {{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub