Oreini ( el, Ορεινή, bg, Фращани,''Frashtani'') is a village and a former community in the Serres regional unit,

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 ...

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

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 54.309 km². Population 742 (2011). Northeast of the modern village (approximately 2 km), on the hill of "Prophet Helias", the site of a Roman settlement has been identified. His foundation, dating back to early antiquity, is associated with the rich iron mines of mountain

Vrontous Vrontous ( el, Βροντούς, bg, Шарлия - Sharliya) is a mountain range in the northeastern Serres and the westernmost Drama regional units in Greece. Its highest peak is the Ali Babas ( el, Αλή Μπαμπάς) at 1,849 m elevation. ...

, as is evidenced by the discovery of an iron smelter side the ruins of a Roman castle, located 3–4 km east of the hill of "Prophet Helias".
Dimitrios C. Samsaris, Ancient castle and iron smelter near the modern village Oreini of Serres (in Greek), Makedonika 19 (1979), p. 240-251 The ruins of Banitsa (ruins), Banitsa, a formerly Bulgarian inhabited village abandoned in 1913, are also nearby.

References

Populated places in Serres (regional unit) Archaeological sites in Macedonia (Greece) {{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub

See also

References