Ouranoupoli ( el, Ουρανούπολη, lit=Sky City, formerly ''Ouranopolis'') is an ancient city and a modern village in

Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...

. It is part of the municipality

Aristotelis Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Location

The village of Ouranoupoli is situated on the coastline in the northwest part (the very beginning) of the

Athos Athos may refer to: Fictional or mythical characters * Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père * Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology * Athos Fadiga ...

peninsula, part of the bigger

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

peninsula. It is the last settlement before the border with the monastic state of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

(the Holy Mountain). The city 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 ...

is about 140 km from Ouranoupoli and approximately 140 km from the city of

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

History

The village was named after the nearby ancient city of

Uranopolis Uranopolis or Ouranopolis ( grc, Οὐρανόπολις) was a city in the Chalcidice in ancient Macedonia, allegedly founded by Alexarchus, brother of king Cassander of Macedonia. Uranopolis was the site of a mint in the Kingdom of Thrace. C ...

that was founded by

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a cont ...

's brother Alexarchus in the late 4th century BC. and was later destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1920s, many

Greek refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ...

from Asia Minor (now Turkey) settled in the village and established rug manufacturing. In 1926, the old Tower of Prosforion was leased from the monks of

Vatopedi The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi ( el, Βατοπέδι, ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th an ...

to Sydney and Joice Loch who were based there till their deaths in 1955 and 1982. The tower now houses the

Christian Chalkidiki Exhibition The Christian Chalkidiki Exhibition is located in the town of Ouranoupoli, Chalkidiki, in Central Macedonia, Greece. It was set up by the 10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Greek Archaeological Service. Ouranoupoli is the village where v ...

. In 1956, a road was built to the village along the old pilgrim route.

Attractions

*The Byzantine Tower of Ouranoupoli (also known as ''Prosfori'', or "The Offering") was built by Emperor

Andronikos II Palaiologos , image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg , caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia'' , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328 , coronation = 8 Novembe ...

during the 13th century, who placed it under the jurisdiction of

Monastery. However, in 1922, the Greek government confiscated the area from the monastery to accommodate Greek refugees from Turkey during the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey 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 1928, Sydney Loch and his wife

Joice NanKivell Loch Joice NanKivell Loch MBE (24 January 18878 October 1982) was an Australian author, journalist and humanitarian worker who worked with refugees in Poland, Greece and Romania after World War I and World War II.Kontominas, B"The great heroine Austr ...

moved into the tower, where they maintained a presence for decades as they used it as an important meeting place for both monks and laymen passing to and from Mount Athos. The Lochs also owned a carpet-weaving enterprise in Ouranoupoli, employing many locals. *, a former monastery that was abandoned in 1198 and occupied by the Crusaders during the beginning of the 1200s; hence it is also known as ''Frangokastro'', or the "Castle of the Franks." The archaeological site can be visited by walking eastward along the coast from the town of Ouranoupoli up to around the Mount Athos border. * ( el, Αγίου Νικολάου Oυρανούπολης), ruins of a Byzantine church that was occupied from the 11th to 14th centuries. The ruins are located in the middle of the peninsula by the Mount Athos border.

Transportation

A single asphalt road connects Ouranoupoli with

. Ouranoupoli is served by several regular daily buses from the KTEL Chalkidiki bus station in the southern part of Thessaloniki city. There are regular daily ferries for male pilgrims to Mount Athos that take them from the main port of Ouranoupoli to

Dafni, Mount Athos Dafni ( el, Δάφνη) is a small settlement on Mount Athos. It is located on the southern coast of the Athonite peninsula between Xeropotamou Monastery and Simonopetra Monastery. It is used mainly as a port and an entry point to the Athonite ...

, but pilgrims must first obtain a ''

diamonitirion The ''diamonitirion'' ( el, διαμονητήριον) is a special written permit required for entry to Mount Athos that is compulsory for all visitors. The diamonitirion is granted only to men, since women are forbidden from entering Mount Atho ...

'' from the Mount Athos Pilgrims' Bureau. During the summer, there are also cruises for tourists that take visitors on a sightseeing tour of the coast of Mount Athos. Women are allowed on the cruise, since the boats are not allowed to pass within 500 metres of the Mount Athos coastline.

References

Sources

*De Vries, Susanna. ''Blue Ribbons, Bitter Bread'', 2000. *Tarn, William Woodthorpe. ''The Greeks in Bactria & India'', 1950.

External links

OuranoupoliFishing Boats in Ouranopoli, Agio Oros Peninsula (Greece) on 23 August 2003
Coastal Photograph by

Hubert Chanson Hubert Chanson (born 1 November 1961) is a professional engineer and academic in hydraulic engineering and environmental fluid mechanics. Since 1990 he has worked at the University of Queensland. Research Hubert Chanson is Professor of Civil E ...

, Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 25, No. 5, Sept., p. 1175 (ISSN 0749-0208) {{Authority control Populated places in Chalkidiki Aristotelis (municipality)