Ouranoupoli ( el, Ουρανούπολη, lit=Sky City, formerly ''Ouranopolis'') is an ancient city and a modern village in
Chalcidice. The village is today called Ouranoupoli.
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 (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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
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 (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit.
It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...
.
History
The village was named after the nearby ancient city of
Uranopolis 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 conte ...
's brother
Alexarchus in the late 4th century BC. and was later destroyed by an earthquake.
In the 1920s, many
refugees from 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.
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 during the 13th century, who placed it under the jurisdiction 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 ...
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 Member of the Order of the British Empire, 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 W ...
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
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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. 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, but pilgrims must first obtain a ''
diamonitirion'' 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 2003Coastal 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