Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is a small town in the

Pella (municipality) Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is a municipality in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The capital of the municipality is Giannitsa, the largest town of the regional unit. On the site of the ancient city of Pella is the Archaeological Muse ...

in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia,

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 ...

. Pella is built on a hill at a distance of one kilometre from the road Thessaloniki - Edessa, and the archeological site

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 ...

and 7 km from Giannitsa. Pella has an area of about 3 km² and a population of 2450 inhabitants.

History

It is located on the site of ancient

, the capital of the

Kingdom of Macedonia 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 ...

and birthplace of

Alexander The Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. Ancient Pella was a vast city. However, the city was ravaged by the

Romans 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 lette ...

during the 1st Century BC and lost its significance. During the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the town was known in

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 ...

as Άγιοι Απόστολοι (Agii Apostoli) 'Holy Apostles' and in Ottoman Turkish as ''Allah Kilise'' 'God's Church'. In the local

Slavic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ea ...

, the name is Postol (Постол). The name ''Pella'' was revived in 1926. By the 19th century, Agii Apostoli occupied a site near the upper city, and the lower city extended down to the wetlands of Mavroneri. Grande Encyclopedie, ''s.v.'' Pella

Félix de Beaujour Louis Félix-Auguste-Beaujour, (Louis-Auguste Feris) (28 December 1765 Callas, Var – 1 July 1836, Paris) was a French diplomat, politician, historian, and List of French ambassadors to the United States, French ambassador to the United States. ...

, a French consul 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 ...

at the end of the 18th century, wrote in his travels for the Ottoman Empire: "Pella rises amphitheatrically on the slope of a hill on the top of which was the fortress, at the present is a little village of ''Alla Klise'', populated with

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

." The village joined the Bulgarian Exarchate and a survey by

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician. Biography Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom ...

in 1900 revealed that the population of Pella was 520

Bulgarian Exarchists Bulgarian Millet ( tr, Bulgar Milleti) was an ethno-religious and linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term ''Bulgarian millet'', was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...

. Another survey in 1905 recorded that in the village there were 720 Bulgarian Exarchists. During the exchange of populations with the Treaty of Lausanne (July 24, 1923) refugees from

Eastern Thrace Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

in modern Turkey. Refugees from Bulgaria arrived in 1918 -1924. Finally, about 50

Sarakatsani The Sarakatsani ( el, Σαρακατσάνοι, also written Karakachani, bg, каракачани) are an ethnic Greek population subgroup who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbourin ...

families came to the village in 1947, coming from the areas of Florina. Many of its inhabitants emigrated to Bulgaria at that time.

Notable People born in Pella (modern town)

* Aleksa Mindov, activist of the Thessaloniki Bulgarian club * Andon Traykov, soldier in the

Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps ( bg, Македоно-одринско опълчение, ''Makedono-odrinsko opalchenie'') was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 ...

Krste Misirkov Krste Petkov Misirkov ( bg, Кръсте (Кръстьо) Петков Мисирков; mk, Крсте Петков Мисирков, ; 18 November 1874 – 26 July 1926) was a philologist, journalist, historian and ethnographer from the regio ...

, (1874 - 1926), Macedonian Bulgarian publicist * Theodora Tzakri, Member of Parliament of Greece * Yordana Slatinkova (1924 – 1948), female communist fighter in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

*Anastasios (Tasos) Kakamanoudis,A. Kakamanoudis, "Aspects of Organisation of Macedonian Cemeteries: from the Archaic to the Hellenistic Times", in: H. Frielinghaus, J. Stroszeck & P. Valavanis (eds.), Griechische Nekropolen. Neue Forschungen und Funde (Beiträge zur Archäologie Griechenlands 5), Möhnesee 2019, 155-17

/ref> (1985-present), Greeks, Greek

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Pella (regional unit)