Vevi ( el, Βεύη, before 1926: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa'', before 1928: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa'';

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

and bg, Баница, ''Banica'' or ''Banitsa'') is a village located in the municipal unit of

Meliti Meliti ( el, Μελίτη, before 1926: Βοστεράνη - ''Vosterani''; bg, Овчарани or Вощарани, mk, Овчарани) is a village in the Florina regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece, 15 km northeast of the city ...

in Florina regional unit,

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, Greece. The village is passed by two national roads which lead to Thessaloniki, Florina,

Amyntaio Amyntaio ( el, Αμύνταιο, before 1928: Σόροβιτς - ''Sorovits''; Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio p ...

, and Kozani. Additionally, it has a railway station on the line between Florina and Thessaloniki.

Economy

It is mainly a farming community and is the site of the Achlada, the Vevi

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

mines from Upper Miocene.

History

The city dates back to Roman times. Archeological finds from this period, such as the marble torso of a male statue, are housed at the Archaeological Museum of Florina. The local church St. Nicolas was built and painted in 1460. There were 132 Christian households in the village in the first half of the 17th century. In 1845 the Russian slavist

Victor Grigorovich Victor Ivanovich Grigorovich (russian: link=no, Ви́ктор Ива́нович Григоро́вич; 30 April 1815 – 19 December 1876) was a Russian Slavist, folklorist, literary critic, historian and journalist, one of the originators of ...

recorded ''Banci'' as mainly Bulgarian village. According to local tradition, the settlers who laid the foundation of the modern village included various people from the region such as Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks, etc. There were two Bulgarian schools in the beginning of 20th century.D.M.Brancoff. "La Macedoine et sa Population Chretienne". Paris, 1905, p.176-177. Vevi School

In 1913, with the conditions of the Treaty of Bucharest, when this part of

became part of Greece, and after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, a lot of locals emigrated to Bulgaria. The village was renamed Vevi in 1926. Following World War II as well as 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 ...

it saw more exodus on the part of the town's non-Greek inhabitants.

Demographics

Vevi had 806 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Vevi was populated by Slavophones. The

Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...

was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it. Table 3: Vevi, 806; S, M2; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien"

Notable people

Antigonos Choleris Antigonos Choleris ( el, Αντίγονος Χολέρης) was a Greek revolutionary of the Macedonian Struggle and soldier of the Balkan Wars. Biography Choleris was born in the 1880s in Banitsa (now Vevi) of Florina. After studying at the Gr ...

(-1913), Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle and soldier of the

. *

Stavros Kotsopoulos Stavros Kotsopoulos ( el, Σταύρος Κωτσόπουλος) was a Greek revolutionary chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle and the North Epirote Struggle, an irregular fighter in the Balkan Wars, and a member of the resistance in World War ...

, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle and soldier of World War II. * Peter Daicos, Australian AFL footballer whose father migrated to Melbourne, Australia.

References

External links