Moschochori ( el, Μοσχοχώρι, until 1927 , Vambeli); ( bg, Въмбел); ( mk, В'мбел) was a small village in the community of

Krystallopigi Krystallopigi ( el, Κρυσταλλοπηγή) is a former community in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Prespes, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal ...

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 ...

. Its population was 488 at the 1940 census.

History

The village is mentioned for the first time in an Ottoman defter from 1530 under the name Vimbil. The term means "spring" in different Bulgarian dialects. It has a church dating from 1871. During Ottoman rule the Orthodox congregation was included in ethno-religious community under Graeco-Byzantine domination and all Orthodox Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Vlachs and Serbs, were considered part of the same community in spite of their differences in ethnicity and language. With the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century the

Rum millet Rūm millet (millet-i Rûm), or "''Roman nation''", was the name of the Eastern Orthodox Christian community in the Ottoman Empire. Despite being subordinated within the Ottoman political system, the community maintained a certain internal aut ...

began to degrade with the continuous identification of the religious creed with ethnic nationality. The national awakening of each ethnic group inside it was complex and most of the groups interacted with each other. In the late 19th century, competition arose between Greeks and Bulgarians over the village. Initially the conflict was waged through educational and religious propaganda, with a fierce rivalry developing between supporters of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

, who identified as Greek, and supporters of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

, which had been established by the Ottomans in 1870. Under these conditions, in the early 20th century a vicious guerrilla war broke between Bulgarian and Greek bands within the area. In the book "Ethnography of the vilayets of Adrianople, Monastir and Salonika ", published in Constantinople in 1878, that reflected the statistics of the male population of 1873, Moschohori (Vembel) is listed as a village with 150 households with 420 inhabitants Bulgarians. According to Al. Synvet ("Les Grecs de l'Empire Ottoman. Étude Statistique et Ethnographique") in 1878 in Moschohori (Vambeli) lived 600 Greeks. In 1889 Stefan Verkovich (Топографическо-этнографическій очеркъ Македоніи“) wrote that the village had 135 Bulgarian families with 656 inhabitants. According to statistics of Vasil Kanchov ("Macedonia. Ethnography and statistics") in 1900 Vambel had 650 inhabitants all Bulgarians. According to the secretary of the Bulgarian Exarchate Dimitar Mishev ("La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne") in 1905 in Moschohori (Vambel) lived 960 Bulgarians Exarchists. During the

Ilinden uprising Ilinden (Bulgarian/ Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia), 2 August Geographic locations Bulgaria * Ilinden, Blagoev ...

Vambel was burned from the Ottomans. After the uprising, 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 ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

part of the population gradually took refuge in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. In 1936 the population was 680 people. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

here was founded a subdivision of the pro-Bulgarian

Ohrana Ohrana ( bg, Охрана, "Protection"; ) were armed collaborationist detachments organized by the former Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) structures, composed of Bulgarians in Nazi-occupied Greek Macedonia during World War I ...

. It was heavily destroyed during 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 ...

(1946–1949) and afterwards the rest of its population emigrated to different

Communist countries A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

: Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the village was practically depopulated.

Notable people

*Pando Andreev (1878–?) Bulgarian volunteer from

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 ...

*Zissis Papachristos, Greek priest and Macedonian fighter *Mito Atanasov (1890–?) Bulgarian volunteer from

*Lazaros Potsis, Greek Macedonian fighter *Ilija Digalov (1890–1922) Bulgarian

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

revolutionaryБурилкова, Ива. Кратка автобиография и спомени на Крум Константинов Петишев за революционната му дейност в поробена Македония, Известия на държавните архиви, бр. 85-86, София 2003, с. 253; Михайлов, Иван. Спомени, т. II, Louvian 1965, с.156-157; Николов, Борис Й. “Вътрешна Македоно-одринска революционна организация. Войводи и ръководители (1893-1934). Биографично-библиографски справочник”, С. 2001, с. 47. *Naoum Rolos, Greek Macedonian fighter *Socrat Lafazanovski (1939–) Artist,

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

*priest Christos, Greek priest & Macedonian fighter, killed by Bulgarians *Socrat Panovski (1948–) Politician,

*Jani Lukarov (1922–1948) Macedonian partisan *Stavros Stavropoulos, Greek Macedonian fighter *

Andrew Rossos Andrew Rossos ( Macedonian: Андреј Росос, Greek: Ανδρέας Ρόσος; born 1941) is a Canadian-Macedonian Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Toronto. Early life and education Rossos was born in 1941 in the vil ...

(1941–)

Macedonian Canadian Macedonian Canadians ( mk, Македонски Канаѓани) are Canadians, Canadian citizens of Macedonians (ethnic group), ethnic Macedonian descent or North Macedonia, Macedonian-born people who reside in Canada. According to the Canada ...

historian

Notes

7.Сократ Пановски. „В'мбел“. Скопје, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moschochori Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Former populated places in Greece