Nea Koutali ( el, Νέα Κούταλη) is a municipal unit on the island of

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

North Aegean The North Aegean Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Βορείου Αιγαίου, translit=Periféria Voríou Eyéou, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the isla ...

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 ...

. Located in the south central portion of the island with a land area of , it accounts for about 15.9% of the island's area, making it the smallest of the four municipal units on Lemnos. The seat of government is the village of Kontias (population 572 as of the 2011 census), while its next largest town is Nea Koutali with 442 people. Nea Koutali's total population as of 2011 was 2,526.

Subdivisions

Nea Koutali is subdivided into the following communities with their constituent villages shown in brackets: * Angariones *

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a district of Athens and a municipality in south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth largest municipality in Greece (96,118 inhabitants, 2021 census) and the fourth biggest i ...

* Kontias * Livadochori (Livadochori, Poliochni) *Nea Koutali * Pedino (Neo Pedino, Palaio Pedino, Vounaria) * Portianou * Tsimandria The municipal unit also includes the island of Vounaria and the uninhabited islands of Alogonisi, which form part of Pedino, as well as the islands of Kastria and Kompi (both part of Tsimandria).

Population

History

The village was built in the area of Agia Marina in 1926 by refugees from the island of Koutali (now Ekinlik) in the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...

after the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). Together with Agios Dimitrios, it is one of the villages built on Lemnos by refugees from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Initially, it was part of Pesperago (now Pedino). In 1947, the village became an independent community. Nea Koutali stands like an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

adjacent to the

Moudros Moudros ( el, Μούδρος) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eas ...

Gulf and stretches from the pine forests of Agia Triada to the stone built fishing port. In 1928, Nea Koutali had 351 inhabitants, and a school was built. This school merged with the school in Neo Pedino in 1973. The village was built according to a modern layout and had a population of 500 people in 1938. Its residents included sailors, fishermen and sponge divers. In 1938, they produced 700 oka (900 kg) of sponges. Nea Koutali is still known in Greece and abroad for its sponge production.

Maritime and Sponge Museum

On July 1, 2006, the Maritime and Sponge Museum was opened. It presents the maritime life of the people from Koutali before they fled from

Propontis The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

in 1922, through old photographs and artifacts, and tools and machinery related to sponge diving and processing. Also archaeological objects that were collected by sponge divers from Nea Koutali are displayed. These include amphoras, other ceramics, ancient anchors and other small objects which date back to the ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods. They originated from different parts of the Aegean and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

including

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...

, but also from the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

coast, northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Sources

*"Portianou of Lemnos" by Costas Kontellis, 1998. *"Lemnos and its villages" by Th. Belitsos 1994. *Vasiliki Tourptsoglou-Stefanidou, ''Travels And Geographic Texts On Lemnos Island (15th to 20th Centuries)'' (''Ταξιδιωτικά και γεωγραφικά κείμενα για τη νήσο Λήμνο (15ος-20ος αιώνας)'', Thessaloniki 1986 *''Lemnos Province CD Rom'' (''Cdrom Επαρχείου Λήμνου''): ''Lovable Lemnos''

References