Kella (, before 1926: Γκορνίτσοβον – ''Gkornitsovon''; Bulgarian/

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

: Горничево, ''Gorničevo'' or ''Gornichevo'') is a village in the

Amyntaio Amyntaio (, before 1928: Σόροβιτς – ''Sorovits''; Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,348, while that o ...

municipality of the Florina regional unit,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

The village was first mentioned in an Ottoman

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

of 1468, where it is listed under the name of ''Gorničevo'' and described as a small settlement of thirty households. A second defter of 1481 records that the number had increased by only three households. Around 1840, the land of the village was forcibly seized by the Muslim notable Ilyaz Pasha and it was turned into a homestead. Later, the local residents were able to redeem their property. In the book “Ethnographie des Vilayets d'Adrianople, de Monastir et de Salonique”, published in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1878, that reflects the statistics of the male population in 1873, ''Gornitchévo'' was noted as a village with 160 households, 522 Bulgarian and 50

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

inhabitants.Македония и Одринско. Статистика на населението от 1873 г. Македонски научен институт, 1995. стр. 82-83. The village participated in the

Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning " Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia) Republic Day () or Ilinden () is a national holiday in North ...

(1903) and during the conflict it was razed by the

Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

. Immigrants from Gkornitsovo in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

participated in the early Bulgarian community to build church infrastructure. During the

occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategica ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

the village supported the separatist side and retaliation followed from supporters of the Greek side. Following the

(1946–1949), the population decreased and 3–4 hundred families remained in the village. Kella had 877 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Kella was populated by Slavophones. The

Macedonian language Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...

was used by people of all ages, both in public and private settings, and as the main language for interpersonal relationships. Some elderly villagers had little knowledge of Greek. Table 3: Kelli, 877; S, M1; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien" In the diaspora, villagers are located in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

(a hundred families),

(over a hundred families) and higher numbers in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

.. During the early years of the Macedonian naming dispute, internal splits occurred among the Kella community in Melbourne with the majority identifying as

and a minority as

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

Notes

Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Amyntaio {{WMacedonia-geo-stub