Pella (town)

Pella

Πέλλα
Pella Πέλλα
Municipal unit
	Town sign
	Pella Location within the region
	Coordinates: 40°48′N 22°31′E / 40.800°N 22.517°E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Central Macedonia
Regional unit	Pella
Municipality	Pella
Area
• Municipal unit	113.8 km2 (43.9 sq mi)
• Community	30.09 km2 (11.62 sq mi)
Elevation	36 m (118 ft)
Population (2021)
• Municipal unit	5,661
• Municipal unit density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)
• Community	2,050
• Community density	68/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	580 05
Area code(s)	23820
Vehicle registration	ΕΕ

Pella (Greek: Πέλλα) is a town in the Pella municipality in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. Pella is built on a hill at a distance of one kilometre from the road Thessaloniki - Edessa, and the archeological site Pella and 7 km from Giannitsa. The community of Pella has an area of 30.09 km²,^[2] and a population of 2,050 inhabitants (2021). The municipal unit covers 113.819 km².^[2]

History

It is located on the site of ancient Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia and birthplace of Alexander The Great. Ancient Pella was a vast city. However, the city was ravaged by the Romans during the 1st Century BC and lost its significance. During the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the town was known in Greek as Άγιοι Απόστολοι (Agioi Apostoloi) 'Holy Apostles' and in Ottoman Turkish as Allah Kilise 'God's Church'.^[3] In the local Slavic language, the name is Postol (Постол). The name Pella was revived in 1926.^[4] By the 19th century, Agii Apostoli occupied a site near the upper city, and the lower city extended down to the wetlands of Mavroneri.^[3] Félix de Beaujour, a French consul of Thessaloniki 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."^[5] The village joined the Bulgarian Exarchate and a survey by Vasil Kanchov in 1900 revealed that the population of Pella was 520 Bulgarian Exarchists.^[6] Another survey in 1905 recorded that in the village there were 720 Bulgarian Exarchists.^[7] During the exchange of populations with the Treaty of Lausanne (July 24, 1923) refugees from Eastern Thrace in modern Turkey. Refugees from Bulgaria arrived in 1918 -1924. Finally, about 50 Sarakatsani 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^[8]
Andon Traykov, soldier in the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps
Krste Misirkov, (1874 - 1926), philologist, journalist, historian and ethnographer
Theodora Tzakri, Member of Parliament of Greece
Yordana Slatinkova (1924 – 1948), female communist fighter in the Greek Civil War^[9]
Anastasios (Tasos) Kakamanoudis,^[10]^[11] (1985-present), Greek archeologist

References

^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece.
^ ^a ^b Grande Encyclopedie, s.v. Pella
^ "Agioi Apostoloi -- Pella". Pandektis: Name Changes of Settlements in Greece, compiled by the Institute for Neohellenic Research
^ Beaujour, Félix de. Voyage militaire dans l'empire Othman, Paris 1820, p. 197.
^ Васил Кънчов. „Македония. Етнография и статистика“. София, 1900, стр.147
^ D.M.Brancoff. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, р.102-103.
^ Бабев, Иван, „Македонска голгота – Спомени и изповеди от Ениджевардарско“, ТАНГРА ТанНакРа ИК, София 2009 г., стр.185, 194
^ Elizabeth Kolupacev Stewart, For Sacred National Freedom: Portraits Of Fallen Freedom Fighters, Politecon Publications, 2009
^ Academia.edu [1]
^ 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, 155-174.[2]