Kassandra, Chalkidiki
Kassandra
Κασσάνδρα | |
|---|---|
 Kassandra municipality | |
  Kassandra Location within the region  | |
| Coordinates:40°01′22.54″N23°26′0.28″E/ 40.0229278°N 23.4334111°E | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Central Macedonia |
| Regional unit | Chalkidiki |
| Area | |
| • Municipality | 334.3 km2(129.1 sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 206.1 km2(79.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipality | 16,861 |
| • Density | 50/km2(130/sq mi) |
| • Municipal unit | 10,526 |
| • Municipal unit density | 51/km2(130/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2(EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3(EEST) |
| Postal code | 631 00 |
| Area code(s) | 23710 |
| Vehicle registration | ΧΚ |
Kassandra(Greek:Κασσάνδρα) orKassandra Peninsula(Greek:Χερσόνησος Κασσάνδρας) is a peninsula and a municipality inChalkidiki,Macedonia,Greece.The seat of the municipality is inKassandreia.[2]
Municipality[edit]
The municipality Kassandra was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units (communities in brackets):[2]
- Kassandra (Afytos,Fourka,Kalandra,Kallithea,Kassandreia,Kassandrino, Kryopigi, Nea Fokaia)
- Pallini(Agia Paraskevi,Chaniotis,Nea Skioni,Paliouri,Pefkochori,Polychrono)
The municipality has an area of 334.280 km2,the municipal unit 206.097 km2.[3]
History[edit]
Pallene(Greek:Παλλήνη) is the ancient name of the westernmost of the three headlands ofChalcidice,which run out into theAegean Sea.[4]It is said to have anciently borne the name ofPhlegra(Φλέγρα)[5]and to have witnessed the conflict between the gods and the earthbornGigantes.[6]The modern name of the peninsula is Kassandra, which, besides affording excellent winter pasture for cattle and sheep, also produces an abundance of grain of superior quality, as well as wool, honey, and wax, besides raising silkworms.[7]
In antiquity, Pallene was the site of numerous towns:Sane,Mende,Scione,Therambos,Aege,Neapolis,Aphytis,which were either wholly or partly colonies fromEretria.After the founding of the Roman colony ofCassandreia(43 BC), located at the site of ancientPotidaea,the entire peninsula of Pallene was included in the colony territory.[8]Strabo[9]mentions five cities of Pallene at the turn of the eras: Cassandreia, Aphytis, Mende, Scione and Sane.
InLate Antiquity,the center of the peninsula was the city of Cassandreia or Kassandreia. Apolisand a bishopric, Cassandreia was destroyed by theHunsin 539 or 540 AD.[10]After this, EmperorJustinian Ibuilt a wall at the entrance of the peninsula, but it is not until the 10th century that a sizeable settlement—described as a township (polichnion) and later as a fortress (kastron)—re-appears in the peninsula and that the bishopric is mentioned again, as asuffraganofThessalonica.[10]The area prospered due to its fertility, and both Thessalonians as well as the monks of the growing monastic community at nearbyMount Athoshad estates there.[10]
In the winter of 1307/08, the peninsula and the city were seized and held by theCatalan Companyduring their move fromThraceto southern Greece.[10]The 14th-century historianNikephoros Gregorasdescribes Kassandreia as "abandoned" during his time, and sometime before 1407, EmperorJohn VII Palaiologosrebuilt the old fortifications of Justinian. As ade factoannex of Thessalonica, the peninsula shared the city's fate and came under a briefVenetiancontrol in 1423, before being captured by theOttoman Empirein c. 1430.[10]
Kassandra (Turkish:Kesendire) was one of the places that rebelled against theOttomansin 1821. Because it managed to stop the Turkish army from fighting the rebels in southern Greece, the entire peninsula was burnt by the Turks. The refugees moved with fishing boats to the islands ofSkiathos,Skopelos,AlonnisosandEuboeia.Nobody lived in the peninsula for more than 30 years. Then the population started to gather again. In 1912 it became a part ofGreece.Many Greek refugees from Anatolia settled in the peninsula after the 1923 population exchange following theGreco-Turkish War.
The peninsula was lined with paved roads in the mid-20th century. Tourism also arrived after the war period ofWorld War IIand theGreek Civil War.More paved roads were added in the 1970s and the 1980s and tourism developed rapidly. Agriculture shifted to tourism and other businesses as the primary industry of the peninsula in the 1980s. The eastern coastal strip from Kallithea down toPefkochoribecame especially built up with resorts.
On August 22, 2006, the peninsula was struck by a major forest fire that affected the central and the southern parts of the peninsula, on the day of the heatwave when temperatures soared to nearly 40 °C. Several houses were destroyed including villas, hotels and a campground, while the natural beauty was erased. It burnt large areas of forests including some farmlands. The cause of this tremendous fire was dry lightning which occurred throughout the evening. The forest fire lasted nearly five days and devastated the economy and the peninsula. Villages that were affected wereChanioti,Nea Skioni,Polychrono,Pefkochoriand Kriopigi. The forests mostly recovered again after 10 years.
Twin cities[edit]
Cassandreia istwinnedwith the following cities:
References[edit]
- ^"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.
- ^ab"ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities"(in Greek).Government Gazette.
- ^"Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)"(PDF)(in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2015-09-21.
- ^
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Pallene".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.
- ^Herodotus.Histories,vii. 123.
- ^Pind.Nem.i. 100,Isthm.vi. 48; Apollod. i. 6. § 1;Lycophron1408;Strabovii. p. 330;Steph. B.s. v.
- ^William Martin Leake,Northern Greece,vol. iii. p. 163.
- ^[1]Archived2017-04-24 at theWayback MachineD. C. Samsaris, The Roman Colony of Cassandreia in Macedonia (Colonia Iulia Augusta Cassandrensis) (in Greek), Dodona 16(1), 1987, p. 353-362
- ^( VII.27 Fragments )
- ^abcdeGregory, Timothy E.; Kazhdan, Alexander (1991). "Kassandreia". InKazhdan, Alexander(ed.).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 1109.ISBN0-19-504652-8.
External links[edit]
Media related toKassandraat Wikimedia Commons
Sources[edit]
- Fotić, Aleksandar (2009)."Kassandra in the Ottoman Documents from Chilandar (Hilandar) Monastery (Mount Athos) in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries".Balcanica.40:57–73.doi:10.2298/BALC0940057F.
Administrative divisionof theCentral MacedoniaRegion | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Regional unit ofChalkidiki |  | |
| Regional unit ofImathia | ||
| Regional unit ofKilkis | ||
| Regional unit ofPella | ||
| Regional unit ofPieria | ||
| Regional unit ofSerres | ||
| Regional unit ofThessaloniki | ||
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