Melas (Greek: Μελάς) is a mountainous village in the regional unit of Kastoria, Macedonia, Greece. It belongs to the municipality of Kastoria and specifically to the municipal unit of Korestia. The previous name of the village was Statista[2] (or Stathista or Agios Efstathios after the homonymous Orthodox church of Agios Efstathios). A museum dedicated to Pavlos Melas and the Greek struggle for Macedonia now operates in the village.[3]
Melas
Μελάς | |
|---|---|
 Pavlos Melas Museum external view | |
 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Geographic region | Macedonia |
| Administrative region | Western Macedonia |
| Regional unit | Kastoria |
| Municipality | Kastoria |
| Municipal unit | Korestia |
| Elevation | 980 m (3,220 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Community | 106 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Name
editBefore 1927 the village was called Statista (Greek: Στάτιστα,[4] Bulgarian: Статица, Statitsa). The name of the village was changed to Melas, after the Greek fighter (makedonomachos) Pavlos Melas who lost his life there.[5]
History
editIn 1873, the village was recorded as having 60 households with 180 male Bulgarian inhabitants.[6]
In 1900, Vasil Kanchov gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Statitsa was inhabited by about 600 Christian Bulgarian inhabitants.[7]
On October 12, 1904, Pavlos Melas and his group headed to Statista (modern-day Melas). In the village, the native collaborator of Melas, Dinas Stergiou (Ντίνας Στεργίου) divided the men of the group into five houses. In the village, however, there was an organized Bulgarian army, a member of which alerted the Ottoman army to the presence of the Greek army. On October 13, the village was surrounded by an Ottoman detachment of 150 men and a fighting broke out. The dawn of the next day would find Pavlos Melas dead under an unspecified area.[8][9]
In 1945, Greek Foreign Minister Ioannis Politis ordered the compilation of demographic data regarding the Prefecture of Kastoria.[10] The village Melas had a total of 717 inhabitants, and was populated by 707 Slavophones with a Bulgarian national consciousness.[11]
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.
- ^ "Πανδέκτης: Statista -- Melas". pandektis.ekt.gr. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
- ^ "Museum of Pavlos Melas". www.digitalkastoria.gr. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
- ^ Institute for Neohellenic Research. "Name Changes of Settlements in Greece: Statista – Melas". Pandektis. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Ο Μακεδονικός Αγώνας (μέρος 4ο) : Πανόραμα μαχών και αγωνιστών (χάρτες και πίνακες)". Ιστορικά Καστοριάς | History of Kastoria. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
- ^ „Македония и Одринско. Статистика на населението от 1873 г.“ Македонски научен институт, София, 1995. стр. 108-109.
- ^ Vasil Kanchov (1901). Кънчов, Васил. Македония. Етнография и статистика, София, 1900, стр. 266. (Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics, p. 266. Accessed 08 February 2018 (in Bulgarian)
- ^ "Σαν σήμερα το 1904 πέφτει νεκρός στην τότε Στάτιστα ο Παύλος Μελάς πρωτεργάτης της απελευθέρωσης της Μακεδονίας!". OlaDeka (in Greek). 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
- ^ "115 χρόνια μετά... Παύλος Μελάς..." Ορθοδοξία News Agency (in Greek). 2019-10-14. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
- ^ Alvanos 2005, p. 518.
- ^ Alvanos, Raymondos (2005). Κοινωνικές συγκρούσεις και πολιτικές συμπεριφορές στην περιοχή της Καστοριάς (1922–1949) [Social conflicts and political behaviors in the area of Kastoria (1922–1949)] (Ph.D.) (in Greek). Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. p. 516. Retrieved 16 June 2024. "(Άνω και Κάτω) Μελά, Πληθυσμός: 717, Σλαυόφωνοι: 707, Συνείδησις Βουλγαρική: ναι"
External links
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