Aetomilitsa


Aetomilitsa is a village in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Konitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Before 2011, it was an independent community. The 2021 census recorded 200 residents in the village. The community of Aetomilitsa covers an area of.

Name

Linguist Max Vasmer writes the toponym is Slavic and linked to the form Vodensko, found in several other Slavic placenames in the Balkans. Linguist Kostas Oikonomou derives the toponym from the Slavic dědina indicating 'the grandfather's inheritance', inheritance', 'the estate from inheritance', 'estate', 'village'.
The first part of the placename is formed from the Slavic word dědъ meaning 'grandfather' and the suffix -ina. The adjectival suffix ъskъ with the omission of the definite noun dědinъskъ from the toponym was formed by the sound cluster sk becoming ck, thus dědinъsko; rendering of Slavic ě with e in Greek and elimination of the unstressed i and ъ, hence dedncko and the elimination of d through dissimilation probably in Greek of d-''d into d''-ø.

Geography

The village lies on the Gramos mountain. It is one of the highest communities in Greece situated at an altitude of. A glacial lake, Moutsalia Lake is situated 5 km as the crow flies or 13 km drive on a dirt road from Aetomilitsa.

Climate

Aetomilitsa has a warm-summer humid continental climate using the 0 °C isotherm, or a temperate oceanic climate using the −3 °C isotherm for the coldest month. Aetomilitsa experiences cold winters with high precipitation and warm, drier summers.

History

For a time during the Greek Civil War, Aetomilitsa was the seat of the communist rebels, the so-called "Provisional Democratic Government".

Demographics

Aetomilitsa has an Aromanian population and is an Aromanian speaking village.