Giannitsa
Giannitsa is a city in northern Greece, geographically situated in the region of Macedonia and administratively belonging to the Region of Central Macedonia. It is the largest urban center of the Regional Unit of Pella, its historical capital, and the administrative seat of the Municipality of Pella. According to the 2021 census, Giannitsa has 32,410 inhabitants.
The Municipal Unit of Giannitsa covers an area of 208.105 km2, and includes the following settlements: Ampeleies, Archontiko, Asvestario, Damianό, Eleftherochori, Leptokarya, Melissi, Mesiano, and Paralimni.
Giannitsa is located at a short distance from Mount Paiko to the north and from the banks of the Axios River to the east, within the central part of the fertile Giannitsa–Thessaloniki plain, which constitutes the largest lowland area in Greece. Within the same geographical unit extended, until the mid-20th century, Giannitsa Lake, also known as the Marsh, a natural landscape of considerable ecological, economic, and historical significance, which was radically transformed following its drainage. Today, the city functions as a significant economic and industrial center, as the European Route E86 runs along the southern outskirts of the urban area.
The city is generally considered to have been founded during the Byzantine period; however, it acquired particular prominence after its conquest by the distinguished Ottoman military commander and conqueror Evrenos Bey. Evrenos Bey settled in Giannitsa, died there, and was buried in the city, thereby endowing it with a strong religious character. The continuous influx of Muslims visiting the city for pilgrimage rendered Giannitsa sacred in their perception, leading to a period of remarkable prosperity during the Ottoman era. To this day, the city retains the epithet "the Mecca of the Balkans".
The historical significance of Giannitsa is further enhanced by its proximity to ancient Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon and the birthplace of Alexander the Great, the archaeological remains of which are located approximately 7 km from the city. Giannitsa lies at a distance of 48 km from Thessaloniki, and 332 km from Athens.
Name
Etymology
The prevailing scholarly interpretation concerning the toponym of the city of Giannitsa maintains that, during the 1380s, Gazi Evrenos re-founded the pre-existing Byzantine settlement known as Vardarion and renamed it Yenice-i Vardar that is, 'New Vardar' or 'new of Vardar'. The settlement also used to appear under the forms Vardar Yenicesi or simply Yenice and Yenidje. In other languages, the city is called:, Enidzhe Vardar or Пазар, Pazar,, Enidzhe Vardar and.Origin
The derivation of the name from the Turkish language was also supported by the academic archaeologist Georgios Oikonomos. Beyond this dominant view, several alternative hypotheses regarding the origin of the toponym have been proposed. According to one interpretation, the name is associated with the personal name Giannitsas and is attributed to a hypothetical Byzantine landowner of the region. The philologist and academic Georgios Mistriotis suggested an etymology from the Turkish word Yunan, arguing that the Ottoman conquerors likened the local population to the Ionians of Anatolia. By contrast, the scholar, academic, and linguist Georgios Hatzidakis maintained that the name of the city has a Greek etymological origin and is linked to the personal name Giannis, which during the Byzantine period was used in the naming of provincial fortresses and settlements. He further argued that, during the early phase of Ottoman rule, the Ottomans lacked the capacity to impose new toponyms systematically, and he reinforced his position by pointing to the occurrence of various related forms, such as Giannitsis, Giannitsios, and Giannitseas, in different locations throughout Byzantine Greece.During the later phases of Ottoman rule, according to William Martin Leake, who had visited the city, the toponym underwent Hellenization and appeared in the forms Iannitza or Giannitza, while the variant Yenitsa was also frequently employed. Under this latter form, the city was incorporated into the modern Greek state, until the official establishment of the contemporary form Giannitsa in February 1926.
Population
History
Ancient
In antiquity, the region of present-day Giannitsa was known as Bottiaea and provides evidence of uninterrupted human presence from the Early Neolithic period. This is attested by the Neolithic settlement identified at the area of "Old Market", on the southern hill of the city. This settlement is considered among the earliest Neolithic installations in the European mainland. According to ancient traditions, the earliest inhabitants of the region were the Bottiaeans, whose mythical progenitor was Botton, said to have originated from Crete. Related narratives variously ascribe the origin of the Bottiaeans either to Minoans who survived an expedition to Sicily or to descendants of Athenians who escaped the Minotaur. The Bottiaeans bordered the Pierians to the south, the Bryges to the west, the Mygdonians to the east, and the Almopians to the north. Bottiaea comprised a number of important and prosperous settlements, including Kyrros, Tyrissa, Bounomos, Ichnae, and Atalante, the remains of which are located at a short distance from modern Giannitsa.Human occupation continued without interruption during the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, to which period a cemetery discovered at the exit of the city toward Edessa is dated. Moreover, numerous chance finds attest to sustained human activity throughout the Hellenistic period as well. The region’s geographical position, at the convergence of lowland, coastal, and mountainous zones and along major Balkan communication routes, conferred particular strategic and economic significance upon the settlement. During the Middle Neolithic period, the original settlement appears to have been abandoned, most likely as a result of rising sea levels and the extensive inundation of adjacent lands.
In the 7th century BC, the Argead Macedonians became established in the area during their advance from Argos in the Peloponnese. King Perdiccas I expelled the Bottiaeans from their homelands, forcing their relocation to Chalkidiki, and thereby incorporated Bottiaea into the Macedonian kingdom. Thereafter, historical references to the region are relatively scarce until the early 4th century BC, when King Archelaus I transferred the royal capital from Aegae to Pella, a new city he founded on the shores of the Thermaic Gulf. From that point onward, the region of Giannitsa formed part of the Pellaean territory. Pella rapidly developed into a major administrative, economic, and cultural center of the ancient Greek world, reaching a peak of prosperity and international prominence particularly during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great.
The designation Bottiaea for the region of Giannitsa remained in use until the early Byzantine period, after which the plain on which Giannitsa was built came to be known as Campania, a name reflecting the fertility of the land. In 1913, Apostolos Arvanitopoulos, Ephor of Antiquities of Western Macedonia, proposed that Giannitsa be renamed Bottiaea, with the aim of restoring the ancient toponym. This proposal, however, was not implemented, as the existing Ottoman name was considered to be of Greek etymological origin.
Byzantine
Contrary to the prevailing assumption that Giannitsa was founded during the Ottoman period, chance archaeological finds in the area of the Old Market suggest that the city can be specifically dated to the Middle Byzantine period, during which it appears to have existed as a prosperous settlement, owing to its location along the course of the Via Egnatia, under the name Vardárion. The earliest attestation of this toponym dates to the 11th century, during the Komnenian dynasty.During his military campaigns in Macedonia,, Evrenos Bey, the military commander of Sultan Murad I, encountered an already developed settlement, which he captured and subsequently utilized as a strategic point of control and a base for the further conquest of the Balkan Peninsula. This interpretation is further corroborated by 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi, who recorded a local tradition, which refers to the existence of two fortresses allegedly built by rulers of the lineage of Philip V. These fortifications were later dismantled by the Ottomans, who undertook extensive urban and administrative reorganization, thereby transforming the settlement into an urban center.
The grant of the region to Evrenos Bey is embedded in a complex nexus of legends, oral traditions, and historical narratives. According to one version of the tradition, Murad I allowed Evrenos to claim as much land as he could traverse on horseback within the course of a single day. The direct grant of Giannitsa by the sultan himself is also attested by the Byzantine historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles.
Another tradition conveys the same intention through a symbolic compact, according to which the extent of land to come into his possession was defined by the outline of a cowhide. Evrenos Bey, endowed, according to the narrative, with Herculean strength, cut the hide into a long and narrow strip, which was said to encompass a vast area, within which the new settlement nucleus was established. A further tradition attributes the choice of the site to the natural environment of the region: while searching for the most suitable place for himself and his army to settle, Evrenos allegedly ordered one thousand of his slaves to release feathers into the air and to continue their march until the feathers fell to the ground, thereby indicating the most favorable location. The feathers ultimately descended upon a fertile plain, naturally protected to the north by the Paiko mountain range and bordered to the south by the ancient Lake Loudias. The strategic significance of the area was further enhanced by the passage of the Via Egnatia, which connected Thessaloniki with the other urban centers of Macedonia. Evrenos was reportedly impressed by the site and established his new seat there. According to a local tradition, when Evrenos initiated the conquest of the city, its inhabitants offered determined resistance but were ultimately unable to prevail. Nevertheless, the Ottomans, acknowledging their persistence and obstinacy, are said to have referred to them as genatzides, from which the name of the settlement, Genitza, is traditionally derived.