Agios Germanos

Agios Germanos, (Greek: Άγιος Γερμανός), is a village in the Prespes Municipality in West Macedonia, Greece. Agios Germanos is located at an altitude of approximately 1,100 meters (3,606 feet), on a hillside, part of the Varnoundas Mountains. It is 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) from the Prespes lakes, which can be seen from a panorama location of the village. Agios Germanos lies 45 km (28 mi) from Florina, and 44 km (27 mi) from Kastoria.

Agios Germanos

Άγιος Γερμανός
Agios Germanos church
Agios Germanos
Coordinates: 40°50.18′N 21°09.32′E
CountryGreece
Administrative regionWest Macedonia
Regional unitFlorina
MunicipalityPrespes
Municipal unitPrespes
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Rural
182
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Name

Until 1926, the village was known as German (Greek: Γέρμαν).[2] In the Macedonian language, it is known as Герман, German and the name of the settlement comes from the old village church Sveti German (Saint Germanus).[3] The modern Greek name Agios Germanos means "Saint Germanus".

Features

The village is the only village in the Prespes region that has preserved all of the old stone houses. The Byzantine church that forms the nucleus of the present village dates to the beginning of the 11th century. It has very interesting frescos painted in three different phases. Nearby, the church of Agios Athanasios was built at the end of the 18th century.

The village is especially known among tourists for hiking, bird watching and the Agios Germanos river with falls, which has the endangered species of the Salmo trutta peristericus trout. Agios Germanos river is on the northeast of the village. One can also see the restored water mills along the river.

Following the paths, one can reach the impressive mixed fir-beech forests, and the summits of Kitsevo or Despotiko (2,177m). The Sarakatsani, nomadic shepherds from Thessaly, have the tradition of bringing their herds to graze on these mountains every year from May to October.

Just north of the village is an early 20th-century church built by Steven Doinidis. This church is kept up by the villagers, who number just over 200 as of 2008.

Demographics

According to Bosnian ethnographer Stefan Verković, in 1889 the village had 213 households and a population of 1016 Bulgarians.[4] In 1905 the population had gone down to 1250 with 90 of them being Arnauts (Albanians) and the rest – Bulgarians.[5]

In the early 1900s, 680 Slavonic speaking Christians and 125 Muslim Albanians lived in the village.[3] The present day village has some 20 Christian Macedonian-speaking families.[3] The village also had a separate neighbourhood Shaoftsi (Macedonian: Шаофци) that was inhabited by Muslims and later repopulated by prosfiges (Greek refugees)[3] after the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey (1923).[3]

Today, the village has a mixed population of Macedonian-speaking Slavophones, Aromanians and Pontic Greeks.[6]

  • Across Agios Germanos to the Prespes lakes
  • Agios Germanos with the Prespes lakes in the background
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References
  1. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority.
  2. "Πανδέκτης: German -- Agios Germanos". Retrieved 14 November 2018. Pandektis: Name Changes of Settlements in Greece, compiled by the Institute for Neohellenic Research
  3. Włodzimierz, Pianka (1970). Toponomastikata na Ohridsko-Prespanskiot bazen. Institut za makedonski jazik "Krste Misirkov". p. 135.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) "Герман... Пред селото имало маало Шаофци во кое жибееле мусл., а потоа Просвиги. Во 1900 год. во селото имало 680 М. и 125 мзсл. А. Сега живеат во селото само ок. 20 мак. фамили. Во селото се наога црква Св. Герман... Името е примарно, меморијално, дадено по името на црквата."
  4. Стефан Веркович. "Топографическо-этнографический очерк Македонии". СПб, 1889. (in Russian)
  5. D.M.Brancoff. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, р.170–17
  6. 10|2001: Villageois et citadins de Grèce, Identités, Mémoires, Représentations, Usage des langues minoritaires dans les départements de Florina et d’Aridea (Macédoine) Riki Van, Boeschoten.
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