Variko

Variko (Greek: Βαρικό) is a village and a former community in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit.[2] The municipal unit has an area of 21.877 km2.[3] It is 27 km south-southeast of the city of Florina. The population in 2011 was 638. The village's primary agricultural products are beans, corn, and wheat. There is an annual bean festival on August 15, coinciding with the Dormition of Virgin.

Variko

Βαρικό
Variko
Location within the regional unit
Coordinates: 40°32.30′N 21°30′E
CountryGreece
Administrative regionWest Macedonia
Regional unitFlorina
MunicipalityAmyntaio
 • Municipal unit21.9 km2 (8.5 sq mi)
Elevation
770 m (2,530 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Municipal unit
638
 • Municipal unit density29/km2 (75/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
500 05

History

The village was first mentioned in an Ottoman defter of 1481, under the name of Mokreni, and was described as having sixty-nine households.[4] In the beginning of 19th century Francois Pouqueville noted Mocrena as one of the Bulgarian villages in the region.[5] The population of Mocreni was Bulgarian in 19th and early 20th centuries. The population of the village was under the supremacy of the Bulgarian Exarchate since 1891.[6]

The village was burned by the Turks during the Ilinden Uprising.[7] There was a Bulgarian school in the village in the beginning of the 20th century.[8] After the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, when the area became part of Greece, many people emigrated to Bulgaria. The village was renamed Variko in 1926.

After the defeat of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941 in the village was formed a club of the Bulgaro-Macedonian Central Committee and in 1943 a detachment of the Bulgarian paramilitary organization Ohrana.[9] The village suffered greatly during the Greek Civil War, when many villagers emigrated abroad.

Notable persons
  • Nikola Andreev, (1879 - 1911) - Bulgarian teacher and voivode[10]
  • Nikola Milev, (1881-1925) - Bulgarian historian[11]

Demographics

According to the 2011 census,[1] the population of Variko was 638 people. Today, the village has a mixed population of Greeks and Slav Macedonians (around 11,7%).[12]

Literature

Notes
  1. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority.
  2. Kallikratis law Greece Ministry of Interior (in Greek)
  3. "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece.
  4. Kravari, Vassiliki (1989). Villes et villages de Macédoine occidentale. Réalités byzantines (in French). 2. Paris: Editions P. Lethielleux. p. 301. ISBN 2-283-60452-4.
  5. Pouqueville, F.C.H.L. Travels in Epirus, Albania, Macedonia, and Thessaly, London 1820, p.88
  6. Шопов, Атанас. Из живота и положението на българите във вилаетите, Пловдив, Търговска печатница, 1893, стр. 232 - 233.
  7. Brailsford, Henri N. Macedonia: Its races and their future, London, 1906. p. 216, Rappoport Alfred. Au pays des martyrs. Notes et souvenirs d'un ancien Consul Général d'Autriche-Hongrie en Macédoine (1904-1909), Paris 1927; in Bulgarian - Рапопорт, Алфред. В страната на мъчениците, София 2002
  8. D.M. Brancoff. La Macedoine et sa Population Chretienne. Paris, 1905, pp. 180-181.
  9. Добрин Мичев. Българското национално дело в Югозападна Македония (1941 – 1944 г.)
  10. Николов, Борис Й. Вътрешна Македоно-Одринска революционна организация. Войводи и ръководители. биографично-библиографски справочник. София 2001, с. 9 (Nikolov, Boris. Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Organization. Voivodes and Leaders. Biographical and Bibliographical Reference Book. Sofia 2001, p. 9).
  11. Чолов, Петър. Български историци. Биографично-библиографски справочник. София 1999, с. 182 (Cholov, Petar. Bulgarian Historians, Biographical and Bibliographical Reference Book. Sofia 1999, p. 182); Марков, Георги. Покушения, насилие и политика в България 1878-1947. София 2003, c. 216-218 (Markov, Georgi. Attempts, Violence and Politics in Bulgaria 1878-1947. Sofia 2003, pp. 216-218).
  12. In the 2014 European elections in Greece, 82 people from Variko voted for the Rainbow Party, which represents the ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece.
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