Antartiko

The village is believed to be initially inhabited in the early 19th century by Epirotes and people from Debar.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121017111435/http://www.florina.gr/el/%CE%A4%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%81%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82-%CE%9F%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%B3%CF%8C%CF%82/%CE%98%CE%AD%CF%83%CE%B7-%CE%A0%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%83%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%B7 Τοπογραφία του νομού Φλώρινας] [Topography of the regional unit of Florina], «Τον 19ο αιώνα εγκαθίστανται στο Ανταρτικό Ηπειρώτες διωγμένοι από τον Αλή Πασά, αλλά και από την περιοχή της Δίβρης,...» Following the Greek liberation of the village from the Ottomans in 1913, Zhelevo was renamed to Antartiko in the 1920s. On an Austro-Hungarian military survey map from 1900, the name of the village appears as Zelova, or alternatively Zelin.[http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/39-41.jpg Map] elte.hu According to the 1913 Greek census, the village had a total population of 1.415 people.[http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00009.pdf Βασίλειον της Ελλάδος, Υπουργείον Εθνικής Οικονομίας, Διεύθυνσις Στατιστικής, Απαρίθμησις των κατοίκων των νέων επαρχιών της Ελλάδος του έτους 1913, p. 42.] The village population dropped from 1345 people in 1940 to 605 people in 1961,Studies in the History of the Greek Civil War, 1945–1949 by Lars Bærentzen, John O. Iatrides, 1987, p. 80 196 people in 1981, and 133 people in 1991. The village had a local newspaper by 1933.Hart, L. K. 2006. "Provincial Anthropology, Circumlocution, and the Copious Use of Everything." In Anastasia Karakasidou and Fotini Tsimbiridou eds. The Journal of Modern Greek Studies: Special issue: Ethnography-ing Greece in Late Modernity. Volume 24, No. 2, October 2006. Pp. 307–346.

The church St. Nikolay was built in the early 18th century.[http://www.strumski.com/books/Foto_Tomev_History_of_Zhelevo.pdf Tomev, Foto. Short history of Zhelevo village, Macedonia, Zhelevo Brotherhood, Toronto 1971, p. 19–20.] The second church in the village, St. Atanas, was built under the initiative of the local benefactor and the activist of the Bulgarian Revival Movement Pavle Yankov in 1880s, but the Greek Bishop of Kastoria refused to sanctify it because of Slavic inscriptions. The inscriptions were not removed until 1908.[http://www.strumski.com/books/Foto_Tomev_History_of_Zhelevo.pdf Tomev, Foto. Short history of Zhelevo village, Macedonia, Zhelevo Brotherhood, Toronto 1971, p. 20–24.]

The first attempt to open a Bulgarian school was made by locals in 1883, but was unsuccessful because of the opposition of the Greek teacher.[http://www.strumski.com/books/Foto_Tomev_History_of_Zhelevo.pdf Tomev, Foto. Short history of Zhelevo village, Macedonia, Zhelevo Brotherhood, Toronto 1971, pp. 22–24.]

The village was a base for the Greek andartes in the struggle with the detachments of IMORO in the beginning of 20th century. Local inhabitants took part in this struggle on both sides led by Pavlo Athanse for the Greek Andartes.L'Imbroglio Macedonie, Michel Paillares, Paris, 1907, p. 257. "Les principaux chefs d Antartes qui commandent dans le vilayet sont Vardas Manos Ver ghas Kahoudis Dalipi Pavlo Athanase Laki De laki Simon Laki Pirsa Vanghélis a été tué dans un combat par la bande d Ekchi Sou Dalipi est de Gabreche Pavlo Athanase est de Zelevo Delaki est de Vernik Simon est d'Armesko Pirsa est de Florina Vanghélis était de Streben Tous ces Macédoniens sont slavophones ainsi que la plupart des partisans Ils étaient révolutionnaires ils faisaient la guerre aux Turcs avec Marcof Petrof Tchakalarof et Kartsakof. Mais ils ont déserté les comités quand ils se sont aperçus que les Bulgares n avaient qu un but bulgariser les village Alors ils ont formé des bandes pour protéger l'Hellénisme." The main part of the population of the village came under the supremacy of the Bulgarian Exarchate towards the end of the first decade of 20th century. According to officials of the Exarchate, in 1909 over 200 households were under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Exarchate and 50 under the Patriarchate of Constantinople).[http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/ban/ls4.html#111 Macedonia – documents and materials, Sofia 1978, N 111] Until the summer of 1908 the Exarchate families were served by the Bulgarian priest from the neighboring village of Oshtima (present-day Trigono). Several weeks after the Young Turk Revolution the first Exarchate priest, local resident Ivan Trayanov, started his work in Zhelevo.[http://www.strumski.com/books/Foto_Tomev_History_of_Zhelevo.pdf Tomev, Foto. Short history of Zhelevo village, Macedonia, Zhelevo Brotherhood, Toronto 1971, p. 30-31.]

Inhabitants of Zelovo who were master builders and carpenters worked seasonally in the surrounding villages, in Bitola district and the wider region of Western Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, the Greek islands and Athens. Limited arable land and difficult living conditions of the late Ottoman era and early Greek period made some villagers immigrate to Toronto, Canada.{{cite book|last=Petroff|first=Lillian|chapter=Sojourner and Settler: The Macedonian Presence in the City, 1903–1940|editor-last=Harney|editor-first=Robert F.|title=Gathering Place: Peoples and Neighbourhoods of Toronto, 1834–1945|year=1985|publisher=Multicultural History Society of Ontario|isbn=9780919045187|chapter-url=https://books.google.com.au/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y&id=NzV6AAAAMAAJ&dq=Zhelevo|pages=177–178}} The Zelovo immigrants in Toronto participated in the early Bulgarian community to build church infrastructure.{{cite book|last=Kostov|first=Chris|title=Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-1m1FLtrvsC&pg=PA136|isbn=9783034301961|page=136}}

The village was an important staging ground for the French forces, l’Armee d’Orient, during the WWI, and an active combat area,The Stanford Illustrated Review, Volume 19, Issue 5, "The Stanford Balkan Ambulance Unit," Frank Taylor, Feb. 1918. p. 163 with two French 120 mm artillery pieces stationed at the village.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vw4EN4jv_jgC&dq=zelova%20monastir&pg=PP1 |title=Le Correspondant: religion, philosophie, politique,... |publisher=V.-A. Waille |language=fr}} Turkish troops were active in the village on 12 December 1912.Türk silahlı kuvvetleri tarihi: cilt, 1. kısım. Garp Ordusu, Vardar Ordusu ve Ustruma Kolordusu 1993 It was the furthest west staging area for the French Army, who then advanced to the West of Lake Prespa as part of the Vardar Offensive. The French 175th Combat Infantry passed through the village on 30 August 1917.Journal of Pierre Beau, http://chtimiste.com/carnets/beau.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815041536/http://www.chtimiste.com/carnets/beau.htm |date=15 August 2016 }} Russian forces stationed nearby were also evacuated from the village to Koritze by American ambulanciers.The Stanford Illustrated Review, Volume 19, Issue 5, “The Stanford Balkan Ambulance Unit,” Frank Taylor, Feb. 1918. p. 163. “Probably the worst run was to Zelova with Russian evacuations Zelova was fifty kilometers from the hospital at Koritza over the worst road a machine could navigate and the Russians were not good passengers.” It was during this period that the first automobile reached the village, driven by an American ambulancier through the Pisoderi Pass.”Across Albania with an American Ambulancier,” Travel, Robert Whitney Imbrie, April 1918. p. 12History of the American Field Service in France, ʻFriends of France’, 1914–1917. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1920. edited by James William Davenport Seymour, p. 185Behind the Wheel of a War Ambulance. Robert Whitney Imbrie, Robert M. McBride & Co. 1918. p. 195 Due to its strategic importance, French forces improved the infrastructure in the area by laying telegraph lines from Antartiko to Florina, and improving the road from Florina through the Pisoderi pass to better accommodate mechanized vehicles. French soldier Jean Saison described the village in October 1916 as follows: “At Zelova we saw them shuttling between the corn fields and the village from morning and until night, climbing hard trails with a huge bale of straw on their heads. All pack animals and cattle had been removed by the troops. Here, under the eye of a man sitting lazily, cigarette in mouth, young and old fight corn cobs packed with a vengeance. Whether the grains are spread over the area or the ears adorn the windows in tightly packed rows, their bright yellow explodes next to dark red peppers and scarlet aprons, that give, under the sun, a wonderful color tableaux.”

In 1985, "Agios Germanos" a women's cooperative focused on agritourism was founded in the village providing tourists accommodation in traditional houses, meals at its restaurant and environmental and cultural activities to do in and around Antartiko.{{cite journal|last1=Iakovidou|first1=Olga|last2=Turner|first2=Caroline|title=The Female Gender in Greek Agrotourism|url=http://www.climateaudit.info/data/mask/TREN/tourism%20cd/Annals_Tour_Res_1995_481.pdf|journal=Annals of Tourism Research|volume=22|year=1995|page=483|doi=}}{{cite journal|last1=Chatzitheodoridis|first1=Fotios|last2=Kontogeorgos|first2=Achilleas|last3=Liltsi|first3=Petroula|last4=Apostolidou|first4=Ioanna|last5=Michailidis|first5=Anastasios|last6=Loizou|first6=Efstatios|title=Small Women's Cooperatives in less favored and Mountainous Areas under Economic Instability|url=https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/262883/?v=pdf|journal=Agricultural Economics Review|volume=17|issue=1|year=2017|page=69|doi=}}

Antartiko had 169 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Antartiko was populated by Slavophones. The Macedonian language was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it.{{cite journal|last=Van Boeschoten|first=Riki|title=Usage des langues minoritaires dans les départements de Florina et d'Aridea (Macédoine)|trans-title=Use of minority languages in the departments of Florina and Aridea (Macedonia)|language=fr|url=http://journals.openedition.org/strates/381|journal=Strates|volume=10|year=2001|at=}} Table 3: Antartiko, 169; S, M2; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien"

Many people emigrated to Canada, the United States and Australia. Nowadays, according to the 2021 Greek census, the population of the village is no more than 69. In more recent decades, the area has seen an increase in illegal immigration from Albania, as the border is close by. The main industry of the area for a long time was farming, and a main road only connected the village with Florina in the last 50 years or so.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

• Traianos Liantzakis (1850s-?), Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle
• Pavlos Kyrou (1860s-1906), Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle

Foto S. Tomev (1899-1986), Emigrant to Canada, author of "A Short History of Zhelevo Village, Macedonia"; Award-winning Canadian fine artist. Foto Spiro Tomev was a talented Toronto-based artist who, after studying with different members of the Group of Seven and graduating from the Ontario College of Art in 1922 started painting and continued to do so up until the early to the mid-1980s. Through those years he produced some fine artistic renditions of Toronto's old city-neighborhood settings and its peoples.

Tomev, Foto S.

Title Macedonian Folktales

Occasional papers in ethnic and immigration studies

Authors Foto S. Tomev, Multicultural History Society of Ontario

Editor Lillian Petroff

Publisher Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1980

ISBN 0919045006, 9780919045002

Length 90 pages

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Category:Populated places in Florina (regional unit)

Category:Prespes