Avdella
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Avdhela|the Aromanian digital library and cultural initiative|Avdhela Project}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
|name = Avdella
|name_local = {{lang|el|Αβδέλλα}}
{{lang|rup|Avdhela}}
|type = municipal unit
|image_map = DE Avdellas.svg
|map_caption = Location within the regional unit
|periph = Western Macedonia
|periphunit = Grevena
|municipality = Grevena
|population = 73
|population_as_of = 2021
|area = 43.243
|elevation = 1300
|coordinates = {{coord|40|01|N|21|08|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code = 510 32
|area_code = +30-2462
|licence = ΡΝ
|image_skyline = Village_hall_of_Avdella.jpg
|caption_skyline = Village hall of Avdella
}}
Avdella ({{langx|el|Αβδέλλα}}; {{langx|rup|Avdhela}}) is a village and a former municipality in Grevena regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been a municipal unit of Grevena.{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL81-32jgAMSfbnMRVjyfnPUeJInJ48_97uHrMts-zFzeyCiBSQOpYnT00MHhcXFRTsb2fGphpq4MKX2ZkaHobySNnvZCNHXvYVvlf80XevW0Q.|title=ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities|language=el|publisher=Government Gazette}} It is a seasonal Aromanian (Vlach) village.{{cite journal|last=Sarantis|first=Theodoros|title=Τα Γρεβενά (Συμβολή στην ιστορία τους)|language=el|url=https://doi.org/10.12681/makedonika.1083|journal=Makedonika|volume=26|year=1987|page=247|doi=}}{{cite journal|last=Chang|first=Claudia|title=Pastoral Transhumance in the Southern Balkans as a Social Ideology: Ethnoarcheological Research in Northern Greece|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/679657|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=95|issue=3|year=1993|page=691|doi=}} "Vlachohoria, or the four famous Koutsovlach villages of Grevena–Samarina, Perivoli, Avdella, and Smixi–are described as the summer villages of the Koutsovlach, where Aroumani is spoken."{{cite journal|last1=Ntassiou|first1=Konstantina|last2=Doukas|first2=Ioannis D.|title=Recording and mapping traditional transhumance routes in the South-Western Macedonia, Greece|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48699979|journal=GeoJournal|volume=84|issue=1|year=2019|page=165|doi=}} "The four Vlach villages of Grevena (Perivoli, Avdella, Smixi, Samarina)" Located in the Pindus mountains at 1250–1350 metres altitude, its summer population is about 3000 and in the winter there are only a few residents. The 2021 census recorded 73 inhabitants. It is notable as the birthplace of the Manakis brothers, and appears in the opening sequence of the film Ulysses' Gaze. The community of Avdella covers an area of 43.243 km2.{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archivedate=21 September 2015}}
History
File:Avdella, panorama od 1898.jpg
The first foundation of Avdella remains unknown. Perhaps it was connected to the creation of settlements on the mountain range of Smolikas with the delivery of veterinary surgeon activity of region.{{clarify|date=September 2014|comment=This is unintelligible}} In the beginning, Aromanian families created small family settlements which were fused and became a single settlement such as current Avdella. The foundation and the growth of Avdella is associated with the rise of livestock-farming taking into account the pastoral habits of the locals. Before 1800, the village was situated in the "Fântîne", but the residents, mostly large families of Aromanian shepherds moved to the current position due to better climate.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}
Under Ottoman rule, Avdella was in the kaza of Grevena, Sanjak of Serfice (modern Servia), Vilayet of Monastir (modern Bitola).
The first Romanian school in the region of modern Greece was founded in Avdella in 1867 by local Aromanian Apostol Mărgărit.Ласку, Стоjка. Од историjaта на ароманскиот печат во Македонија. Списаниjата "Братство" и "Светлина", Скопје 2007, с. 122
Some authors claim that Avdella was a center of pro-Romanian sentiment in the beginning of the 20th century, contributing figures such as Apostol Mărgărit. It was burned in October 1905 by Greek antartes because of this.[http://www.promacedonia.org/obm2/21.html Христо Силянов. "Освободителните борби на Македония", том IІ, стр.264.] Contributing leaders such as Zisis Verros in Macedonian Struggle were fighting for the Greek cause.
On 14 July 1944, the village was burned again by a group of German Nazis, during their retreat.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}
Population
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|source = Stamatelatos,Επίτομο Γεωγραφικό Λεξικό της Ελλάδος (Geographical Dictionary of Greece), Μιχαήλ Σταματελάτος, Φωτεινή Βάμβα-Σταματελάτου, εκδ. Ερμής, ΑΘήνα 2001 ELSTAT{{cite web | url = http://www.statistics.gr/documents/20181/1210503/resident_population_census2011rev.xls | title = Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός | publisher = Hellenic Statistical Authority | language = el }}
| 1928| 86
| 1940| 424
| 1951 | 6
| 1961 | 2
| 1971 | 4
| 1981 | 360
| 1991 | 130
|2001|12
|2011|280
|2021|73
}}
Notable people
File:Bust of the Manaki brothers in Avdella.jpg
- Archimandrite Averchie (1806/1818–?), monk and schoolteacher
- Ioan D. Caragiani (1841–1921), folklorist and translator
- Yanaki and Milton Manaki (1872–1954 and 1882–1964), photography and cinema pioneers
- Apostol Mărgărit (1832–1903), educator and activist
- Pericle Papahagi (1872–1943), historian and folklorist
- Tache Papahagi (1892–1977), folklorist and linguist
- Nuși Tulliu (1872–1941), poet and prose writer
- Zisis Verros (1880–1985), chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle
See also
- Avdhela Project, an Aromanian digital library and cultural initiative named after the Aromanian name of Avdella ({{lang|rup|Avdhela}})
Notes
{{Reflist}}