Giannitsa

Giannitsa (Greek: Γιαννιτσά [ʝaniˈt͡sa], in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece.^[2]

The municipal unit Giannitsa has an area of 208.105 km².^[3] Its population is 32,410 people (2021 census). It includes a few outlying villages (Mesiano, Melissi, Pentaplatanos, Archontiko, Ampelies and Damiano). The municipality Pella as a whole includes many villages and has 57,039 inhabitants. The city is located in the center of Macedonia between Mount Paiko and the plain of Giannitsa, and is the economic, commercial and industrial center of the Pella regional unit. European route E86 (Greek National Road 2) runs along the south of the city.

The former shallow, swampy, and variable-sized Giannitsa Lake or (ancient) Loudias Lake, fed by the Loudias River and south of the city, was drained in 1928-1932 by the New York Foundation Company.^[4] It or the surrounding marshland were sometimes called Borboros 'slime' or Borboros Limen.^[5]

About 7 km (4 mi) from Giannitsa are the ruins of ancient Pella, birthplace of Alexander the Great and capital of ancient Macedonia. The city is 48 km (30 mi) from Thessaloniki.^[6]

The city was founded as Yenice-i Vardar Ottoman Turkish يڭيجۀ واردار 'new (town) of Vardar' c. 1383–1387.^[7] It was sometimes called Evrenos Beg yöresi 'Evrenos Bey's town'.^[8]

The Turkish name, in the form Yenitsa (Γενιτσά), was used until February 1926 when its name was Hellenized as Giannitsa (Γιαννιτσά).^[9] In other languages, the city is called: Ottoman Turkish Yenice-i Vardar ('new-town of Vardar', as opposed to Yenice-i Karasu, modern Genisea, near Xanthi and known for tobacco), Turkish Yenice or Vardar Yenicesi, Bulgarian: Енидже Вардар, Enidzhe Vardar or Пазар Pazar, Macedonian: Ениџе Вардар, Enidzhe Vardar.

In the area of "Old Market", on the southern hill of the city, there was an Early Neolithic settlement (late 7th to early 6th millennium BC). Giannitsa was also inhabited through the Bronze and Iron Ages. Incidental findings, such as coins, inscriptions, and sculptures indicate that the area was inhabited during the Hellenistic period (323-30BC). In ancient times, the area was called Bottiaea.^[11] In the vicinity of the city ancient towns of Pella and Kyrros and medieval metropolitan centre of Giannitsa were presented.^[12]

Excavations in the area of "Old Market" have revealed traces of habitation already from the Byzantine period, including evidence of an organized settlement known as Vardárion. The earliest attestation of this toponym dates to the 11th century, during the Komnenian dynasty.^[13] During his military campaigns in Macedonia, c. 1383–1387, Evrenos encountered an already existing and well-structured settlement, which he seized and subsequently employed as a strategic base for further advances into Byzantine territories. The existence of pre-Ottoman urban infrastructure is also corroborated by the account of the 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi who, in a more folkloric tone, refers to the presence of two fortresses in the area, which he attributes to kings of the lineage of Philip V. The Ottomans demolished these fortifications and reorganized the settlement, effectively establishing the new town.^[14]

The conquest of the area by Evrenos is enveloped in a complex web of legends, oral traditions, and historical testimonies. One widely circulated version recounts that Sultan Murad I granted him the region on the condition that he would own as much land as he could traverse on horseback within a single day. An alternative narrative preserves the same intention but presents a different contractual premise: Evrenos would acquire all the land encompassed by the outline of a cowhide. Through a clever stratagem, the hide was cut into a long, slender strip, enabling the demarcation, and consequent appropriation, of a vast territory upon which Giannitsa was subsequently founded. Another tradition attributes the choice of location to climatic considerations: Evrenos is said to have ordered his slaves to scatter feathers into the air and walk continuously until the feathers ceased to drift and touched the ground. The spot where they fell was deemed the most suitable for the establishment of a settlement, lying in a fertile plain naturally protected by the northern mountain mass of Mount Paiko and by the presence of Giannitsa Lake to the south. The strategic importance of the site was further enhanced by the passage of the Via Egnatia, which linked Thessaloniki with the other urban centers of Macedonia. Taken together, these geographical, military, and economic factors contributed decisively to Evrenos' choice to establish his new seat in this particular locale.^[14]

According to the historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles, the Sultan granted Giannitsa to Evrenos so that he might settle there, and so that the town would belong to him and to his descendants in perpetuity:^[15][16]

Evrenos held the city of Giannitsa, which the emperor had given him as a gift to inhabit, the city belonging to him and to his sons forever, on the condition that they remain in the emperor's service; and Giannitsa is a city situated by the Axios River, with not a few villages belonging to Evrenos lying adjacent to it.

Giannitsa is mentioned in the chronicle of the historian John Anagnostes, who reports that Murad II, while traveling to Giannitsa for a hunting expedition, ordered a thousand families to be relocated to Thessaloniki in order to increase its population, which had diminished in the aftermath of the Siege of the city:^[17][18]

... and he assigned all the remaining houses and nearly all the temple to those who, coming from other places, might wish to choose the city as their place of residence, and likewise to the Turks who had departed from Giannitsa.

Giannitsa became the base of the ghazi followers of Evrenos who took Macedonia and later Albania. The city bacame an important Ottoman cultural center and sacred area in the 15th and 16th centuries. Starting in the mid-15th century, Giannitsa became a center of literature and the arts. Under Ahmet Bey, the grandson of Evrenos, many mosques, schools, workhouses and charitable projects were founded.^[19] In 1519 (Hijri 925), its population consisted of 793 Muslim, 25 Christian and 24 Jewish households, and it was a zeamet of Mevlana Ahmet Çelebi.^[20]

Although Persian was widely studied in the Ottoman-held Balkans (Rumelia), Giannitsa differed from other localities in the Balkans insofar as that it was a town where Persian was also widely spoken. However, the Persian of Giannitsa and of the rest of the Ottoman-held Balkans was different from formal Persian both in accent and vocabulary. The difference was apparent to such a degree that the Ottomans referred to it as "Rumelian Persian" (Rumili Farsisi). As learned people such as students, scholars and literati often frequented Giannitsa, it soon became the site of a flourishing Persianate linguistic and literary culture. The 16th-century Ottoman Aşık Çelebi was galvanized by the abundant Persian-speaking and Persian-writing communities of Giannitsa, and he referred to the city as a "hotbed of Persian".^[21]

Giannitsa experienced a period of pronounced prosperity, attracting members of the Ottoman administrative and religious elite. Foreign travelers of the time attest to considerable wealth, reflected in notable public buildings and architectural monuments, exemplars of the high technical and artistic standards characteristic of Ottoman architecture. During this flourishing era, the city is reported to have had approximately 50,000 inhabitants, 10,000 households, 20 mosques, 7 Turkish schools, 2 medrese theological institutions, 700 commercial shops, as well as a bedesten.^[22] The city's religious prominence was further enhanced by the presence of Sheikh Abdullah il Ilahi, an eminent cleric and missionary of the dervish order, who settled in Giannitsa with the purpose of providing religious and spiritual education to the Bey's children and to the offspring of the leading Ottoman families, and who eventually died there. His tomb became a major pilgrimage site, as he was venerated as a saint.^[23]

The economic activity of Giannitsa during the period of Ottoman prosperity was based primarily on agricultural production, with particular emphasis on the cultivation of tobacco, cereals, cotton, and silk. Giannitsa tobacco, a product of exceptionally high quality, acquired a reputation that extended far beyond the borders of the empire; it was widely exported to the Arab world and even reached the Sultan's palace, where it was esteemed as a refined luxury commodity.^[24]

... neighbouring lands, which produce grain, cotton, and tobacco. The last of these, which occupies most of the land in the immediate vicinity of Yenidjé, is renowned in every part of Turkey for its aromatic tutún, which, together with coffee, supplies the Turks with a stimulant at least as agreeable as the meagre ill-made wines of modern Greece. The leaves have been lately gathered, strung together, and hung up to dry, which operations are chiefly performed by the women: every wall in the town is now festooned with tobacco leaves, but particularly the open galleries which surround all the houses, and into which the inner chambers open. As the apartments in general have hearths only, without chimneys, the smoke of the wood which is burnt upon them circulates amidst the tobacco leaves, and gives the tobacco a peculiar flavour, which Italians object to, but Turks admire. The herb of Yenidjé is of the species called garden tobacco, and has a small yellowish leaf. The territory yields in good years 2000 bales of 80 okes.

At the same time, sericulture constituted an important sector of the local economy, with the city producing annually some 100,000 okas of silkworm cocoons. Beyond its agricultural base, Giannitsa developed into a significant commercial and resort center. Its marketplace, busy and well organized, hosted a multitude of shops, workshops, and businesses, forming a vital economic hub. The city also functioned as a key supply and overnight stop for travelers and caravans moving along the Thessaloniki–Monastir route.^[25] Financial institutions and agencies of foreign trading houses operated there as well, facilitating numerous commercial transactions.^[26] Opportunities for large gatherings were provided by the weekly Thursday market and the autumn trade fair, the second largest in Macedonia after that of Serres. This fair attracted merchants, craftsmen, and visitors from the wider Greek world, from Europe, and from Anatolia, further enhancing the city's economic vibrancy and regional importance.^[27]

The Greeks of Giannitsa, particularly the kodjabashis and merchants, participated in the Greek War of Independence, a fact that led to their arrest and imprisonment by the Ottoman authorities. Some of them managed to escape.^[28] A prominent revolutionary figure from Giannitsa was the teacher and educator Dimitrios Barlaoutas, who was executed by the Ottoman forces after the massacre of Naousa in 1822.^[29] On the other side, the governor of Giannitsa, Ahmed Bey, played a central role in suppressing the revolutionary movements in Central Macedonia. At the head of 500 Yörüks, he launched operations against the insurgent Greek forces in the regions of Thessaloniki and Chalkidiki, clashing with the chieftain Stamatios Kapsas, and subsequently devastating the villages of the area.^[30][31]

However, the Turkish population of Giannitsa was decimated by deadly cholera epidemics that began in 1839, which led to the economic decline of the entire city, as the local tobacco and cotton plantations were left without a sufficient labor force.^[32] The arrival of refugees from the burned Naousa, and Greek Vlachs from Moscopole,^[33] contributed to the expansion of the Christian population into five districts. Shortly thereafter, in 1858, by an imperial firman issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I, the Christians obtained permission to establish their first church.^[34]

According to the Ottoman general census of 1881/1882–1893, the district of Giannitsa (Yenice) had a total population of 42,209, consisting of 22,573 Muslims, 18,155 Greeks, 1,368 Bulgarians, and 573 Jews.^[35]

In the early 20th century, Giannitsa became a battleground in the Macedonian Struggle. This multi-sided guerilla war was the result of dissatisfaction with Ottoman rule as well as the schismatic conflict within the Orthodox Christian community, seeing the Bulgarian Exarchate against the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople. Giannitsa quickly became an epicentre of violence due to its diverse ethnic character and strategic importance, with strong Greek and Bulgarian committees, and significant Ottoman Army and government presence. The Greeks of Giannitsa became heavily targeted by the Bulgarian komitadjis who would operate from within the swamp before the Greek Makedonomachoi could take control. These years were also marred with the high-profile murders of the Giannitsa Greek Defense Committee leadership. These murders included chairman Antonios Kasapis (1904; his daughter also murdered in 1903), treasurer Christos Didaskalou (1907), and secretary Dimitrios Oikonomou (1909).^[36] There were also many murders of lower level Greek Committee members, including Dionysios Samoladas (1904), Christos Hatzidimitriou (17 July 1905; in the market square), Aristeidis Douvantzis and Dionysios Tsakmakis (1905), Ioannis Karabatakis and his niece (1906), Stavros Mitzouris (1906), Athanasios Oikonomou (1906), and Athanasios Organtzis (1906).^[37][38]

Cousins Gonos Yiotas and Apostol Petkov were among the most well known guerilla leaders of the Giannitsa area, each fighting for an opposing faction. Yiotas was a Greek Patriarchist who once fought the Turks alongside Petkov as a komitadji under the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization during the Ilinden Uprising, though he broke ranks soon after due to IMRO's violence against Greek civilians. He joined the Greek efforts as soon as they began to organize and was instrumental in protecting the Greek population and maintaining the influence of the Greek Patriarchate. Yiotas was such an effective guerilla fighter in the swamp around Giannitsa that he earned the nickname 'Ghost of the Lake'. Apostol Petkov remained in the service of IMRO and continued his violent means of spreading the influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate, erecting a gallows in Giannitsa to spread fear among the Greek population. Both Gonos Yiotas and Apostol Petkov would meet their deaths due to betrayal in 1911, and both would be laid to rest in Giannitsa.

The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 brought about new hopes in Giannitsa and the surrounding region with new promises of equality and freedoms. The Young Turks amnestied all combatants of the Macedonian Struggle if they were to cease activity and turn in their arms. Many obeyed, but violence soon returned after the Young Turks' promises fell flat, though this time not as intense as before.

Penelope Delta's novel Secrets of the Swamp (referring to the shores of Giannitsa Lake) is a romanticised account of this from the Greek point of view.^[39]

By late 1912, when the First Balkan War broke out, Giannitsa was still very much an Ottoman town, both in administration and in character. The town had continuously been ruled by the descendants of Gazi Evrenos, with Emin Bey being the final Ottoman ruler, living with his family in a neoclassical home in the town centre.^[40] 74 men of the Giannitsa's Bulgarian community enlisted in the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps of the Bulgarian Army on the onset of war.^[41] One of the war's most important battle was the Battle of Giannitsa. From 19–20 October 1912, the Hellenic Army clashed with the Ottoman forces in defensive positions around Giannitsa, and ultimately liberated the town. The Turkish quarter was severely damaged by the shelling of Greek artillery, resulting in many becoming homeless. This battle not only led to the liberation of a regional hub in the form of Giannitsa, but more importantly, it opened the way for the liberation of Thessaloniki.

• Greek lithograph depicting the Battle of Giannitsa
• Greek infantry during the Battle of Giannitsa, 1912
• Greek infantry at the banks of the Lake of Giannitsa, 1912
• Muslims leaving Giannitsa post-battle, 1912

The German army invaded Giannitsa on 11 April 1941. On 20 April 1941, some Austrian forces arrived. The municipal registry of Giannitsa confirms four random killings in various parts of the city. On 16 September 1943, the Municipality of Giannitsa, headed by the Mayor Thomas Magriotis, and the help of local soccer teams, organized a demonstration in the city against the intention of the Germans to surrender Central Macedonia to the Bulgarians. According to oral testimony, on 13 November 1943, the Germans arrested around 50 people, whom they transferred to the camp of "Pavlos Melas" at Thessaloniki, and they killed thirteen. At the same time, the Germans invaded for the first time the village Eleftherohori 7 km (4 mi) away from the city. In this attack, there were no casualties. On 23 March 1944, the village was burned, and the place deserted. Eleftherohori lost 19 lives.

On 5 August 1944, the Austrian soldier Otmar Dorne left the German occupation army and joined the 30th Constitution of the ELAS, based in Mount Paiko. The defection of Dorne, and the presence of the Wehrmacht sergeant Schubert, led to mass reprisals on 14 September 1944 in Giannitsa: about 120 residents were executed by forces of the Jagdkommando Schubert with the collaboration of Greek units under the command of Georgios Poulos. Among those executed was the Mayor, Thomas Mangriotis. The Swedish ambassador, Timberg, indicated that one third of the city was destroyed by fire. The citizens left the city. Emile Wenger visited Giannitsa a few days after the mass execution, as a representative of the International Red Cross, and wrote "Giannitsa is already a dead city". On 20 September 1944, a citizens' committee sent a message to the National Government stating the facts and asking for weapons. The Germans left Giannitsa on 3 November 1944.^[42]

During this period, the Bulgarian minority collaborated with the German occupiers and was permitted to form an irredentist 'action committee' and later Central Bulgarian-Macedonian Committee, headed by the local citizen Georgi Kayafov.^[43][44][45]

Given the importance of Giannitsa in the Ottoman era, many structures of the period still stand and have been declared historical monuments by the Greek Archaeological Service.^[40] These monuments include:

• Baths of Evrenos, c. 1385–1395
• Mausoleum of Gazi Evrenos, 1417
• Mausoleum of Ahmet Bey, c. 15th century
• Yakup Bey Mosque, now St. Paraskevi Church, c. 15th century
• Ahmet Bey Mosque, c. 15th century
• Iskender Bey Mosque, c. 1481–1512
• Ottoman Market Building, c. 16th to 17th century
• Ottoman Clock Tower, 1668
• House of Emin Bey, c. 1900–1910

• Baths of Evrenos
• Mausoleum of Gazi Evrenos
• Mausoleum of Ahmet Bey
• Yakup Bey Mosque, now St. Paraskevi Church
• Ahmet Bey Mosque
• Side view of Iskender Bey Mosque
• Ottoman Market Building
• Ottoman clock tower
• House of Emin Bey at EPON Square

There are also several non-Ottoman points of interest both, in the town and just outside, including:

• Ancient Pella, c. 400 B.C.
• Ancient Macedonian Tombs, c. 400–300 B.C.
• St. Athanasios Church, c. 1700
• The Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, c. 1858–1860
• Catholic Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, 1861
• Neoclassical Multicentre
• Filippeio Park and Tourist Centre

• Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos
• Catholic church of Sts. Peter and Paul

• The Folklore Museum of Giannitsa (opened in October 1977) by the "Philippos" History and Folklore Association to promote local history and traditions.
• The Military Museum of Giannitsa (opened 24 February 2012), displays photographs, texts, weapons, uniforms, medals and other materials, with a particular emphasis on the Macedonian Struggle and the Balkan Wars.

• Folklore Museum of Giannitsa
• Traditional costumes exhibit
• Macedonian Struggle exhibit

• Alexander the Great, near the Cultural Centre, unveiled on 20 October 2009, the anniversary of the liberation of the city and the Day of the Macedonian Struggle.^[46]
• Philip II of Macedon, located in the "Filippio" park and tourist centre. Near the statue, there is a relief depicting the Macedonian phalanx.
• Busts of the Makedonomachoi Gonos Yiotas, Konstantinos Boukouvalas, and Ioannis Demestichas in Gonou Yiota Square
• A bust of Constantine I of Greece in St. George Park
• A bust of Eleftherios Venizelos in EPON Square

• Statue of Alexander the Great
• Statue of Philip of Macedon
• Bust of Konstantinos Boukouvalas
• Bust of Constantine I

• Black Statue – The Memorial of Giannitsà, by sculptor Gregory Zevgolis, erected at the eastern entrance to the town in 1926 in honor and remembrance of the Battle of Giannitsa
• Mass Grave, a list of the residents who were executed at the 1st Primary School on 14 September 1944 by German troops
• Memorial of EOKA fighters Michalis Karaolis and Andreas Dimitriou, executed by the British during the Cyprus Emergency
• Memorial to the Greek resistance of World War II in EPON Square
• A bust in memory of Cpl. Georgios T. Rousis, killed in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus

• The Black Statue
• Mass grave memorial
• Greek Resistance memorial

About 10 km (6 mi) northwest of the city is the spring of Aravissos, which produces drinking water. The surrounding grove and creek include a popular park.

Giannitsa is predominantly a rural area. The draining of the Lake Giannitsà left fertile soil for agriculture, leading to population growth in the region.

The focus of the social life of the city is at the central pedestrian street, where people gather to eat and drink, or to take a walk. Giannitsa was one of the first cities that had an open theatre (3000 seats). Also various theatrical and musical events take place in a closed theater located inside the Cultural Centre. In the first days of September there is a big market for about a week. The DI.K.E.P.A.P. (ΔΗ.Κ.Ε.Π.Α.Π) is a charitable non-profit cultural organization founded in 1996 that develops music, visual arts, dance, film and other arts. Seven kilometers (4.3 miles) south of the center is the Loudias River, which has a sailing centre, where the Nautical Club of Giannitsa (NOG) teaches canoeing, kayaking, and rowing.^[47] There are also several sports facilities, including soccer fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, and a track.

• Centre
• St. George
• Ayía Paraskeví
• Sfageia
• Sinoikismos
• Mitropoli
• St. Konstantinos
• Tsali (Nea Trapezounta)
• Filippeio
• Kapsali
• Palaia agora

• O Logos tis Pellas (weekly; Greek Ο λόγος της Πέλλας)
• Giannitsa (daily; Greek Γιαννιτσά)

• Pella TV (Greek Πέλλα τηλεόραση)

• Pella24
• Pellanet
• Giannitsa City news
• Logos Pellas

The most popular team is the Anagennisi Giannitsa football team which plays at the Municipal Stadium.

There is a motocross track northwest of the city, in the foothills of Mount Paiko, where local, Greek, and European races are run.

At the river Loudias, there are rowing races in which the Nautical Club participates.

Giannitsa is twinned with three cities:

• Larnaca, Cyprus, since 2003^[48]
• Crotone, Italy, since 2010^[49]
• New Britain, Connecticut, United States, since 2010^[50]

• Gazi Evrenos (died 1417), founder of the Ottoman city, whose mausoleum is in the center of town
• Yakup Ağa, Ottoman soldier and Sipahi, took part in the capture of Lesbos from the Genoese
• Hayreddin Barbarossa (1478-1546) his father Yakup Ağa is from Giannitsa, was appointed Kapudan Pasha (Grand admiral) of the Ottoman Navy by Suleiman the Magnificent
• K̲h̲ayālī (died 1556), Ottoman poet
• Āgehī (died 1577), Ottoman poet and historian
• Georgios 'Gonos' Giotas (1880–1911), revolutionary in the Macedonian Struggle
• Ahmet Derviş (1883–1932), military officer in the Ottoman and Turkish armies
• Sotirios Gotzamanis (1884-1958), physician and National Reform Party politician, accused of treason
• Ioannis Kourkourikis (born 1971), Greek Olympic rower
• Theofilos Karasavvidis (born 1971), former soccer player
• Melina Aslanidou (born 1974), singer born in Germany, but raised in Giannitsa
• Elisavet Mystakidou (born 1977), Greek Olympic silver medalist in taekwondo
• Monsieur Minimal (born 1980), indie pop music composer
• Effie Achtsioglou (born 1985), SYRIZA politician
• Dimitrios Karadolamis (born 1987), basketball player for OFI Crete
• Andreas Varsakopoulos (born 1990), Television personality, personal trainer, Lecturer currently living in South Korea
• Dimitris Pelkas (born 1993), soccer player playing as an attacking midfielder for İstanbul Başakşehir
• Alexandros Varitimiadis (1994-2023), basketball player for Raiffeisen Dornbirn Lions
• Ioanna Chamalidou (born 1996), soccer player playing as a forward for Panathinaikos
• Giannis Michailidis (born 2000), soccer player playing as a centre-back for PAOK

• Δήμος Πέλλας, official site of the municipality of Pella
• Google Earth view of Giannitsa and the drained lakebed