Pyli, Florina Explained

Pyli
Name Local:Πύλη
Coordinates:40.7767°N 21.0339°W
Periph:West Macedonia
Periphunit:Florina
Municipality:Prespes
Municunit:Prespes
Community:Agios Achilleios
Population As Of:2021
Population:65

Pyli (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Πύλη, before 1926: Βίνενι – Vineni[1]) is a village in the Florina Regional Unit in West Macedonia, Greece. It is part of the community of Agios Achilleios.

Name

The toponym Винени, Vineni is composed of the suffix –eni and the Slavic word for wine, vino.[2] In Albanian, the village is called Vinan.[3]

Demographics

Until 1860, the village had a Slavonic population and a church of Sveti Ǵorǵi (Saint George). The village became inhabited by Muslim Albanians, numbering some 155 in 1900 and the expelled Slavonic population went to live in Medovo (modern Mileonas). At the time, Vineni was moved to a higher location due to bad climatic conditions.

The Greek census (1920) recorded 202 people in the village and in 1923 there were 202 inhabitants (or 36 families) who were Muslim. The Albanian village population was present until 1926 and were replaced with prosfiges (Greek refugees), due to the Greek–Turkish population exchange. In Vineni there were 18 refugee families from Asia Minor and 4 refugee families from an unidentified location in 1926. The Greek census (1928) recorded 173 village inhabitants. In 1928 there were 24 refugee families (97 people).[4] During the Greek Civil War, the Greek refugee population fled to nearby Orovnik (modern Karyes) and later other prosfiges (Greek refugees) were brought to repopulate the village.[5]

By the 1950s, the Greek government assisted a group of nomadic transhumant Aromanians (known as the Arvanitovlachs) originating from Thessaly, to settle in depopulated villages of the Prespa region like Pyli.[6] Aromanians are the only inhabitants of the village.[7]

Pyli had 137 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Pyli was populated by Aromanians. The Aromanian 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.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Institute for Neohellenic Research. Name Changes of Settlements in Greece: Vineni – Pyli. Pandektis. 28 March 2022.
  2. "Винени... Името е етничко изведено со помош на суф. -ени од апел. вино."
  3. Book: Abdullai, Fejzulla. Prespa: Vështrime gjeografike. 2004. Logos-A. 248. 9789989581526 .
  4. Pelagidis. Efstathios. 1992. Η αποκατάσταση των προσφύγων στη Δυτική Μακεδονία (1923–1930). The rehabilitation of refugees in Western Macedonia: 1923–1930. Ph.D.. el. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. 28 March 2022. 75.
  5. Book: Włodzimierz, Pianka. Toponomastikata na Ohridsko-Prespanskiot bazen. 1970. Institut za makedonski jazik "Krste Misirkov". 140. "Винени (на грчки сега Πιλί) било мак. село мак. село до ок. 1860 год. Во селото постои црква Св. Ѓорѓи. Потем станало албанско (во 1900 год. имало 155 жит. мусл. А.), а македонците изгонети од Винени отишле во с. Медово. Во тоа време селото било преместено погоре поради лошата клима. На местото на иселените во 1926 год. Албанци дошле Просвиги кои за време на граѓанската војна избегале во с. Оромник. Потоа се доведени други Просвиги."
  6. Vatsikopoulos. Helen. Memories of Abandonment and Ruination in Prespa, Greek Macedonia. Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 38. 2. 2020. 430. 10.1353/mgs.2020.0027. 226673679 . "1,700 Vlach nomad pastoralists were resettled in Prespa. Those from Epirus and Yiannitsa were resettled in Ayios Germanos and Kallithea; others, from Thessaly, were moved to Vrondero and Pyli"
  7. Book: Koukoudis, Asterios. The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. 2003. Zitros Publications. 9789607760869. 304.
  8. Van Boeschoten. Riki. Usage des langues minoritaires dans les départements de Florina et d'Aridea (Macédoine). Use of minority languages in the departments of Florina and Aridea (Macedonia). fr. Strates. 10. 2001. Table 3: Pili, 137; V, V2; V = Valaques (Aroumains), V = valaque (aroumain)"