Tripotamos, Florina Explained

Tripotamos
Type:community
Coordinates:40.8265°N 51°W
Periph:Western Macedonia
Periphunit:Florina
Municipality:Florina
Municunit:Meliti
Population As Of:2021
Population:236
Georegion:Macedonia

Tripotamos (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Τριπόταμος, before 1928: Πετοράκι – Petoraki;[1] Macedonian/Bulgarian: Петорак, Petorak or Петораци, Petoratsi) is a village in Florina regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece.

The Greek census (1920) recorded 135 people in the village. Following the Greek–Turkish population exchange, in Petoraki there were 27 refugee families from the Caucasus and 3 from an unidentified location in 1926. The Greek census (1928) recorded 319 village inhabitants. In 1928 there were 34 refugee families (140 people).[2]

Tripotamos had 550 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Tripotamos was populated by Slavophones, a Greek population descended from Anatolian Greek refugees who arrived during the population exchange, and Arvanites. The Macedonian language was used by people of all ages, both in public and private settings, and as the main language for interpersonal relationships. Some elderly villagers had little knowledge of Greek. Pontic Greek was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it. Arvanitika (close to Albanian) was spoken by people over 60, mainly in private.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Institute for Neohellenic Research. Name Changes of Settlements in Greece: Petoraki – Tripotamos. Pandektis. 18 February 2022.
  2. 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. 30 March 2022. 75.
  3. 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. para.1. "l’arvanitika (proche de l’albanais)"; Table 1: Réfugiés grecs; Footnote 2: Le terme « réfugié » est utilisé ici pour désigner les Grecs d’Asie Mineure qui se sont établis en Grèce dans les années vingt après l’échange de population entre la Turquie et la Grèce (Traité de Lausanne, 1924); Table 3: Tripotamos, 550; S, R, A, M1, P2, A3; S = Slavophones, R = Refugiés, A = Arvanites, M = macédonien, P = dialecte pontique, A = arvanitika"