Siatista
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Siatista is a town of the Kozani Region, 28 km southeast of its capital city.It was built on the austral slope of the Velia mountain and on an (average) height of 930 m.
The first name of the city was Kalivia (huts), because the huts were its characteristic. With this name is referred in the archives of the Zavordas Monastery. In 1745 the city was called " Siatista city", as it is referred in a formal document of Joseph, Patriarch of Ohrid. Siatista was liberated from the turks by the greek army, on 4 November 1912. The commercial between Siatista and many European countries during 17th and 18th century was very successful, and gave the possibility to the habitants to build many mansions and churches with wonderful frescos and icons.
Siatista lies in a unique setting with a strange sense of solitude and wildness which is like nowhere else. This feeling of isolation, of exclusion from the rest of the world is incomparable and cannot be found in other mountain villages in Greece. The circumscribed, steep mountain slopes on which it perches, the narrow, difficult-to-negotiate lanes fashion the impression in the mind of the visitor that he has been caught in a world tranquil and forgotten, hemmed in by barren, savage mountain peaks.
In its historical past this unique setting was its salvation. It remained the only unsubjugated part in all Macedonia and while the rest of Greece was living in the darkness of the Turkish occupation, trade with Europe was flourishing there, thus opening a door and welcoming in all the artistic and cultural currents from the free world.
Energetic leaders, the Siatistan merchants left temporarily, forced out by the morass the Greek market had become and returned with material and intellectual wealth, having spent their time abroad well, and introduced a creative spirit into their homeland. The famous mansions with their very strong walls, the imposing doors, the lavishly decorated and elegant on-dades, the gorgeous stained glass, the lively colors of the folk paintings on the walls, embody, for that difficult period, a high living standard and express a spirited social life.
The home page of Siatista is www.siatista.gr . Also see www.siatistanews.gr .
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| Municipalities and communities of the Kozani Prefecture |
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| Agia Paraskevi • Aiani • Askio • Dimitrios Ypsilantis • Elimeia • Ellispontos • Kamvounia • Kozani • Mouriki • Neapoli • Ptolemaida • Servia • Siatista • Tsotyli • Velventos • Vermio |
| Vlasti • Livadero • Pentalofos |
