Veria

Veria (officially transliterated as Veroia, Greek Βέροια or Βέρροια, also Φέροια in Classical Greek - Βέροια being the Ancient Macedonian equivalent) is a city built at the foot of Vermion Mountains in Greece. It is a commercial center of Macedonia, the capital of the prefecture of Imathia, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church. Veria is on the site of the ancient city of Beroea (called Berea in some translations of the Bible), which was prominent from the 4th century BC and part of the Kingdom of Macedon. Part of Rome from 168 BC, both Paul and Silas preached there in AD 54 or 55 (see Bereans). Diocletian made the large and populous city one of two capitals of the Roman Province of Macedonia, and it was one of the earliest cities to become the seat of a bishop. Invaded by Bulgars, it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1361, who named it Kara Ferye. It was incorporated into the Greek state in 1912.

Veria since the 1980s is bypassed and is linked by the superhighway linking to GR-1. GR-4/Via Egnatia runs through Veria and also the road to Edessa. It is located NE of Kozani, S of Edessa, SW of Thessaloniki, NW of Katerini, WNW of Athens and N of Larissa.

Municipality

The municipality Veria was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units:^[1]

• Apostolos Pavlos
• Dovras
• Makedonida
• Vergina
• Veria

History

A city by the name Berroia is first mentioned in the writings of Thucydides in 432 BC,^[3] although there is evidence that the city was populated as early as 1000 BC. The city was said to have gotten its name from its mythical creator Beres - Pheres or from the daughter of the king of Berroia who is the thought to be the son of Macedon. It is most probably an ancient Thracian place name, from "Bria", meaning "city".^[4] The first inhabitants are known as the Thracians or the Briges, who were both uprooted by the Macedonians.

The ancient Macedonians, a Hellenic people, made it their second most important city after Pella. During the Roman empire, Veria became a place of worship for the Romans. Within the city there was a Jewish settlement where the Apostle Paul^[3] preached after leaving Thessalonica (Acts 17:10-15). Said section provides:

'10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible."

Under the Byzantine Empire the city continued to grow and prosper until it was pillaged in the 9th century by the Bulgarians. Veria first became part of the First Bulgarian Empire in 9th century. Theophylact of Ohrid wrote that Bulgarian knyaz Boris I built in Veria one of the seven cathedral churches built by him and defines the church as "one of the beautiful Bulgarian churches".^[5] The town was part of Bulgaria during the rule of the Bulgarian tsar Samuel. The Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered Veria in 1002 since his Bulgarian governor Dobromir joined the emperor's ranks and surrendered the city.^[6]

During the Crusades it was conquered by the Normans (1185) and the Franks (1204) and in the middle of the 14th century by the Serbs. In Bulgarian and Serbian it is called Бер, Ber. In 1436, it was besieged and captured by the Ottoman Empire and remained in their control until 1912.

Culture

Veria hosts one of the largest and most complete public libraries in Greece. Originally a small single-room library with limited funds and material, it expanded into a four-storey building offering multimedia, as well as special and rare editions. Veria's public library collaborates with many international organizations and hosts several cultural events. Every summer (August 15 to September 15) the "Imathiotika" festivities take place with a rich cultural program deriving mainly from Veria's tradition. The site of Elia offers great natural beauty and with an amazing view of the Imathia plain. Neighboring Seli is a well-known ski resort and a few kilometers outside the city is the Aliakmonas river dam.

Sports

Veria is home to many sports clubs.The most famous is Veria FC which competes in Beta Ethniki(Greece's 2nd division). Veria also has two basketball teams. AOK Veria and Filippos Veria which compete in a local and third national division respectively. Most promiment, though, is the handball team of Filippos Veria, competing in the first national division and which has won many championships (both national and international) throughout the years.

Education

The Department of Spatial Planning and Development Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is located in Veria since 2004.

Climate

Typically, Veria experiences cold wet winters and hot summers.

Famous people

• Sedat Alp, archaeologist
• Yiannis Arabatzis, footballer
• Pantelis Kafes, footballer
• Konstantinos Kallokratos, teacher and poet
• Pavlos Kontogiannidis, actor, singer
• Ioannis Kottounios, writer and humanist
• Dimitris Mavropoulos, actor and theatrical director
• Patriarch Metrophanes of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria
• Patriarch Nephon I of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople
• Panagiotis Tsalouchidis, former football player
• Kostas Tsartsaris, basketball player
• George Greco, photographer/director

Twin towns — sister cities

Veria is twinned with:

• Kazanlak, Bulgaria
• Rognac, France

Gallery

See also

• List of communities of Imathia

References

External links

• Veroia Municipality (official website)
• [2]
• Mapquest - Veroia, street map.