| Velventos Βελβεντός |
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| Location | |
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Velventos
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| Coordinates | |
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Location within the regional unit
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| Government | |
| Country: | Greece |
| Region: | West Macedonia |
| Regional unit: | Kozani |
| Municipality: | Servia-Velventos |
| Population statistics (as of 2001) | |
| Municipal unit | |
| - Population: | 3,754 |
| Other | |
| Time zone: | EET/EEST (UTC+2/3) |
| Auto: | KZ |
Velventos (Greek: Βελβεντός) is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Servia-Velventos, of which it is a municipal unit.[1] It lies at the foot of the Pierian Mountains, 33 km northeast of the city of Kozani. It is located near the artificial lake of Polyfytos. The town has a population of 3,738 (according to the 2001 census). The overwhelming majority of the municipal population live in the town. Velventos is connected with the GR-3/E65 (Athens - Lamia - Larissa - Kozani - Niki) and is located southwest of Veria, north-northwest of Servia and Larissa, east-northeast of Grevena and south-southeast of Kozani.
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The municipal unit Velventos is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
| Year | Village population | Municipal district population | Municipality population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 3,739 | - | - |
| 1991 | 3,577 | - | 3,940 |
| 2001 | 3,437 | 3,504 | 3,754 |
Surrounded by forests, it is located in the fertile valley of the Aliakmon river and produces fruit, mainly peaches. 10.6% of the area is cultivated. Agricultural production is organised in two agricultural cooperatives.
The area has been continually occupied since the prehistoric times. For this reason, many fruitful archaeological digs have been made in the area, unearthing mainly prehistoric findings. Velventos contains also many late Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments and temples, among them the 12th century church of Saint Minas and the 14th century church of Saint Paraskevi.
During the Turkish occupation of Greece, Velventos saw great cultural development. Architect Stamatios Kleanthis was born here.
Velventos was finally Greek only during the Balkan Wars. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, many buildings were rebuilt, much of its architecture are almost disappeared.
The forests in the mountains around Velventos was caught by a forest fire in the last days of July 2007, the damage was minimal and lasted for several hours, firefighters along with helicopters and planes battled the fire and slowly dissipated.
Velventos has a school, church, a lyceum (middle school), a gymnasium (secondary school), banks, a post office, and a square (plateia).
A well organized athletic stadium for several indoor and outdoor sport activities is located at the exit of the town. There are 2 Athletic Clubs, A.C. Velventos who has Soccer, Basketball and Volleyball as their main sport activities and A.C. Taekwondo Velventos with Taekwondo and Kick Boxing.
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