163-597: Katerini ( Greek : Κατερίνη , Kateríni , pronounced [kateˈrini] ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece , the capital city of Regional Unit of Piera in Central Macedonia, Greece . It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mount Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf , at an altitude of 14 m. The municipality of Katerini has a population of 82,892 (according to the 2021 census ). It
326-522: A Bulgarian attack according to the 1934 Balkan Pact . Entry to this zone was forbidden to the Bulgarians, and the Germans maintained only a police and administrative staff there. The Germans also retained control of a patchwork of strategically important areas across the country. The region of Central Macedonia around Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki , was kept under German control both as
489-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,
652-584: A collaborationist government: any such concession would have terminated the puppet government's legitimacy. Likewise, Italian suggestions for an outright military occupation without a Greek administration were rejected. Hitler and the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop , even cautioned the Italians of the dangers of annexing territories inhabited by large Greek populations, which might become hotbeds of resistance. Nevertheless, in
815-501: A counterweight to ELAS. Throughout the occupation period, Zervas did not attempt to change his doctrine and EDES remained clearly a guerrilla force. Its main theatre of operation was Epirus. Because it was a particularly poor district, most of the logistical support was provided by the British. When EDES was finally disbanded at the fall of 1944, it had about 12,000 fighters, in addition to 5,000 reserves. Another armed resistance group
978-523: A declared Communist. EAM increased in size and its central committee sought a more experienced military figure to take command. Napoleon Zervas , the leader of a rival guerrilla group, was approached but could not be enticed to join ELAS. The post was filled by Stefanos Sarafis , a former Greek army officer and non-communist. Immediately upon assuming command of ELAS, Sarafis set about reforming its haphazardly organized and commanded bands. By September 1943,
1141-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in
1304-560: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on
1467-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near
1630-594: A million people homeless" (P. Voglis) in the course of their anti-partisan sweeps, mostly in the areas of Central Greece , Western Macedonia and the Bulgarian occupation zone. The most infamous examples in the German zone are those of the village of Kommeno on 16 August 1943, where 317 inhabitants were executed by the 1. Gebirgs-Division and the village torched; the " Holocaust of Viannos " on 14–16 September 1943, in which over 500 civilians from several villages in
1793-627: A mobile (vehicle mounted frequency selective) measurement station that monitor the electromagnetic field levels from antenna stations in the frequency range 100KHz–7 GHz, which is operated and controlled by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE), with the aim of public information about high-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) levels. The results are presented through an interactive web portal and mobile application. Municipality of Katerini operates its office for local stray animals. The national bus lines service
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#17327728604681956-521: A pro-royalist background. Occupation authorities were reluctant to arm potential groups willing to fight the left-wing EAM resistance due to the absence of a fascist movement in Greece and the general dislike of the Germans by the Greek population. Fascist organizations supported by the Germans were the National Union of Greece ( Ethniki Enosis Ellados , EEE), the EKK ( Ethnikon Kyriarchon Kratos ),
2119-460: A severe shortage of food in the major urban centres in the winter of 1941–42. Some of this shortage is attributable to the Allied blockade of Europe since Greece depended on wheat imports to cover about a third of its annual needs. These factors created the conditions for the "Great Famine" (Μεγάλος Λιμός) where in the greater Athens – Piraeus area alone, some 40,000 people died of starvation, and by
2282-536: A strategic outlet into the Aegean as well as a trump card between the competing claims of both Bulgarians and Italians on it. Along with the eastern Aegean islands of Lemnos , Lesbos , Agios Efstratios , and Chios , became 'Salonica-Aegean Military Command' ( Befehlsbereich Saloniki-Ägäis ) under Curt von Krenzki . Further south, the 'South Greece Military Command' ( Befehlsbereich Südgriechenland ) under Hellmuth Felmy comprised isolated locations of Athens and
2445-565: Is twinned with: Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized : Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized : Hellēnikḗ ) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of
2608-499: Is a part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church , has 16 congregations within the city of Katerini. There is also an Old Calendarist church in the city. Katerini has a relatively numerous Protestant community, as a result of the organised settlement of Evangelical Greek refugees from Asia Minor and Pontus (region). Today the Greek Evangelical Church of Katerini has almost 1,100 followers, many of them are concentrated in
2771-581: Is a popular tourist destination that attracts visitors from Greece and abroad. Within the boundaries of the municipality, there are seasonal and all year round over 230 hotels, that can accommodate more than 8,600 people, short-term rental accommodatios, and tourist accommodations. The vast majority of the tourist infrastructure, including tens of tavernas and cafes , lie in Paralia and Olympiaki Akti . These two localities are linked with roads, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Winter tourism has started developing in
2934-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout
3097-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During
3260-423: Is at a distance of 33.4 km from the city's center. The origin of the name is obscure. Since the 13th century, travellers as well as maps record the existence of a settlement called Hatera ( Ἅτηρα ), which may have been the origin of the modern name. Thus Felix Beaujour recorded its name as "Katheri", while François Pouqueville gives the name of the settlement as "Kateri Hatera". According to another theory,
3423-466: Is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki ,
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#17327728604683586-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to
3749-647: Is provided by the KTEL Pieria station (Pieria intercity (coach) bus terminal) for intercity buses located in Katerini. The local bus lines between Katerini and its nearby settlements are served by the urban buses of the KTEL Katerini, which has lines towards Ano Agios Ioannis , Aronas , Dion , Moschochori , Olympiaki Akti , Paralia , Palaio Keramidi , Neo Nosokomeio (New General Hospital of Katerini), Nea Trapezounta , Vrontou . These routes serve all
3912-842: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by
4075-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,
4238-666: Is taking place. This implementation is with collaboration with the International Hellenic University . The municipality participates in the European program "LIFE-IP AdaptInGR – Boosting the implementation of adaptation policy across Greece" (2019–2026) for the adaptation to the effects of climate change, led by the Ministry of Environment and Energy . The following organizations are based in Katerini:
4401-580: Is the area in Greece where kiwis were first cultivated in 1973 at the initiative of Tasos Michos who was application agronomist at the Pieria Directorate of Agriculture. The Aktinidio Pierias is cultivated in Pieria and is a part of the Hayward kiwi variety. It is registered as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product with the awarding of certification on 22 November 2002. Katerini
4564-550: Is the second most populous urban area in the region of Macedonia after Thessaloniki . The close distance between the two cities (68 km), has been beneficial for Katerini's development over recent years. Katerini is accessible from the A1 / E75 Athens–Thessaloniki motorway (with the Katerini's South, East and North interchanges) and the A2 motorway to the north. It is served by Intercity, Proastiakos (Suburban Railway) and local trains on
4727-487: The andartes were launching direct attacks on Italian guard posts and barracks, while on 16 April, an Italian report noted that "control throughout the north-east, centre and south-west of Greece remains very precarious, not to say nonexistent". On 27 September 1941, the National Liberation Front (EAM) was established. It was nominally a " popular front " organization composed of a coalition of
4890-482: The 12th Army , Felix Benzler, the formation of a puppet government wasn't an easy task "because it is very difficult to persuade qualified civilians to participate in any form". The most influential Greek personalities hardly wished to make their re-entry into public life at such a moment, while archbishop Chrysanthos of Athens refused to swear such an Axis puppet. Suspicious of the Greeks' capacity for causing problems,
5053-627: The Allies their first victory over Axis forces on land, although due to German intervention, it eventually resulted in a victory for the Axis. 15 of the 21 Greek divisions were deployed against the Italians, leaving only six divisions to defend against the attack from German troops in the Metaxas Line near the border between Greece and Yugoslavia/Bulgaria in the first days of April. They were supported by British Commonwealth troops sent from Libya on
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5216-525: The Attica region, such as the Kalamaki Airfield , parts of the port of Piraeus , and the offshore islands of Salamis , Aegina , and Fleves ; the island of Milos as a mid-way stronghold to Crete; and most of Crete, except for the eastern Lasithi Prefecture , which was handed over to the Italians. Crete, quickly named " Fortress Crete ", came to be regarded as a de facto separate command; upon
5379-624: The Axis Powers ( Greek : Η Κατοχή , romanized : I Katochi , lit. 'the occupation') began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy , in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategical difficulties. Following the conquest of Crete , the entirety of Greece
5542-674: The Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from
5705-624: The Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are
5868-557: The Castle of Platamon . The beaches of Kallithea , Korinos , Olympiaki Akti (or Katerinoskala ), Paralia (where the 3rd Port Authority Department of Skala Katerini is located), Peristasi are visited by both Greek and foreign tourists during the summer season. The base of Mount Olympus and the town of Litochoro , are at a distance of around 20 km from the center of Katerini. The ski center of Elatochori in Mount Pieria
6031-627: The Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of
6194-645: The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and five other left-wing parties. EAM was virtually controlled by the KKE, although initially, the secretive and generally unpopular Communist party was successful in concealing this fact. The military wing of EAM was the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). Its first guerrilla band had been formed in Central Greece, under the leadership of Aris Velouchiotis ,
6357-588: The Communist Party of Greece . This uprising was suppressed by the Bulgarian Army, followed by massive reprisals against Greek civilians. By late 1942, more than 100,000 Greeks were expelled from the Bulgarian occupation zone. Bulgarian colonists were encouraged to settle in East Macedonia and Thrace with credits and incentives from the central Bulgarian government, including confiscated land and houses. The Bulgarian government's attempts to win
6520-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It
6683-652: The Greek National Socialist Party ( Elliniko Ethnikososialistiko Komma , EEK) led by George S. Mercouris , and other minor pro-Nazi, fascist or anti-Semitic organizations such as the Hellenic Socialist Patriotic Organization (ESPO) or the "Iron Peace" ( Sidira Eirini ). Cooperation of civil servants with the resistance, in particular the EAM, occurred even before a widescale resistance movement unfolded. For
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6846-665: The Hellenic Army into neighbouring Albania , which at the time was an Italian protectorate . Nazi Germany intervened on its ally's behalf in southern Europe. While most of the Hellenic Army was located on the Albanian front lines to defend against Italian counter-attacks, a rapid German Blitzkrieg campaign took place from April to June 1941, resulting in Greece being defeated and occupied. The Greek government went into exile , and an Axis collaborationist government
7009-465: The Hellenic Army successfully exploited the mountainous terrain of Epirus . The Hellenic forces counterattacked and forced the Italians to retreat. By mid-December, the Greeks had occupied nearly one-quarter of Albania, before Italian reinforcements and the harsh winter stemmed the Greek advance. In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack failed. The initial Greek defeat of the Italian invasion gave
7172-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as
7335-602: The Ionian Sea , where another 3,000 were lost. The Cephalonia massacre serves as the background for the novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin . The Third Reich had no long-term plans for Greece and Hitler had already decided that a domestic puppet regime would be the least expensive drain on German efforts and resources as the invasion of the Soviet Union was imminent. According to a report by Foreign Office delegate of
7498-616: The Peloponnese . The northeastern parts of the country, eastern Macedonia and most of Western Thrace , were handed over to Bulgaria, and were de facto annexed into the Bulgarian state. However, a band of territory along the Evros River , on Greece's border with Turkey, remained under control of the collaborationist Greek government to give the Turkish government a pretext for disregarding her obligations to assist Greece in case of
7661-657: The Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of
7824-561: The Podolian cattle is at high risk of extinction, and is well known for its meat and milk. It is found now in the region of Thessaly . The cuisine of Katerini is Greece's Macedonian cuisine . Seafood comes mainly from the seaport of Paralia . Katerini is the administrative and economic center of Pieria . In 2022 it joined the EU Smart Tourism Destinations Project for smart tourism . The project aims to promote sustainable development practices and access to tourism and hospitality through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with
7987-429: The Strymon River and a line of demarcation running through Alexandroupoli and Svilengrad west of the Evros River . The Greek capital Athens fell on 27 April, and by 1 June, after the capture of Crete , all of Greece was under Axis occupation. After the invasion, King George II fled, first to Crete and then to Cairo. A Greek right-wing government ruled from Athens as a puppet of the occupying forces. Although
8150-578: The Vlach ( Aromanian ) population in the Pindus mountains and Western Macedonia also collaborated with the Axis powers. Italian occupation forces were welcomed in some Aromanian villages as liberators, and Aromanians offered their services as guides or interpreters in exchange for favors. Under Alcibiades Diamandi , the pro-Italian Principality of the Pindus was declared, and 2000 locals joined his Roman Legion , while another band of Aromanian followers under Nicolaos Matussis carried out raids in service of Italy. While most local Aromanians remained loyal to
8313-416: The interwar years , the ethnic composition of the region's population had dramatically shifted, as Greek refugees from Anatolia settled in Macedonia and Thrace following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey . This left only a minority of local Slavic language speakers as the target of the Bulgarian government's recruitment and collaboration efforts. Because of these occupation policies, there
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#17327728604688476-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in
8639-455: The Aromanians formed a majority amongst the city's Christian population in the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of Giorgakis Olympios pedestrian street in the central Katerini district is located the bust statue of Giorgakis Olympios (1772–1821) who was an armatole and military commander during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire . As of 2001, the Municipal Unit of Katerini (then Municipality of Katerini)
8802-442: The Axis , some Chams joined a mixed EAM battalion at the end of the war, but never ended up making a significant contribution to the resistance against Germany. (For local developments in 1944–1945: see Expulsion of Cham Albanians ). After the war, a Special Court on Collaborators in Ioannina condemned 2,109 Cham collaborators to death in absentia . However, by the time of conviction, they had already relocated abroad. Some of
8965-527: The Axis decided to withhold international recognition from the new regime, which remained without a Foreign Minister for its entire lifetime. General Georgios Tsolakoglou – who had signed the armistice treaty with the Wehrmacht – was appointed as prime minister of the Nazi puppet regime in Athens. Neither Tsolakoglou nor his cabinet of equally inexperienced generals had any previous political experience. The civilian ministers were also an unimpressive group without political background. The government itself
9128-408: The Bulgarian annexations ran high, in early autumn 1941. The Germans responded swiftly, torching several villages and executing 488 civilians. The brutality of these reprisals led to a collapse of the early guerrilla movement. It was revived in 1942 at a much greater scale. The first event that signaled the beginning of organized, armed opposition to the occupation forces occurred in September 1942 when
9291-537: The Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Pieria, Dimitra Agricultural-Livestock-farming Association of Katerini, Sheep-Goat Farmers of Pieria Agricultural Cooperative of Prefecture of Pieria, Agios Modestos Sheep-Goat Farmers Association of Pieria, Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Pieria, Consortium of Agricultural Tobacco Cooperatives of Pieria, Pieria Hoteliers Association, Federation of Letting Rooms and Accommodations of Pieria , Imathia , Pella (OEDDPIP), Travel Agents Association of Pieria. Every year it operates
9454-439: The Communist Party and the EAM-ELAS forces occurred at 28 July 1943. The National Republican Greek League (EDES) was led by Napoleon Zervas, a former army officer and republican. EDES was formed on 9 September 1941 and was at the beginning thoroughly republican and anti-monarchist, but also attracted a few monarchists and other right-wing supporters. The British were instrumental in the development of EDES, hoping it would become
9617-540: The Communist defeat. The Greek Resistance killed 21,087 Axis soldiers (17,536 Germans, 2,739 Italians, 1,532 Bulgarians) and captured 6,463 (2,102 Germans, 2,109 Italians, 2,252 Bulgarians), compared to the death of 20,650 Greek partisans and an unknown number captured. BBC News estimated Greece suffered at least 250,000 dead during the Axis occupation. In the early morning hours of 28 October 1940, Italian ambassador Emanuele Grazzi woke Greek premier Ioannis Metaxas and presented him an ultimatum . Metaxas rejected
9780-433: The Evaggelika district of the city of Katerini. Other Protestant denominations, that have a church within the city, are the Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, the Greek Apostolic Church of Pentecost and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Protestant community is fully integrated in the life of the city, but in the past there were tensions between the Evangelical community and the Greek Orthodox majority. These tensions led to
9943-420: The Fest of Honey for honey and bee products is held at the Municipal Park of Katerini, organized by the Agios Filaretos o Eleimon Bee-keeping Association of Pieria, under the auspices of the Municipality of Katerini. The Municipality of Katerini, in collaboration with the Zeus Athletic Cultural Club of Pieria's Runners, organizes every year the "Run for Katerini" 8 km road race, part of the events celebrating
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#173277286046810106-535: The German army was instrumental in the conquest of Greece, this was an accident born of Italy's ill-fated invasion and the subsequent presence of British troops on Greek soil. Greece had not figured in Adolf Hitler 's pre-war plans as a target for German annexation: the country was poor, not adjacent to Germany, and did not host any German minorities. The Greeks themselves were seen by Nazi racial theory as neither valuable enough to be Germanized and assimilated, nor as sub-humans to be exterminated. Indeed, Hitler opposed
10269-420: The German sweeps "[turned] producing areas into burned fields and pillaged villages, and the wealthy provincial towns into refugee settlements". After the German invasion, the Italian government put forward vague demands for annexations in northwestern Greece, as well as the Ionian Islands , but these were turned down by the Germans, as they would have been a hindrance to concluding an armistice and establishing
10432-475: The German- and Italian-occupied parts of Greece. A licensing system banned the practice of trades and professions without permission, along with confiscation of estates of Greek landowners, which were given to Bulgarian peasants settlers from within the pre-war boundaries of Bulgaria. As a reaction to these policies, there was a spontaneous and poorly organized attempt to expel the Bulgarians with an uprising around Drama in late September 1941 primarily guided by
10595-449: The Greek 7th Infantry Division from the Ottoman rule and annexed to the Greece on 16 October 1912, during the First Balkan War . It has been part of Greece since then. Refugees from the Greek genocide settled in Katerini. With the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923 the city's Muslims were expelled, while Greek refugees from Eastern Thrace and Greek Evangelicals from Asia Minor took their place, almost doubling
10758-440: The Greek Fascist Party (EEE) Club in downtown Athens was blown up by the Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths (PEAN), a right-wing Greek resistance organization. Attacks on Axis personnel became more frequent from that month. On 25 November, the resistance together with the British mission destroyed the Gorgopotamos viaduct in Central Greece, disrupting the flow of Axis supplies to the North African front . By March–April,
10921-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit
11084-532: The Greek civilian population. Much of Greece's economic capacity was destroyed, including 80% of industry, 28% of infrastructure (ports, roads and railways), 90% of its bridges, and 25% of its forests and other natural resources. Along with the loss of economic capacity, an estimated 7-11% of Greece's civilian population died as a result of the occupation. In Athens, 40,000 civilians died from starvation and tens of thousands more died from reprisals by Nazis and their collaborators. The Jewish population of Greece
11247-469: The Greek flag. The Greek soldier obeyed, but when he was done, he wrapped himself in the flag and threw himself off the plateau where he died. Some days later, when the Reichskriegsflagge was waving on the Acropolis' uppermost spot, two Athenian youngsters, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas , climbed by night on the Acropolis and tore down the flag. The first signs of armed resistance activity manifested themselves in northern Greece, where resentment at
11410-486: The Greek language was banned, and the names of towns and places were changed to traditional Bulgarian forms. Gravestones bearing Greek inscriptions were defaced as a part of the effort. The Bulgarian government tried to alter the ethnic composition of the region by aggressively expropriating land and houses from Greek people in favor of settlers from Bulgaria, and enacted forced labor and economic restrictions on Greek businesses, in an effort to influence them to migrate to
11573-442: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in
11736-402: The Greek nation, some collaborated with the Axis powers because of latent pro-Romanian feelings or anger toward the Greek government and its military. Diamandi's Legion collapsed in 1942 when Italian positions were taken over by Germany, and most of its leaders fled to Romania or Greek cities. Most active members were convicted as war criminals in absentia, but many convictions were forgotten over
11899-446: The Greek puppet government with his German counterpart, Ambassador Günther Altenburg , while the fragmented occupation regimes meant that different military commanders were responsible for different parts of the country. As the historian Mark Mazower comments, "The stage was set for bureaucratic infighting of Byzantine complexity: Italians pitted against Germans, diplomats against generals, the Greeks trying to play one master off against
12062-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow
12225-629: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community
12388-534: The Ionian Islands the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians, presumptively in preparation for annexation after the war. Claiming the inheritance of the Republic of Venice , which had ruled the islands for centuries, the senior Fascist Party official Pietro Parini took steps to uncouple the islands from the rest of Greece: his decrees had the force of law, a new currency, the " Ionian Drachma ",
12551-599: The Italian surrender to reenter the Aegean Sea with the Dodecanese Campaign . From 1942 onwards, the German occupation zone was ruled by the duumvirate of the plenipotentiary for South-Eastern Europe, Hermann Neubacher , and Field Marshal Alexander Löhr . In September–October 1943, Jürgen Stroop , the newly appointed Higher SS Police Leader, tried to challenge the Neubacher-Löhr duumvirate and
12714-407: The Italians to plunder the country, and also with each other. The primary purpose of the German requisitions, however, was finding as much food as possible to sustain the German army. The occupying powers' requisitions, disruption in agricultural production, hoarding by farmers and breakdown of the country's distribution networks from both infrastructure damage and change in government structure led to
12877-530: The Italians were more interested in making love than in making war, and that the Italians lacked the "hardness" to wage a campaign against the Greek guerrillas because many Italian soldiers had Greek girlfriends. After the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans, often by attacking the Italian garrisons. There was a failed attempt by the British to take advantage of
13040-727: The Jews. They protect the Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and will not permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David. This shows once again that Fascism does not really dare to get down to fundamentals but is very superficial regarding problems of vital importance." Mass reprisals did sometimes occur, such as the Domenikon massacre in which 150 Greek civilians were killed. As they controlled most of
13203-648: The Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini and Platamon in the Prosilio settlement. Katerini is represented by two football teams in the national leagues ; Pierikos , has its home stadium named 1st Municipal Athletic Center of Katerini , a club currently playing in the Gamma Ethniki (Third National) category, and the women's football club of Pierides Muses, playing in the Women's Gamma Ethniki category. Katerini
13366-674: The Municipality of Katerini is housed in the premises of the former General Hospital of Katerini and provides primary health care services to the vulnerable social groups that has been equipped and funding from a Migrant and Refugee Fund (MRF) grant received through the Council of Europe Development Bank . The social welfare program "Help at Home" operates by Municipality of Katerini supports vulnerable, elderly and people with disabilities who are unable to support themselves and are in need of help at home. In 2020, Municipality of Katerini acquired
13529-588: The Nazis: most chose either the path of passive acceptance or active resistance. Active Greek resistance started immediately as many Greeks fled to the hills, where a partisan movement was born. One of the most touching episodes of the early resistance is said to have taken place just after the Wehrmacht reached the Acropolis on 27 April. The Germans ordered the flag guard, Evzone Konstandinos Koukidis , to retire
13692-675: The Slavic-speaking population in these regions, aiming to recruit collaborators and gather intelligence on what was happening in the German- and Italian-occupied zones. In 1942, the Bulgarian club asked assistance from the High Command in organizing armed units among those populations, but the Germans were initially very suspicious. Taking advantages of Italian incompetence and the German need for releasing troops on other fronts, since 1943 Sofia had been seeking to extend its control over
13855-683: The Trade-Craft Exhibition Activity of Pieria & Central Makedonia (EBEP-KM), and the open-air market and traditional Greek festival Emporopanigyri known as Panigyri in August-September, taking place at the exhibition area of the Municipality of Katerini in the Andromachi settlement. The Park Festival is held at the Municipal Park of Katerini in April with street food and fun activities. In October,
14018-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),
14181-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of
14344-686: The anticipated Bulgarian withdrawal. There were a few instances of collaboration by the Muslim minority in Western Thrace , who mainly resided in the Komotini and Xanthi prefectures. The Bulgarian government also attempted to extend its influence to central and west Macedonia. The German High Command approved the foundation of a Bulgarian military club in Thessaloniki , and Bulgarian officers organized supplying of food and provisions for
14507-564: The area with the Elatochori ski resort. Katerini is surrounded by ancient archaeological sites as Dion , Leivithra , Pydna , Louloudies and Platamon Castle . Mount Olympus is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designated in 1981. Olympus National Woodland Park (one of the National parks of Greece ) is popular for visits and sports. The National Health System (ESY) in Katerini has the: The Municipal Social Care Center of Katerini of
14670-467: The area. As a result, armed collaborationist militias composed of pro-Bulgarian Slavic-speakers, known as Ohrana , were formed in 1943 in the districts of Pella , Florina and Kastoria . The ELAS units joined EAM in 1944 before the end of the occupation. The Soviet Union declared war on the Kingdom of Bulgaria in early September 1944. Bulgaria withdrew from the central parts of Greek Macedonia after
14833-400: The area. Meanwhile, around 90,000 Bulgarians left the area, nearly half of them settlers and the rest locals. The administrative power was handed over by the already ruling Bulgarian communist partisans to local subdivisions of ELAS. In 1945 the former Bulgarian authorities, including those in Greece, were put on trial before " People's Courts " in post-war Bulgaria for their actions during
14996-739: The arson of the Evangelical Church of Katerini from a Greek Orthodox mob in March 1930. From 2006 to 2016 was operating the Second Chance Seminary School of Katerini of the Ministry of Education, that was suspended its operation since the academic year 2016–2017, which was a two years public ecclesiastical lifelong learning education boarding school housed in the Ecclesiastical Guesthouse of
15159-639: The authorities to "buy" the aid from them and then sell it on at inflated prices. The perception of suffering and pressure from the Kingdom of Greece's government in exile eventually led to the British partially lifting the blockade, and from the summer of 1942 Canadian wheat began to be distributed by the International Red Cross . Of the country's 7.3 million inhabitants in 1941, it is estimated that 2.5 million received this aid, of whom half lived in Athens, meaning that almost all people in
15322-399: The balance as a loan without interest that was to be repaid once the war was over. By the end of the war, this forced loan amounted to 476 million Reichsmarks (equivalent to 2 billion 2021 euros). Hitler's policy toward the economy of occupied Greece was termed Vergeltungsmassnahme , or, roughly, "retaliation measures", the "retaliation" being for Greece having chosen the wrong side. Germany
15485-455: The capital city received this aid. Although the food aid reduced the risk of starvation in the cities, little of it reached the countryside, which experienced its own period of famine in 1943–44. The rise of the armed Resistance resulted in major anti-partisan campaigns across the countryside by the Axis, which led to wholesale burning of villages, destruction of fields, and mass executions in retaliation for guerrilla attacks. As P. Voglis writes,
15648-473: The city derives its name from the small chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine (Greek: Αγία Αικατερίνη , Agia Aikaterini) to the east of the city, dating to at least the early 19th century. The latter hypothesis influenced official usage in Greek, where the city is found as "Aikaterini" (Greek: Αικατερίνη ) or "Agia Aikaterini" (Greek: Αγία Αικατερίνη ) until the early 20th century, when the vernacular name Katerini (Greek: Κατερίνη ) prevailed. According to
15811-621: The city is connected directly with Larissa and Thessaloniki via the Thessaloniki Suburban Railway (Proastiakos) suburban electric train. It is also connected with Athens and all the intermediate stations by Intercity train routes. Katerini is home to a significant Aromanian population that exceeds 3,000 people. Aromanians of Katerini mainly descend from nearby Aromanian settlements of Livadi and Kokkinopilos , and in lesser numbers from Samarina , Moscopole , Avdella , Perivoli and Smixi . According to some sources
15974-621: The city's population from 5,540 in 1920 to 10,138 in 1928. During Axis Occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers in World War II , Katerini went under Nazi German occupation on 14 April 1941, and was liberated on 26 October 1944. The Municipality of Katerini was formed in 2011 with the Kallikratis Programme administrative reform by the merger of the following 6 former municipalities, that became municipal units of
16137-539: The collaboration of other EU selected destinations. Katerini has received a gold award of Circular Economy and a silver award of Environmental Excellence to Local Authorities at the Environmental Awards 2022 at Hellenic Foundation for Culture on 28 September 2022. It is the first municipality in Greece in which the pilot implementation of the SMARTREC Platform for the recycling of cooking oil
16300-503: The collaborationist government paid the costs of the occupation, which resulted in greater inflation. Because the outflows of raw materials and products from Greece towards Germany weren't offset by German payments, substantial imbalances accrued in the settlement accounts at the National Bank of Greece . In October 1942 the trading company DEGRIGES was founded; two months later, the Greek collaborationaist government agreed to treat
16463-589: The communist organisations EAM and ELAS had difficulties in Florina and Kastoria. The majority of the Slav-speakers in Macedonia after mid-1943 joined EAM and were allowed to retain their organization. In October 1944 they deserted and departed to Yugoslavia. In November 1945, after the end of the war, some of then tried to capture Florina but were repulsed by the ELAS. Increasing attacks by partisans in
16626-492: The countryside, Italy was the first to face the rising resistance movement in 1942–43. By mid-1943, the resistance had managed to expel a few Italian garrisons from some mountainous areas, including several towns, creating liberated zones ("Free Greece"). After the Italian armistice in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans. As a result, German anti-partisan and anti-Semitic policies were extended to it. The Bulgarian Army entered Greece on 20 April 1941 on
16789-482: The course of the Greek Civil War , in which many convicted Legion members actively fought for the government. Compared to the other two occupation zones, the Italian regime was relatively safe for its Greek residents, with a relatively low number of executions and atrocities compared to the German and Bulgarian zones. Unlike the Germans, the Italian military mostly protected Jews in their zone, and rejected
16952-413: The course of the concerted anti-guerrilla campaign, hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost 1,000,000 Greeks left homeless. Two other notable acts of brutality were the massacres of Italian troops at the islands of Cephalonia and Kos in September 1943, during the German takeover of the Italian occupation areas. In Cephalonia, the 12,000-strong Italian 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui"
17115-470: The diversion of efforts towards western and southern Europe, and focused on the conquest and assimilation of Eastern Europe as the future German " Lebensraum ". Coupled with admiration for the Greek resistance to the Italian invasion, the result was that Hitler favoured postponing a final territorial settlement of Italy's claims on Greece to after the war. In the meantime, a local puppet government headed by Lt. General Georgios Tsolakoglou would be installed as
17278-444: The end of the occupation "it was estimated that the total population of Greece [...] was 300,000 less than it should have been because of famine or malnutrition". Greece received some foreign aid to make up some of the shortfall, coming at first from neutral countries like Sweden and Turkey (see SS Kurtuluş ), but most of the food ended up in the hands of government officials and black market traders, who used their connection to
17441-431: The end of the war. Similarly to the Ionian Islands, a local administration ( Këshilla ) was installed, and armed groups were formed by the local Cham Albanian community. For at least the beginning of the occupation, Muslim communities chose different political alignments according to the circumstances, alternating between collaboration, neutrality and, less frequently, resistance. Albanian and Greek communities allied with
17604-642: The heels of the Wehrmacht without having fired a shot. The Bulgarian occupation zone included the northeastern corner of the Greek mainland and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace , which corresponds to the present-day region of East Macedonia and Thrace , except for the Evros prefecture at the Greek-Turkish border, which was retained by the Germans over Bulgarian protests because of its strategic value. Unlike Germany and Italy, Bulgaria officially annexed
17767-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn
17930-576: The insistence of the Kriegsmarine , it was regarded as a target for eventual annexation after the war. The islands of Euboea and Skyros , originally allotted to the German zone, were handed over to Italian control in October 1941; southern Attica was likewise transferred to the Italians in September 1942. From the outset, the so-called preponderanza , 'preponderance') granted to Italy by Hitler proved an illusion. The Italian plenipotentiary in Greece, Count Pellegrino Ghigi , shared control over
18093-528: The introduction of measures such as those established in the German occupation zone in Thessaloniki. The Germans were purportedly perturbed as the Italians not only protected Jews on their territory, but in parts of occupied France, Greece, the Balkans, and elsewhere. On 13 December 1942, Joseph Goebbels , Hitler's propaganda minister, wrote in his diary, "The Italians are extremely lax in the treatment of
18256-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write
18419-410: The latter years of the occupation resulted in a number of executions and wholesale slaughter of civilians in reprisal. In total, the Germans executed some 21,000 Greeks, the Bulgarians executed some 40,000 and the Italians executed some 9,000. By June 1944, between them the Axis powers had "raided 1,339 towns, boroughs and villages, of which 879, or two-thirds, were completely wiped out, leaving more than
18582-460: The liberation of Katerini on 16 October 1912. Katerini lies in the middle of a plain and is thus an agricultural city. 26,775 people were employed in agriculture in Pieria as of 2000. There is cultivation of tobacco in the region and a lot of people spend considerable resources for its development and for exports of the product. The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Pieria has 9,000 members, of which 2,000 grow tobacco. Katerini - and Pieria -
18745-585: The loyalty of the local Slavic language-speaking populations and recruit collaborators among them had some success, with the Bulgarian armed forces being greeted as liberators in some areas. However, the ethnic composition of the region meant that the most of its inhabitants actively resisted the occupying forces. East Macedonia and Thrace had an ethnically mixed population until the early 20th century, including Greeks, Turks, Slavic-speaking Christians (some of whom self-identified as Greeks, others as Bulgarians), Jews, and Pomaks (a Muslim Slavic group). However, during
18908-496: The main Athens-Thessaloniki railway line and there is a comprehensive regional and national bus service with its hub in the city. A popular tourist destination in northern Greece, Katerini is close to the sea (7 km) and to several archaeological sites of great interest such as the ancient city of Dion (5th century BC, 17 km away), ancient Leivithra (27 km away), ancient Pydna (16 km away) and
19071-576: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek
19234-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and
19397-656: The most efficient way to run the country. Eager to pull German troops out of the country in view of the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union , and to shore up his relations with his most important Axis partner, Hitler agreed to leave most of the country to be occupied by the Italians. This was undertaken by the Eleventh Army under Carlo Geloso , with three army corps: XXVI Army Corps in Epirus and western Greece, III Army Corps in Thessaly , and VIII Army Corps in
19560-454: The most well-known being the Greek mountain tea locally in Pieria known as "Tea of Olympus", honey and honey products ( propolis , royal jelly , beeswax ointment, bee pollen ), dairy products ( milk , butter , kefir , yogurt ), cheese ( feta , kasseri , manouri , anthotyros , kefalotyri , mizithra ), chickens (meat, eggs), black pigs (meat, cured meat, sausages). Katerini Steppe Cattle originate from Katerini. This breed belonging to
19723-587: The newly formed Municipality of Katerini. The municipality Katerini is subdivided into 6 municipal units, each of which is divided into municipal communities. Katerini has a humid subtropical climate that is characterised by warm to hot, dry summers and cool and more humid winters ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ). Katerini is located near several villages which are renowned for their high quality products, specifically kiwis, wines, cherries, strawberries, apples, olives, olive oil, truffle oil , truffles, mushrooms, grapes, mineral water , herbs with
19886-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks
20049-693: The occupied territories on 14 May 1941, which had long been a target of Bulgarian foreign policy. East Macedonia and Thrace had been part of the Ottoman Empire until 1913, when it became part of Bulgaria following the First Balkan War until being annexed by Greece in two stages. Later in 1913, Greece annexed parts of Western Thrace after the Second Balkan War , and then in 1920 at the San Remo conference , Greece formally received
20212-591: The occupying powers, fought against collaborationist Security Battalions , and set up espionage networks. By late 1943 the different resistance groups began to fight amongst themselves. At the end of occupation of the Greek mainland in October 1944, Greece was in a state of political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war . The civil war gave opportunity to those who had prominently collaborated with Nazi Germany or other occupiers to reach positions of power and avoid sanctions because of anti-communism , even eventually coming to power in post-war Greece after
20375-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as
20538-511: The orders of Winston Churchill . On 6 April 1941, Germany came to the aid of Italy and invaded Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia , overwhelming Greek and British troops. On 20 April, after cessation of Greek resistance in the north, the Bulgarian Army entered Greek Thrace without firing a shot, with the goal of regaining its Aegean Sea outlet in Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. The Bulgarians occupied territory between
20701-427: The other". Relations between the Germans and Italians were not good and there were brawls between German and Italian soldiers; the Germans regarded the Italians as incompetent and frivolous, while the Italians considered the behaviour of their ostensible allies as barbarous. By contrast, the Italians had no such inhibitions, which created problems among Wehrmacht and SS officers. German officers often complained that
20864-486: The post-war borders of Bulgaria and thereby to secure a strategic outlet to the Aegean Sea. But the United Kingdom, whose troops advanced towards Greece at the same time, stated that the withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from all occupied territories was a precondition for a ceasefire agreement with Bulgaria. As result on 10 October, the Bulgarian army and administration began evacuating and after two weeks withdrew from
21027-541: The predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation
21190-483: The pro-Soviet coup in the country on 9 September 1944 . At that time it declared war on Germany, but the Bulgarian army remained in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace , where there were several limited attacks from withdrawing German troops in the middle of September. Bulgaria hoped to keep these territories after the war. The Soviet Union initially also believed it was possible to include at least Western Thrace in
21353-464: The purposes of civil administration before the invasion, Greece was divided into 37 prefectures . Following the occupation, the prefectures of Drama, Kavalla, Rhodope and Serres were annexed by Bulgaria and no longer under the control of the Greek government. The remaining 33 prefectures had a concurrent military administration by Italian or German troops. In 1943, Attica and Boeotia was split into separate prefectures. Few Greeks actively cooperated with
21516-528: The regime as of April 1943 and was responsible for the creation of the Greek collaborationist Security Battalions . As in other European countries, there were Greeks willing to collaborate with the occupying force. However, few of the members of the Security battalions shared a pro-German ideology. The majority convinced themselves that the British approved anti-communist activity; others enlisted because of opportunistic advancement, while most of them came from
21679-569: The region of Viannos and Ierapetra in Crete were executed by the 22. Luftlande Infanterie-Division ; the " Massacre of Kalavryta " on 13 December 1943, in which Wehrmacht troops of the 117th Jäger Division carried out the extermination of the entire male population and the subsequent total destruction of the town; the " Distomo massacre " on 10 June 1944, where units of the Waffen-SS Polizei Division looted and burned
21842-492: The remainder of present-day Western Thrace province after its victory in WWI . Throughout the Bulgarian occupation zone, Bulgaria had a policy of extermination, expulsion and ethnic cleansing , aiming to forcibly Bulgarize , expel or kill ethnic Greeks. This Bulgarization campaign deported all Greek mayors, landowners, industrialists, school teachers, judges, lawyers, priests and Hellenic Gendarmerie officers. The usage of
22005-459: The reorganization of ELAS bands along conventional lines had been completed, and ELAS strength was about 15,000 fighters with additionally 20,000 reserves. Eventually, the EAM incorporated 90% of the Greek resistance movement, boasted a total membership of over 1,500,000, including 50,000 armed guerrillas, and controlled much of rural mainland Greece and attracted large numbers of non-Communists. The first contact between Soviet officers and members of
22168-463: The reports of travellers, at the turn of the 19th century, the city had four to five thousand inhabitants, mostly Greeks. In 1806, William Martin Leake recorded 100 hearths, while four years later Daniel recorded 140. For the remainder of the 19th century, the number of homes remained steady at about 300, with a population in 1900 of 2,070 Orthodox Christians and 600 Muslims . The city was liberated by
22331-595: The rest of Macedonia. After the Italian collapse in 1943, the Germans allowed the Bulgarians to intervene in Greek Central Macedonia, over the area between the Strymon and Axios rivers. The situation also forced the Germans to take control of Western Macedonia with the occasional interventions of Bulgarian troops. At that time the Greek guerrilla forces, especially the left-wing Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) were gaining more and more strength in
22494-453: The settlements of Pieria that are not served by the urban buses of KTEL Katerini. There are also privately held international bus routes that connect Katerini with several cities in Albania and Bulgaria . Katerini Railway Station is located just outside the city center. The main line of the Greek railway system that connects Athens with Thessaloniki passes through Katerini. As a result,
22657-548: The settlements that lie between Katerini and the aforementioned final destinations. Katerini is served by the A1 motorway and National Road 1 that run north-south from Evzonoi to Athens . The connection between Katerini and Elassona is served by National Road 13 . Single carriageways run from Katerini to every settlement of the Pieria . Intercity bus routes delivered by the KTEL Pieria, connect Katerini directly with Athens, Thessaloniki , Elassona , Alexandreia and all
22820-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of
22983-418: The strongest available patron and shifted their allegiances when a better one appeared. Many events were part of a cycle of revenge between local communities over land ownership, state policies, sectarian hostilities and personal vendettas. This cycle of revenge became nationalized during the war with different communities choosing different sides. Although the majority of Cham Albanian elites collaborated with
23146-542: The ultimatum and Italian forces invaded Greek territory from Italian-occupied Albania less than three hours later. (The anniversary of Greece's refusal is now a public holiday in Greece.) Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini launched the invasion partly to prove that Italians could match the military successes of the German Army and partly because Mussolini regarded southeastern Europe as lying within Italy's sphere of influence. Against Mussolini's expectations,
23309-447: The various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than
23472-529: The vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in the early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between
23635-520: The village of Distomo in Boeotia resulting in the deaths of 218 civilians; the 3 October 1943 " Lingiades massacre " where the German army murdered in reprisal nearly 100 people in the village of Lingiades, 13 kilometres outside Ioannina ; and the " Holocaust of Kedros " on 22 August 1944 in Crete, where 164 civilians were executed and nine villages were dynamited after being looted. At the same time, in
23798-464: The war, spelling the demise of Greek rule in the region and its annexation by Bulgaria. The first non-communist resistance organization that emerged in the area had as main opponents members of the Aromanian- and Slav-speaking minorities, as well as the communists, rather than the Germans themselves. Because of the strong presence of German troops and the general distrust of Slavophones by the Greeks,
23961-404: The war. In general thousands of people were sentenced to prison, while ca. 2,000 received death sentences. Many Slavophones of Macedonia , in particular of Kastoria and Florina provinces, collaborated with Axis forces and came out openly for Bulgaria. These Slavophones considered themselves Bulgarian. In the first two years of occupation, a group of this community believed that the Axis would win
24124-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or
24287-426: Was additionally motivated by a desire to "pluck out the best fruit" to plunder before the Italians could get it. Groups of economic advisers, businessmen, engineers and factory managers came from Germany with the task of seizing anything they deemed of economic value, with involvement from both Germany's Economic Ministry and its Foreign Office involved in the operation. These groups saw themselves as in competition with
24450-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of
24613-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe
24776-418: Was armed resistance in the Bulgarian zone was that enjoyed widespread support from the civilians in the region; Greek guerrillas engaged the Bulgarian military in many battles, even entering pre-war Bulgarian territory, raided villages and captured booty. In 1943, previously united Greek factions began armed conflict between communist and right-wing groups with the aim of securing control of the region following
24939-410: Was attacked on 13 September by elements of the 1. Gebirgs-Division with support from Stukas , and forced to surrender on 21 September after suffering some 1,300 casualties. The next day, the Germans began executing their prisoners and did not stop until more than 4,500 Italians had been shot. The 4,000 or so survivors were put aboard ships for the mainland, but some of them sank after hitting mines in
25102-407: Was established in its place. Greece's territory was divided into occupation zones run by the Axis powers, with the Germans administering the most important regions of the country themselves, including Athens , Thessaloniki and strategic Aegean Islands . Other regions of the country were run by Germany's partners, Italy and Bulgaria. The occupation reduced the Greek economy and brought hardships to
25265-506: Was home to 2,794 foreign nationals (4.9% of the total population). Among them the most populous ethnic group was Albanians (2.5%) followed by Georgians (0.5%), Russians (0.4%) and Bulgarians (0.3%). A large Greek community of the Katerini diaspora is particularly located in Boston , Massachusetts. The Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini and Platamon , a part of the Church of Greece which
25428-403: Was introduced in early 1942, and a policy of Italianization initiated in public education and the press. Similar steps were undertaken in the eastern Aegean island of Samos . However, due to German insistence, no official annexation took place during the occupation. Italian policy promised that the region of Chameria ( Thesprotia ) in northwestern Greece would be awarded to Albania after
25591-598: Was nearly eradicated. Of its pre-war population of 75–77,000, around 11–12,000 survived, often by joining the resistance or being hidden. Most of those who died were deported to Auschwitz , while those under Bulgarian occupation in Thrace were sent to Treblinka . The Italians did not deport Jews living in territory they controlled, but when the Germans took it over from them, Jews living there were also deported. Greek Resistance groups were formed during this occupation. These resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against
25754-472: Was no clear distinction between the civil and military administration, while even the military administration was divided among various sectors (Italian 11th army, German 12th army, " fortress Crete " etc.) . In December 1942, Tsolakologlou was succeeded by Konstantinos Logothetopoulos , a professor of medicine whose main qualification for Prime Minister seemed to be his marriage to the niece of German Field Marshal Wilhelm List . Ioannis Rallis became head of
25917-642: Was occupied starting in June 1941. The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria withdrew under Allied pressure in early October 1944, with Crete and some other Aegean islands being surrendered to the Allies by German garrisons in May and June 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe . Fascist Italy had initially declared war and invaded Greece in October 1940, but had been pushed back by
26080-445: Was swiftly fired after less than a month on the job. Walter Schimana replaced Stroop as the Higher SS Police Leader in Greece and established a better working relationship with the Neubacher-Löhr duumvirate. Residents of Greece suffered greatly during the occupation. With the country's economy having been reduced from six months of war, and economic exploitation by the occupying forces, raw materials and food were requisitioned, and
26243-453: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect
26406-471: Was wracked by internal disputes and held in low esteem by the Greek public, especially after the Italians replaced the Germans throughout much of the country in June 1941. The puppet government was kept under strict Axis control. Two Axis plenipotentiaries, Gunther Altenburg and Pellegrino Ghigi , had the power to recommend the appointment and dismissal of Greek officials and were the key civilian figures in shaping Axis policy towards Greece. In addition, there
26569-450: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage
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