Geographical name changes in Greece
The geographical name change in Greece was an initiative by the Greek government to replace non-Greek geographical and topographic names within the Greek Republic with Greek names as part of a policy and ideology of Hellenisation.[1][2]The main proponent of the initiative has been a Greek homogenization social-engineering campaign which aimed to assimilate or obliterate geographical or topographical names that were deemed foreign and divisive against Greek unity or considered to be "bad Greek".[2] The names that were considered foreign were usually of Ottoman, Albanian, Slavic and Turkish origin.[2] Most of the name changes ocurred in the ethnically heterogenous northern Greece and the Arvanite settlements in central Greece. Place names of Greek origin were also renamed after names in Classical Greece.[2]
The policy commenced after the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1830s, after the territorial expanses of Greece and continued into the Greek Republic.[2] To this day use of the old Turkish, Albanian or Slavic placenames by authorities, organisations and individuals is penalized under Greek law.[3]
Notable geographical name changes
Since 1977 all Turkish village names of Western Thrace have been changed to Greek names.[4] Western Thrace is home to a large Turkish minority.
| Old name | Named changed to: | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Liopesi(alb. Lopës) | Paiania | Old name was Arvanite(i.e: Albanian). Liopesi: 'Place of cows' or 'of the cow'. From the Albanian word lopë or cow and the suffix ës indicating belonging to a place, or quantity of something. |
| Menidi(alb. Menidh) | Acharnes | Old name was Arvanite(i.e: Albanian) |
| Kriekouki(alb. Kryekuq) | Erythres | Old name was Arvanite(i.e: Albanian). Kriekouki: 'Red Head'. From the Albanian word Krye/Krie(in some dialects) meaning 'head' and Kuq or red. |
| Dervenosalesi (alb. Dervenoshalës) | Pyli, Boeotia | Old name was Arvanite(i.e: Albanian). Dervenosalesi: 'The thigh mountain pass'. From the word Derven meaning 'mountain pass'(itself a local borrowing of the Turkish word 'Dervend' meaning the same thing) and Shalës or 'thigh', due to the narrowness of the area resembling the length or shape of a thigh. |
| Gümülcine | Komotini | Gümülcine was the Ottoman version of the old original Byzantine name Koumoutzina |
| Dedeagach | Alexandroupoli | Turkish name of Dedeagach remained the official name of the city until 1920 when it was renamed Alexandroupoli in honor of King Alexander of Greece. |
References
- ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From Historical Minorities to Immigrant Newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 49. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ a b c d e Zacharia, Katerina (2012). Hellenisms: culture, idenitity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 230-233. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From Historical Minorities to Immigrant Newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ Whitman, Lois (1990). Destroying Ethnic Identity: The Turks of Greece. Human Rights Watch. p. 1. ISBN 9780929692708.
See also
- For a comprehensive list and database of Place Name changes in Greece(by settlement, date and year of change), see:
Institute for Neo Hellenic Research: Name Changes of Settlements in Greece