Stremma

The stremma (Greek:στρέμμα, plural στρέμματα) is a Greek unit of land area, equal to 1000 square metres, also called the 'royal' stremma. The name comes from a root meaning 'to turn', presumably referring to the amount of land that can be plowed/turned in a day. [Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής (Dictionary of Modern Greek), Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998. ISBN 960-231-085-5]

The "old", "Turkish", or "Ottoman" stremma was approximately 1270 m² (Λεξικό, 1998): it was the Greek name of the Ottoman dönüm, [Λεξικό] which was in turn based on the Byzantine stremma (see below). But Lapavitsas uses the value of 1600 m² for the region of Naoussa in the early 20th century. [Costas Lapavitsas, "Social and Economic Underpinning of Industrial Development: Evidence from Ottoman Macedonia", "Ηλεκτρονικό Δελτίο Οικονομικής Ιστορίας" [http://www.hdoisto.gr/Keimena/Lapavitsas4112005.pdf] ]

The medieval or Morean stremma was different, somewhere between 900 and 1900 m², depending on the period and perhaps even the type of land. [Siriol Davis, "Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Part VI: administration and settlement in Venetian Navarino", "Hesperia", Winter, 2004 [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SDG/is_1_73/ai_n13493303/pg_17] ]

The Byzantine stremma was defined as 100 square Greek feet or 40 Greek paces. It is likely the ancestor of the Ottoman dönüm/stremma. [V.L. Ménage, Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. "The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century", Berkeley, 1971; in "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies" (University of London) 36:3 (1973), pp. 659-661. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X%281973%2936%3A3%3C659%3ATDOMHI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K at JSTOR (subscription required)] ; see also Erich Schilbach, "Byzantinische Metrologie" (referenced but not seen)]

Conversions

"One stremma is equivalent to:"

Metric

* 1,000 square metres
* 10 ares
* 1 decare
* 0.1 hectare
* 0.001 square kilometres

English units

* 10,763.9 square feet
* 0.247 105 38 international acres
* 0.247 104 39 U.S. survey acres; 1 acre ≈ 4.047 stremmata
* 0.000 386 102 square miles (statute)

ee also

*conversion of units
*1 E3 m² for further comparisons

Bibliography