Agios Georgios Nileias

Agios Georgios Nileias (Greek: Άγιος Γεώργιος Νηλείας) is a Greek village located 20 km east of Volos in the Magnesia prefecture. Agios Georgios Nileias is built amphitheatrically at the elevation of 700 m on the slopes of Pelion. Koropi Agios Georgios Nileias is in the municipality of a Milies. Its population in 2001 was 785 for the municipal district. Agios Georgios Nileias is located between Agios Vlassios and Pinakates

Etymology

The Greek spelling of the town's name used eta, not iota which is the name of a suburb southeast of Athens in Attica. The town is not named for the town in Athens which comes from Kropia, but refers to an ancient site.

ubdivisions

*Agia Triada (elevation: 500 m, 2001 pop: 27)
*Ano Gatzea (elevation: 150 m, pop: 289)
*Dyo Remata (elevation: 500 m, pop: 27)
*Kato Gatzea (seaside settlement, pop: 376)

Nearest places

*Agios Vlassios
*Pinakates

Population

Geography

The area is mountainous and heavily forested, although there are some grasslands and bushes. Farmland lies around the village, which produces olives and other crops.

History

The first inhabitants of the village were foresters, and settled around the 15th century. The Aigiorgeites lived in the village in the summer and in the winter moved down to towns at lower elevations, such as Agia Triada, Ano Gatzea and Kato Gatzea.

The town was a battleground during the Greek War of Independence of 1821, but the town fell into Turkish hands for the next sixty years and the village was burnt. The village and its settlements were freed from the Ottoman and joined the rest of Greece in 1881. The village became a part of the old municipality of Nileias, but this municipality was dissolved in 1914 and downgraded to the communities of Ano and Kato Lechonia, Agios Vlassios (then Karabasi), Agios Georgios, Drakeia, Agios Lavrentios and Agria. It remained an autonomous commune until 1998. Nileia was an ancient city located close to modern Volos.

The village had a excellent lifestyle from the late-19th century up until World War II. Water was plentiful, and had lots of water and rich in production which includes olives and apple. Many fortunes of its village residents left for Egypt and elsewhere.

The village declined after the Second World War and the Greek Civil War. Many residents emigrated to lower elevations. Today, Agios Georgios Nileios has fewer residents, many homes.

About the village

Agios Georgios Nileias features a municipal museum named after Nikolas Pavlopoulos. The museum is open on weekdays with the historian Kostas Liapis who wrote the periodical "I vigla".

Persons

*Yiannis Poulakas (1863-1942) painter
*Nikolaos Pavlopoulos (1909-1990) sculptor and writer

Other

Agios Georgios Nileias has a school, church and a few squares ("plateia"), its nearest lyceum (middle school) and gymnasium (high school) are in Milies.

References

*Kostas Liapis", "O megalos Ai-Giorgis tou Piliou", published by the old Commune of Agios Georgios Nileias, Volos 1994, 515 pages ISBN 960-7175-68-9

ee also

*List of settlements in the Magnesia prefecture

External links

* [http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=13043 Agios Georgios Nileias on GTP Travel Pages]
*Map and aerial photos:
**Street map information from: [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=39.3423&longitude=23.076&zoom=6 Mapquest] , [http://local.live.com/map.aspx?&lats1=39.3423&lons1=23.076&alts1=35 LiveLocal] or [http://maps.google.com/maps?||=39.3423,23.076 Google] or [http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?lat=39.2342394&lon=23.076&mag=2 Yahoo! Maps]
**Satellite
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.3423,23.076&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k Google] or [http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=39.3423|23.076&style=h&lvl=15&v=1 Microsoft Virtual Earth] - image now available
*Coordinates: coord|39|20|31|N|22|4|40|E|type:city(174)_region:GR