- Yerakini
Yerakini or Gerakini village (rarely Gherakini) (in Greek Γερακινή) (pronounced /jeraki'ni:/, yerake'nee) lies on the Toroneos Gulf between the two promontories Kassandra and
Sithonia in theChalkidiki /Khalkidiki (in Greek Χαλκιδική) peninsula [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Peninsulas_of_Greece] of the province Macedonia (in Greek Μακεδονία) in Northern Greece, 80 kilometres fromThessaloniki , and 65 kilometres from theThessaloniki International Airport .
There is a legend that a queen named Yerakina (Gerakina) lived there once, after whom Yerakini took its name.
It is the seaport ofPolygyros (Πολύγυρος), 10 km away, the capital of Chalkidikiprefecture .
Yerakini is composed of three differnent and somehow distant parts:
The middle part, the real village, where the church and the police station are found. The inhabitants of the village are farmers mainly cultivating olive trees for olive oil and olives.
The northern part is a place where all the inhabitants are workers and technicians involved in the mining and manufacturing ofmagnesite (lefkolithos λευκόλιθος in Greek meaning "white stone", from λευκός=white and λίθος=stone) as a raw material, a valuable white mineral in the form of white stone for various uses.
The first mining factory started operating at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ships from all over the world come to Yerakini for the freight of this useful “white stone”.
The southern part on the sea is very well known to tourists from many countries as a place for summer vacations. It started its development in the early seventies when a beach resort opened on the beach and other smaller facilities appeared to serve the ever increasing demand of accommodation.Links:
[http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.284633,23.379936&spn=0.215281,0.539703&t=h&z=11&om=0 Yerakini Map]
[http://www.aardvarkmap.net/mape/ZHWWX9KQ Yerakini Map with explanations]
[http://www.maplandia.com/greece/makedonia/khalkidhiki/yerakini/ Yerakini Google Map]
[http://www.accuweather.com/world-index-forecast.asp?loccode=Yerakini%2C+Greece&submit=GO&u=1&partner=accuweather Yerakini Weather]
[http://www.galleries.com/minerals/carbonat/magnesit/magnesit.htm Magnesite]
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