Samarina

40°6′N 21°4′E / 40.100°N 21.067°E / 40.100; 21.067 Samarina (Greek: Σαμαρίνα, Aromanian: Samarina, Xamarina, San Marina) is a village and a former municipality in Grevena regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena.^[1] Its population primarily consists of Aromanians (sometimes called Vlachs). It attracts many tourists due to its scenic location and beautiful pine and beech forests. The population was 378 people as of 2011.^[2]

Samarina is located on Mount Smolikas, the highest of the Pindus range and the second-highest mountain in all of Greece, at an altitude of 1380–1515 meters.

History

In 1917, Samarina participated together with other 12 villages in an attempt to create an autonomous area which much later was described as Principality of the Pindus.

Samarina was the birthplace of Alcibiades Diamandi and Nicolaos Matussis, leaders of the Vlach "Roman Legion", who promoted a local autonomous Aromanian nationalist area during World War II. This was also called in some cases the Principality of the Pindus, although this name is mainly used for the events of 1917 in Samarina.

Notes

↑ Kallikratis law Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine Greece Ministry of Interior (in Greek)
↑ "Detailed census results 2011" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2015-08-16.

[Kallikratis-1] Kallikratis law Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine Greece Ministry of Interior (in Greek)

[census11-2] "Detailed census results 2011" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2015-08-16.

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