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304:. In ancient times that gulf extended northwestward to the feet of the mountains, leaving the settlements of Lower Macedonia squeezed onto the shore. Over the succeeding two millennia that part of the gulf became a lake. In modern times the lake was filled leaving a river through it, while the resulting infilled space became the plain of central Macedonia. Representing extra new land, it is gradually becoming urbanized.
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367:, in 1453. Considered the Alexander of his day, he declared himself Roman Emperor. Invited to dinner, the prelate intimated that he was probably expected to perform the difficult task of stepping down. The new emperor, who seemed to have a way with words, replied that he was being asked to do something harder, to stay. The emperor was then recognized by the
183:, which was in Thessaly. Pliny the Elder said it was in Pieria, but he didn't say which. Ptolemy gave coordinates, but his coordinates produce a map that is grossly distorted. In short, no one knew any longer where Aeginium had been, or how long it had been there. The same case was true of Agassae, which seemed to be equally troublesome to Rome.
219:
Events did not turn out as expected. In essence the
British were more in support of the rebellious Greeks than the Ottomans desired. The revolution that followed was aided and abetted by the British. In the conflict of 1807 Leake was interned by the pasha of Greece. The Ottomans preferred to lease
49:
View of
Kalambaka, modern city on the spot of Aeginium. The bump in the upper right is the Rock of Great Saint. The Church of Saint John Prodrome is in the dense settlement below it. In the far distance is the Peneius River, flowing down from the right. Upstream is the pass from Epirus outflanking
227:
Leake was soon free. He was impressed into service to negotiate with the Turks. In 1815 he retired as a colonel to pursue a scientific and literary career. Meanwhile, the Greek revolution transpired. When it was over at last a newly independent Greece was created in 1832. Leake now felt free to
382:
The
Byzantine church had its own name for the city: στάγοι, a plural. There were no Turkish assaults on the place, and no refugees seeking the protection of the rocks, unless from the world in general. Monks had been seeking shelter in caves there since before the 12th century. In the 12th the
371:. The Catholics, however, began treating accession of Mehmed as the final end of the Roman Empire. The Turks on the whole preferred to leave Christianity in place, including the churches and monasteries. Greece was just as Christian at the end of Ottoman rule as it had been at the beginning.
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churches of Stagoi began to build monasteries in the heights, starting with the Church of
Panagia Doupiane, which built the monastery of Panagia Doupiane in the heights above the city. The practice found favor among the churchmen of Thessaly and expanded from there. In 1340
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Against a larger army defending the vale was a waste of time. The
Pineius valley had another end reachable from high passes over the mountains and especially from Epirus, leading down the river into the plains of Upper Thessaly. This is the route used by the army of
347:
The plains of Upper
Thessaly were not available to invaders via the upper Peneius for free, so to speak. They were also heavily defended. On the left bank of the Peneios at the entrance to the plain is a raised massif of vertical, chimney like formations called
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are always northern Greece, to which Epirus is often joined. The fact that
Thessaly is often split points to geophysical reasons for the split. Those reasons are anciently impassible contiguous mountain ranges consisting of
323:. Subsequently, it reaches the southernmost part of the Macedonian Plain and enters the Thermaic Gulf. The most obvious course from Macedonia to Thessaly is through the vale. Consequently, the vale was well-fortified.
62:
Map showing ancient
Thessaly. Aeginium is to the upper left. The ranges bordering Macedonia are at the top. The Vale of Tempe conducting the Peneios enters the gulf on the northeast coast between Mounts Ossa and
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A common anti-Turkish sentiment is that the first of these aerial monastics were escaping the Turks. This view does not conform to the dates and types of historical events.
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1804 - 1810. The Duke of
Wellington was head of the British army at that time. They were anticipating a campaign in Greece against the French forces under
151:. By the 19th century, evidence of its existence had been reduced to scant mention in several literary fragments from the encyclopedic classical authors:
625:"Η ΚΑΛΑΜΠΑΚΑ και η Επισκοπή των ΣΤΑΓΩΝ μέσα από την Ιστορία, τα γεγονότα, τα πρόσωπα "KALABAKA and the Diocese of STAGA through History, events, persons"
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release the results of his surveys as travel journals. These became a major historical source of unimpeachable credibility. His style is reminiscent of
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356:, which bears a Turkish name. Over the centuries the tops and sides of these natural towers have been the sites of monastery enclosures.
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Leake wrote a multi-volume work describing northern Greece. He never defined northern Greece, however. His table of contents covers
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The mountain barrier between
Thessaly and Macedonia seen from Thessaly north of Larissa. Mount Olympus is in the background.
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391:, innovating the second word, to mean "the great up-in-the-air," with a spiritual significance as well as a physical.
319:. It flows W-E from Mount Pindus parallel to and south of the mountain barrier to transect it on the east through the
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260:. As modern Greece has been patched together since then from various territorial units by various agencies, the term
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This barrier offers some natural defense of the country. There are holes in it, however. The main one is the
224:) to keep order. Greece was being policed by Albanian troops, who did not endear themselves or the Turks.
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said it was "over against Thessaly." Strabo said it was at "the confluence of the Ion River with the
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in 1835 was able to publish the results of some military intelligence surveys he had made in
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found an inscription at Kalabaka, in which Aeginium is mentioned.
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Meteora, showing some of the caves inhabited by the first monks.
19:"Aiginion" redirects here. For the modern town on the site, see
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509:. Holy Imperial Monastery of the Holy and Great Meteoron. 2024.
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the Vale of Tempe as an entrance into Thessaly from Macedonia.
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has come to have different meanings in different contexts.
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507:"Foundation of the Great Meteoron – The Byzantine Period"
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Its modern location is tentatively assigned to a site in
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147:) was an ancient Greek settlement in the northwest of
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Ancient Greek settlement in the northwest of Thessaly
216:(but not for long). Leake was to survey the place.
406:. It was here that, during the civil war between
23:. For the town in Central Macedonia, Greece, see
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398:wars in Greece. It was given up to plunder by
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562:Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World
533:]. Vol. 32.15, 36.13, 44.46, 45.27.
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623:Kalyvas, Grigoris G. (17 November 2019).
422:. Later, the town was called by the name
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658:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
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90:39.70892°N 21.62745°E
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114:Site notes
81:21°37′39″E
78:39°42′32″N
467:ToposText
416:Apollonia
365:Mehmed II
281:Macedonia
250:Acarnania
119:Condition
109:Kalambaka
677:Aeginium
439:Kalabaka
428:Kalabaka
354:Kalabaka
329:Xerxes I
258:Thessaly
206:Napoleon
149:Thessaly
145:Αἰγίνιον
137:Aiginion
129:Aeginium
63:Olympus.
37:Αἰγίνιον
31:Aeginium
21:Kalabaka
650::
637:Sources
608:et seq.
602:Leake,
472:3 March
350:Meteora
300:to the
254:Illyria
246:Aetolia
210:British
161:Ptolemy
25:Aiginio
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543:Caes.
424:Stagos
408:Pompey
298:Pindus
292:, the
288:, the
277:Thrace
242:Epirus
208:. The
202:Greece
181:Peneus
153:Strabo
547:3.79.
529:[
396:Roman
135:) or
133:Latin
567:ISBN
545:B.C.
521:Livy
474:2024
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