Florina is a name not usually mentioned in the tourist guides. It is a small town in western Macedonia

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Είναι αλήθεια ότι η Φλώρινα είναι σχεδόν άγνωστη στους περισσότερους. Η πόλη δε λέει και πολλά όμως τα περίχωρα (και κυρίως οι πρέσπες ) είναι πανέμορφα!
Και κάτι άλλο...
Η Φλώρινα είναι γνωστή και για την εξαιρετική παραγωγή φασολιών ! Τα φλωρινιώτικα φασόλια είναι τα καλύτερα σε όλη την Ελλάδα και όχι μόνο! :)

Very nice nature surrounding the city. I have been there only once, MANY years ago, and I don't remember a lot, but I liked the area. Nice girls, too :)

very nice!

the colors of outmne are amazing, nice landscape people :okay: wath is that lake in the lost pic?

Why is this thread so neglected?

It seems like an interesting small town.Although i've never been there,it looks nice and beautiful in photos. :)

Φλώρινα:

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nice photos! Florina is indeed a very special town and its inhabitants are a very unique people.

I wonder,why you say that?^^

Anyway,some more photos of the town:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8159/fle1dd2.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/7585/fle2ey4.jpg

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/2241/fle3fu5.jpg

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bravo southern se merika xronia ta ktiria ama den ta kanoun tipota tha ginoun kai afta polykatikees :(

The buildings near the small river look beautiful but some are in urgent need or restoration. I hope that they are listed buildings so what arxeos fears will never happen. And this brings another question: When the city or government enlists your building shouldn't it provide you with some funds/subsidies/cheap loans to restore it? Because what is your advantage if the guys in other regions of the city build "polykatoikies" on their properties - making good money - and you just watch it rotten because you know that the investment will hardly pay-off. Or why the government imposes you something that is advantageous to the whole city (improving of course the looks and preserving the heritage) but costs money only to you?


...
It is also interesting how they tried to give an old - traditional west macedonian look to the building of the prefecture of Florina but I am not so sure that they succeeded.

^^ The city approved last year to renovate the historic buildings along the river. Once they are renovated, they will turn into small shops, cafes, and clubs. They already renovated the street and bridge, and made a new walkway for a pedestrian zone. The whole point of this is to make this part of town a new social center for young people to gather and hang out, while the already existing pedestrian zone in the center of the town is to be reserved for the "older" generations. I myself am very excited about the project.

Why are you excited about it?

I just thought that its a great improvement for the town, why are you asking me?

nice photos! Florina is indeed a very special town and its inhabitants are a very unique people.


How are they unique? Because some of the people are Slavophones?

Anyway, I was in Florina in 1999 when I was on my honeymoon. My wife's family is from Kastoria (my mother is from Kozani). I enjoyed the three or four days I stayed there.




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The people are very friendly.:cheers:

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^^ I find the culture and feel of Florina quite different from other Greek towns, perhaps its because the people are Slavic like you mentioned, I dunno. Anyway, I called the the city "special" because its my hometown :cheers: BTW I can't recall a statue like that near the city (in your last pic), in fact I don't think that photo was taken in Florina.

I was right, that photo was not taken in Florina, but in Lisbon - Portugal :lol::lol::lol: Let me remind you that this thread in on a small town in northern Greece, its not on the capital of Portugal :rofl:

^^
It was taken in 2004 at the Euro Cup in Lisbon, the boy clearly has a message from Florina.:cheers:

^^ I find the culture and feel of Florina quite different from other Greek towns, perhaps its because the people are Slavic like you mentioned, I dunno. .

It does have more of a Balkan feel than any other part of Greece I've been to that's for sure, but the inhabitants of Florina are not all Slavophones by any means.

And about their national sentiment......

A village near Florina....

Lf2S8lXmvrk

omg....just OMG!:ohno:

^^ I find the culture and feel of Florina quite different from other Greek towns, perhaps its because the people are Slavic like you mentioned, I dunno. Anyway, I called the the city "special" because its my hometown :cheers: BTW I can't recall a statue like that near the city (in your last pic), in fact I don't think that photo was taken in Florina.

I come from Florina. So your saying I'm Slavic like you?

Your right, you don't know. So next time before you say something stupid, best to think twice and resist the urge to say something stupid.

And btw, he did not say the people are Slavic, so stop trying to twist things. Your propaganda and lies don't work here.

Ok, lets get back to the main topic. Thanks everybody for the contributions and the useful data and statistics.

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Some nice photos from beautiful buildings in Florina:
http://flickr.com/photos/irene_s/2310251708/
http://flickr.com/photos/irene_s/2307678621/
http://flickr.com/photos/irene_s/2307678633/
http://flickr.com/photos/irene_s/2308748276/
http://flickr.com/photos/irene_s/2307678629/
http://flickr.com/photos/gekimo/521714954/
http://flickr.com/photos/achernar/110395075/

Florina has such a nice alpine feel to it.

florina also has albanians
north western greece was albanian
slavs lived very close to thesaloniki but were moved out by greeks

Ok here comes the another genius.....

Northwest Greece was Albanian despite the fact that Greeks have always lived there, and Albanians are not mentioned in this region by name until the early Byzantine Empire.

While Greeks....

Aristotle wrote in his work Meteorologica:


Greek text:
"...ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ὁ καλούμενος ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος κατακλυσμό ς· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος περὶ τὸν Ἑλληνικὸν ἐγένετο τόπον μάλιστα, καὶ τούτου περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὴν ἀρχαίαν. αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ περὶ Δωδώνην καὶ τὸν Ἀχελῷον· οὗτος γὰρ πολλαχοῦ τὸ ῥεῦμα μεταβέβληκ εν· ᾤκουν γὰρ οἱ Σελλοὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι τότε μὲν Γραικοὶ νῦν δ’ Ἕλληνες..."

Translation:
"The deluge in the time of Deucalion, for instance, took place chiefly in the Greek world and in it especially about [ancient Hellas, the country about Dodona and the Achelous, a river which has often changed its course. Here the Selloi dwelt and those who were formerly called Graeci and now Hellenes."



@ Christos7, FYI Greek authorities have tried on many occasions to ban this festival during the late 80's and early 90's. .

Prove it.

.
But yes Greece is a very democratic country for allowing Macedonians to have a village festival once a year, despite the fact that minorities in other countries usually receive education in their own mother tongue, but Greece is a "true" democracy for allowing a small village festival...



I guess the US is not a democracy as it's public education system requires minorities to learn and be educated in English.

Let me ask you something, in what language are the Moslems in Thraki educated in my friend......Yes in Turkish along side Greek.....



I wonder how many Bulgarian language schools operate in FYROM.... Oh I forgot all of them (outside the Albanian ones)........


And as for the Rainbow party, most Macedonians vote for mainstream parties like Pasok, Nea Demokratia, and the KKE, but from what I have seen, Pasok and KKE are the top choices for Macedonians. But then again, political attitudes tend to change at every election, and therefore you cannot determine the number of an ethnic group based on election votes.
:ohno:


Those people who voted for Rainbow are basically the most extremist or most fanatic of the Macedonians in Greece.

All 4000 of them......

Florina is OK, sort of attractive for a Balkan town, but nothing special other than some pretty old buildings. Certainly can't compare with other beautiful towns and major touristic places in Greece, all in other parts of the country such as Nauplion, Monemvassia, Kalamata, Galaxidi, Nafpaktos, Pelion in the southern part of Greece or the islands and their towns such as Aegina, Spetses, Hydra, Poros, Andros, Syros, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Chania, Halki, Ikaria, Kos, Kalymnos, Rhodes, Symi, Skopelos, Skiathos, Chios, Lesbos, Corfu, Paxos, Ithaca, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Lefkada and others that don't come to mind right away. All these places have a 'nicer' more cosmopolitan, yet traditional ambience with their beautiful, character-filled, well preserved architecture and their plethora of attractions for the many tourists who visit annually to enjoy, making them relatively better off than other parts of Greece. Even in the north, I'd say Litohoro near Mount Olympus, Kastoria, the Chalkidice peninsulas, Kavala, Parga and the Zagorahoria are the most beautiful places. Everyone has their own taste, but tourism as an indicator would confirm my choices. Florina is nice, but nothing special, certainly not for Greek standards!!

Florina has very nice surrounding villages and towns

@Macedonia
Where is that new pedestrian zone planed? Is this near the river? Could you make some photo?

Florina was the place where I first entered Greece ^^and later I visited Thessaloniki and Athens. I remember main street with small shops on both side and atmosphere of nice and quiet provincial town. Lovely and indeed gently people. Everyone who was asked on the street want to do his best to help me to find what I was asking. :cheers:

^^ Yes the new pedestrian zone is along the river, in the city's historic part.

Personally, I wouldn't mind at all if you did. If the Greek influence is a fact (and it is), there's no harm in mentioning it. Indeed it is from my (impartial sources) readings. If you have any related info or pics, please post them in the Bitola thread in the Makedonski forum or better yet create a new thread here. :cheers:

mia akomi katastrameni poly stin Ellada :( koitakste ti omorfi pou itan palia

eYo_fMq1NhI
Gb85xAXZIz8

Όντως η Φλώρινα έχει μερικά πολύ όμορφα κτίρια !

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