Servia, Kozanis

[sm987]

Here I present to you the beautiful village or should i say town of my grandparents, Servia!
Servia is located in the Kozani prefecture, Western Macedonia, it has a population of 10000 and is 150km away from Thessaloniki.

The location of servia has a long history, spanning from prehistoric times (considered to have been a Thessalian outpost), and is known for the many important finds in the surrounding area!

Servia from its very begining was a very important greek fort and town! It was first named "fylakai" by the Macedonians during the 2nd century BC, since it was used as a fort, providing the only passage from Macedonia to Thessaly for the area at the time.
During the Roman Empire the Romans then renamed it in their language, servia which derived from servo meaning fort! The latin name has stayed on since and thats how the town is called Servia! not to be confused with serbia ...and no it was not founded by serbs as i have read in several ignorant travel guides

From 1882 to 1912, Servia was the capital of the Ottoman sanjak of Serfije, which was part of the Manastır vilayet between 1864 to1877.
On the 10/10/1912, Servia was liberated by the Greek army!
Also during both world wars the town was burned to the ground with the allies declaring it a 'dead zone' but was soon rebuilt again!

Today the town is known for its byzantine churches, its amazing surroundings, the gorge and the byzantine castle on top of the mountain(hill)
with its monuments and towers (said to have been over 20m tall) still surviving!

...and here are the pics




















....more to come

[pilotos]

Great thanks for sharing..and indeed waiting for many moreAnd its just amazing how even small towns have so rich history, and also thanks for explaining where the name comes from, was kind of a question i had since i heard it

[sm987]

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some photos in the town!
it is quite dense with lots of polikatoikies and even 6 storey ones built recently
unlike velventos nearby, it is known that servia does not try to keep its traditional architecture and feel and is slowly changing, looking more like a typical greek city!




although there's great views from nearly everywere in the town, down to lake aliakmonas!
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..anyway here's market day, when traders from the all the surrounting areas come to trade exclusively in servia! nearly all of servia's streets become a market

[sm987]

beautiful scenery making our way up to the castle

























here's a picture which i found interesting as it shows how the castle might of looked like back during the byzantine ages!

its just amazing that archeologists describe how the whole town was actually situated on the mountain (with the castle watching down from the top)! - it just reminds you of something coming out of 'lord of the rings'

[sm987]

...and now the gorge!! (faraggi servion)







'pirovolio' used by the turks to shoot down at the unaware of it town














the valley after the faraggi!


behind those mountains lies Thessaly!

[christos-greece]

Amazing pics

[Giorgio]

The pictures aren't showing for me

[sm987]

i dont know why you cant see the photos ...they dont seem to be broken and they show up fine to me
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anyway more photos

[sm987]

Here are some pics taken from neraida! a nice little village filled with tavernas and bars with amazing views towards servia, the bridge and the whole lake!!!

the bridge is actualy one of greece's longest! (1400m I think) and was built during the time when aliakmonas was damed and flooded creating the lake!







on the bridge

[pilotos]

That bridge is spectacular...would even make a great banner

[NEWWORLD]

Great pics! town/city looks very nice

[sm987]

more pics
these i found on the net







and some more of the bridge







from kastania

[Pavle4488]

Nice town with a beautiful name.

I especially like this photo.

[MAFOSIA]

Hey I am from Servia Kozanis too. And live in melbourne. How many of you are from Servia Kozanis. Please PM me would love to chat. I miss my Village hope to see some more beautiful pics

[Lucretius]

Very nice! Greetings from Aiane!