Trilofos[2] ("sitting on three ridges") or Trilofo[3] (Greek: Τρίλοφος Καστοριάς) is a mountain village belonging to the prefecture of Kastoria in the Western Macedonia region of Greece, at an altitude of 1,148 metres.[2]
Geography
Trilofos is located on the slopes of Mount Grammos, on the Christofor, Konopisce and Dandaleska ridges, between the Greek border with Albania and the Aliakmon River (originally – Upper Aliakmon). It lies 22 km W-NW of Nestorio and 45.5 km W-SW of Kastoria. During the Turkish occupation it was called Slimnitsa (Greek: Σλήμνιτσα) and was the largest in the area with 200 families. It was divided into two slums, the "Upper Slum" ("Ano Mahala") and the "Lower Slum" ("Kato Mahala"), and had many stone mansions, two or three storeys high, built by craftsmen from Epirus.[4]
History
The inhabitants of the village, most of them bilingual (speakers of Greek language and a Slavic dialect, similar to Bulgarian and modern Macedonian), took an active part in the Macedonian rebellion of 1878 led by Captain Vassos (Vasilios) Farmakis. After the failure of the uprising, Slimnitsa was repeatedly attacked by Albanians and as a result most of the inhabitants moved to Kastoria.[4]
Like the rest of the villages in the area (Glykoneri, Giannochori, Monopylo and Livadotopi), it belongs to the group of "Kastoria villages on Grammos" (Greek: Γραμμοχώρια της Καστοριάς), where the heaviest and bloodiest battles of the Greek Civil War took place, which resulted in its total destruction,[5] after which some inhabitants moved to southern Greece and others emigrated to the former communist camp states of Central and Eastern Europe, the U.S.S.R., U.S.A. and Australia.
Every year on the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God, the feast day of one of the churches, descendants of the village's inhabitants and surviving former inhabitants visit the village, some of whom have built holiday homes there. Of these descendants and former inhabitants, some consider themselves Greek Macedonians and others ethnic Macedonians (see "Macedonia naming dispute").
THis was translated from a book on Grammohoria published in Greek in 1972
West of Monopylos and at a distance of about three kilometers was built
the village of Slimnitsa on the left bank of a small river which flowed
from the border of Albania and was connected with the aliakmonas river.
A small dry pit separated the neighborhoods (mahalades) the upper and
the lower mahala. It is not known when and by whom the village was
built.
Its first inhabitants were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.
later engaged in logging as well as the inhabitants of the neighboring
villages.
Yad two churches. Assumption of the Virgin Mary which was in the middle
of the village and was built in 1743 and Agios Athanasios built in 1872
on the hill and on the south-east side of the village .
Two priests were serving in the village. Papa Dimitris and Papa Nikolas
.
During the time of Ali Pasha, the inhabitants of Slimnitsa were forced
to emigrate to the village of "Cero" in Epirus, where they stayed for
several years. They returned to their homeland after the death of Ali
Pasha.
In 1878, when the revolution of Macedonia was proclaimed, Captain
Vassilios Farmakis, originally from Slimnitsa, came to the village with
his followers. with him was Dimitrios Dalipis from the village of Gavro
and declared a revolution and in the neighboring villages.Unfort
unately, the revolution could not prevail because the whole area is
surrounded by Albanian Muslim villages. The Turkish authorities of
Kastoria granted amnesty to the robber Abidis Albanian , originally
from the village of Sak (Komninades) and assigned him to pursue the
rebels Farmaki and Dalipi . In 1878, Abidis and a hundred of his
followers, as reported by the consul of the Monastery Petros Logothetis
to the Minister of Greece Theodoros Delligiannis, went to the village
of Slimnitsa to find them but they had gone to the village of
Grammousta.
Abidis with his team went to the village and instead of persecuting the
rebels, committed thefts and looting. utensils, furniture, animals and
animals used in labor work up to the relics and sacred utensils of the
churches.
After abusing the residents, he killed eight people, among whom was the
father of Alexandros Samaras. After abusing the inhabitants, he killed
eight people, among whom was the father of Alexandros Samaras. He
injured about three hundred women and children. A young man and two
women were taken prisoner, one of whom was said to be his wife and the
other his sister Dalipi and transported to Kastoria .Reports Anastasios
Piheos from Kastoria to the Consul of Thessaloniki Vatikilotis, most
residents of Slimnitsa after the disaster suffered by Ampidis, left the
village and went to Kastoria, where they stayed for two years.
After the liberation of Thessaly, some settled in Sykourio (Mega
Keserli), Larissa, where four hundred families live. some in Trikala,
Xyloparoiko, Varibopi, Volos, Aga Lamia, Larissa, Athens and Kalamas.
The current director of Emporiki Pisteos Bank Themelis told me that his
father is from Slimnitsa.Pharmacist Athanasios Tsoukas from
Thessaloniki comes from Slimnitsa.
Tourist attractions
Trilofos (Slimnitsa), Kastoria
Attractions include the ruins of the monastery of "St George", the chapel of "St Christopher" in the "Lower Slum" (Kato Mahalo), the church of "The Assumption of the Mother of God" (1743), which was destroyed by cannon bombs of the National Army during the Greek Civil War, and the church of "St Athanasius" (1874). Also noteworthy is a stone-covered fountain with relief decoration at the entrance to the village from Fousia[6] and the stone primary school, built in 1924 by Arvanite craftsmen[4] (Greeks speaking an Albanian dialect).
Name and administration
It is mentioned as Slimnitsa in 1918, after gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire, in the Official Gazette of Greece 259A – 29 December 1918, to designate the seat of the eponymous community, which then belonged to the prefecture of Florina. In 1941, with the Official Gazette 257A – 31 July 1941, it was included in the prefecture of Kastoria, and in 1950 with the Official Gazette 39A – 9 February 1950 it was renamed "Trilofon".[3] According to the Kallikratis Programme, together with Nestorio, Agia Anna (St Anna), Monopylo, Giannochori, Stena, Pefkos and Livadotopi form the local community Nestorio, which belongs to the municipality of Nestorio and, according to the 2011 census, has a population of 6 inhabitants.[1]
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