Ampelakia, Larissa
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Ampelakia Αμπελάκια |
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A view of Ampelakia
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 Ampelakia
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Location within the regional unit
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| Coordinates: 39°51′N 22°33′E / 39.850°N 22.550°ECoordinates: 39°51′N 22°33′E / 39.850°N 22.550°E | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Thessaly |
| Regional unit | Larissa |
| Municipality | Tempi |
| • Municipal unit | 54.447 km2 (21.022 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 450 m (1,480 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 355 m (1,165 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Municipal unit | 451 |
| • Municipal unit density | 8.3/km2 (21/sq mi) |
| Community | |
| • Population | 388 (2011) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 400 04 |
| Area code(s) | +30-2495-xxx-xxx |
| Vehicle registration | ΡΙ |
Ampelakia (Greek: Αμπελάκια) is a former community in the Larissa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tempi, of which it is a municipal unit and a municipal community. Ampelakia is also regarded as the historical seat of the municipality.
The municipal unit of Ampelakia comprises two separate municipal communities: Ampelakia (population 388) and Tempi (population (population 63) as of 2011[update]. The municipal unit has an area of 54.447 km2.
The traveler who will feel the need to visit the historical town of Ampelakia (named "The Jewel of Thessaly"), has to go up the well made road that starts from the Tempe Valley (the old Baba). After just 5 kilometers is Ampelakia. As we get closer to the town the mansion of George Mavros (Schwartz) stands out. There is an unsure knowledge to exactly when and who established Ampelakia because there are no clear documents that attest to this subject. The inscriptions of churches and the recollections of their liturgical elements are the most reliable records about its foundation.
The historian Elias Georgiou ("History and the Cooperative of Ambelakia", Athens 1951, p. 9) published the recollection of the Bishop of Platamon Gregorios, in the ritual which Nikos Gameos bought in 1580 and donated to the old church of Saint Paraskevi. Also, at the First Convention of Studies on Ambelakia, on the 13–15 August 1994, Kostas Spanos, the history researcher, stated that Ampelakia has existed as a settlement at least since the 14th century AD, which means that it is one of the Thessalian settlements of the last Byzantine era.
As far as concerns the name of the village, Ampelakia, some historians claim that it comes from the corruption of the word "Amfilakia" which means a village between two streams. But this is not right because the town is crossed by four streams and not two. The most possible version is that the name of the town comes from the fact that in the village and in the area around it there were a lot of vineyards ("Ambelia" in the Greek language). According to a rescued register of the vineyards in the year 1899, we know that there were 700 owners of vineyards who cultivated 1,100 acres (4.5 km2).
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