Meliti

Meliti Μελίτη
Florina city- in the background is the electricity power plant of Meliti.
Meliti
Coordinates: 40°49.80′N 21°34.88′E / 40.83000°N 21.58133°E / 40.83000; 21.58133Coordinates: 40°49.80′N 21°34.88′E / 40.83000°N 21.58133°E / 40.83000; 21.58133
Country	Greece
Administrative region	West Macedonia
Regional unit	Florina
Municipality	Florina
Municipal unit	Meliti
Highest elevation	680 m (2,230 ft)
Lowest elevation	680 m (2,230 ft)
Population (2011)
• Rural	1,432
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Meliti (Greek: Μελίτη, before 1926: Βοστεράνη - Vosterani,Macedonian: Овчарани) is a village in the Florina regional unit, Greece, 15 km northeast of the city of Florina. It is part of the municipal unit Meliti.

The name of the village is "Voshterani", "Voštarani" (Воштарани, Вощарани) or "Ovčarani" (Овчарани) in both Macedonian and Bulgarian. The village was called Türbeli during the Ottoman Empire. In 1926, it was renamed to "Meliti" in Greek.

The village was first mentioned in an Ottoman defter of 1481, where it was listed under the name Voštarani and described as having one hundred and ninety-eight households. During the Ottoman period, the village had a mixed Bulgarian and Turkish population. In 1845 the Russian slavist Victor Grigorovich recorded Vushtarani (Вуштарани) as mainly Bulgarian village. A Bulgarian school stood in the village at the beginning of 20th century.

After the Balkan Wars, Greece annexed the village. In World War I, Bulgaria occupied it, but with Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine it was returned to Greece. After the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), the Turkish population left the village and 182 refugees (40 families) from Pontus and East Thrace were settled there. After the defeat of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941, a local government was established and villagers were actively involved in the pro-Bulgarian organization "Ohrana." In 1946, 20 activists from "Ohrana", were sentenced to prison by a court in Florina. During the Greek Civil War, about 200 villagers joined the Communist-led Democratic Army of Greece. After the Greek Civil War, 66 Macedonian and 12 Pontic families left the village.