Siderokausia

Siderokausia (Greek: Σιδηροκαύσια), in Turkish rendered Sidrekap[i]si, was a silver and gold mine active in the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, located in the northeastern Chalkidiki peninsula in northern Greece. The settlements of the region are known to this day as Mademochoria (Μαντεμοχώρια, "mine villages"). In the Ottoman period, a coin mint was attached to the mine.

The area, which first appears under the name Siderokausia in the 9th century, is located in northeastern Chalkidiki, around Stratoniki. Following the Ottoman conquest of the region in the early 15th century, the area flourished once more. At its height, some 500 to 600 kilns were active for the processing of lead and zinc. By 1705, the Ottoman sultans had granted the twelve mining villages, or Mademochoria (Μαντεμοχώρια < Turkish maaden, "mine" + Greek χωριό, "village"), extensive autonomy and privileges, in exchange for the payment of one twelfth of the annual silver production. According to the English traveller William Martin Leake, the supervision of the mines, along with the government of the twelve villages (which he calls ελευθεροχώρια, "free villages"), was under an Ottoman official, the madem aghasi. The twelve villages were Anthemounta (modern Galatista), Vavdos, Riana, Stanos, Varvara, Liaringova (modern Arnaia), Novoselo (modern Neochori), Machalas (Stageira), Isvoro (modern Stratoniki), Chorouda, Revenikia (modern Megali Panagia), and Ierissos.

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