#kozani

Costume of a Lazarina from Kozani, Macedonia, Greece. The Lazarines are a custom of ancient origin. It is speculated to have been popularized by the Romans after their conquest of Greece and the Balkans and it was named the  “Rosalia” festival, which the Greeks called Ροδισμός (rhoðismós). During this celebration young girls and women sang, danced and gathered flowers in order to celebrate the spring.

The festival survived the establishment of Christianity and transformed into a celebration that takes place every Orthodox Lazarus Saturday in several south Slavic countries and northern Greece. Nowadays, it commemorates Lazarus’ resurrection by Jesus Christ, in an association of it with the rebirth of nature and life. 

Kozani Public Library

kozani

Δύο τσιγάρα κερασμένα και μια καθαρή μάτια , κάνανε την διαφορά , βλέπεις καμία φορά;

Who was the wreathed woman found lavishly buried on a bed beneath the foundations of a modern house in the Kozani village of Mavropigi? Was she a noblewoman or was she connected to the cult of Apollo? These are but two of many questions still being investigated by archaeologists and anthropologists studying the fascinating discoveries made beneath a recently demolished West Macedonia village.

Mavropigi is located 11 kilometers from Public Power Corporation’s Ptolemaida plant and the villagers were evacuated in 2011 when the land it stood on was appropriated by the state-owned electricity firm. What archaeologists have discovered during excavations at 50 locations since is that the area has been inhabited since Neolithic times (6500 BC) and was never completely deserted. This constant habitation is evidenced by residential and funerary artifacts brought to light before PPC started mining for lignite.

The death bed, brought to light in 2019 with the demolition of a house belonging to the Haitidi family, was one of the most exciting discoveries made at the site and was also the star exhibit at a recent online presentation of the archaeological work being done in the area.

rare-funerary-bed-discovered-in-lignite-mine2“The owner of the house, which was near the village square, was one of the last residents to leave. He refused to accept this forced evacuation,” says archaeologist Areti Chondrogianni-Metoki, who is the curator of Kozani antiquities and supervisor of the lignite mine excavations. The intact burial site has been dated to the late 1st century BC or early 2nd century AD and stands out for the pristine state of the death bed.