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Sfika

Coordinates: 40°42′44″N 21°08′52″E / 40.71222°N 21.14778°E / 40.71222; 21.14778
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Sfika
Settlement
Sfika is located in Greece
Sfika
Sfika
Coordinates: 40°42′44″N 21°08′52″E / 40.71222°N 21.14778°E / 40.71222; 21.14778
CountryGreece
Administrative regionWestern Macedonia
Regional unitFlorina
MunicipalityPrespes
Municipal unitPrespes
CommunityKaryes
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Sfika (Greek: Σφήκα, before 1926: Μπεσφίνα – Besfina;[1][2] Bulgarian[3] and Macedonian: Бесвина, Besvina)[4] was a village in Florina Regional Unit, Macedonia, Greece. It was part of the community of Karyes. The village had an altitude of 1,180 m (3,870 ft).[5]

The inhabitants of the village were masons.[6] Among them in Besfina were master builders and carpenters who worked seasonally in the surrounding villages, in Bitola district and the wider region of Western Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, the Greek islands and Athens.[7] Limited arable land and difficult living conditions of the late Ottoman era and early Greek period made some villagers immigrate to Toronto, Canada.[7] The Besfina immigrants in Toronto participated in the early Bulgarian community to build church infrastructure.[8]

The population was 318 in 1920 and 322 in 1928.[9] Sfika was a Slavic Macedonian village.[10] A visit by the Florina district governor in 1929 reported of "anti–state sentiments" in the village along with resentment toward the government and taxes.[10]

The population of Sfika was 294 in 1940.[5][9] In the Greek Civil War, the village was occupied by the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG).[11] In 1951, Sfika was depopulated and the last time mentioned in the Greek census.[11] Sfika was abandoned and only ruins remain.[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Institute for Neohellenic Research. "Name Changes of Settlements in Greece: Besfina – Sfika". Pandektis. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  2. ^ Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government. "Διοικητικές Μεταβολές των Οικισμών: Μπεσφίνα – Σφήκα" [Administrative Changes of Settlements: Besfina – Sfika]. EETAA (in Greek). Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  3. ^ Traykov, Veselin (1993). История на българската емиграция в Северна Америка: От началото ѝ през средата на XIXв. до 80–те години на XX век [History of Bulgarian Emigration to North America: From its beginning in the mid–19th century to the 1980s] (in Bulgarian). St. Kliment Ohridski University Press. p. 317. ISBN 9789540702063.
  4. ^ Argirovski, Mito (1999). "Прилог кон етимолошкиот речник на македонскиот јазик" [Contribution to the etymological dictionary of the Macedonian language]. In Kramer, Christina; Cook, Brian (eds.). Guard the Work Well Bound: Proceedings of the Third North American–Macedonian Conference on Macedonian Studies (in Macedonian). Vol. 10. Indiana Slavic Studies. p. 165. ISSN 0073-6929.
  5. ^ a b Laiou 1987, p. 80.
  6. ^ Hart, Laurie Kain (2004). "How to Do Things with Things: Architecture and Ritual in Northern Greece". In Yatromanolakis, Dimitrios; Roilos, Panagiotis (eds.). Greek Ritual Poetics. Harvard University Press. p. 404. ISBN 9780674017924.
  7. ^ a b Petroff, Lillian (1985). "Sojourner and Settler: The Macedonian Presence in the City, 1903–1940". In Harney, Robert F. (ed.). Gathering Place: Peoples and Neighbourhoods of Toronto, 1834–1945. Multicultural History Society of Ontario. pp. 177–178. ISBN 9780919045187.
  8. ^ Kostov, Chris (2010). Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996. Peter Lang. p. 136. ISBN 9783034301961.
  9. ^ a b Ntassiou 2022, p. 368. "Sfika; Census_2011: 0; Census_1981: 0; Census_1928: 322; Census_1940: 294; Census_1920: 318"
  10. ^ a b Koliopoulos, John S. (1999). Plundered Loyalties: Axis Occupation and Civil Strife in Greek West Macedonia, 1941–1949. Hurst. p. 44. ISBN 9781850653813.
  11. ^ a b Laiou, Angeliki E. (1987). "Population Movements in the Greek Countryside during the Civil War". In Bærentzen, Lars; Iatrides, John O.; Langwitz Smith, Ole (eds.). Studies in the History of the Greek Civil War, 1945–1949. Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 80, 82. ISBN 9788772890043.
  12. ^ Ntassiou, Konstantina (2022). "Studying abandoned settlements' renaissance in the context of rural geography: perspectives for Prespes, Greece". European Planning Studies. 30 (2): 375. Bibcode:2022EurPS..30..359N. doi:10.1080/09654313.2021.1957085. "Sfika, Population < 150 (in 2011 census): YES; Proportion gradual difference 2011–1981 (%): 0; Pre-existing in 1923: YES; Characterization: abandoned; Type of architecture: ruins"
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