Veria

Veria Βέροια
Municipality
Panoramic view
UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	591 31, 591 32
Area code(s)	2331
Vehicle registration	ΗΜ
Website	www.veria.gr
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina)
Includes	Ancient City and Necropolis of Aegae Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumuli
Criteria	Cultural: (i)(iii)
Reference	780
Inscription	1996 (20th Session)
Area	1,420.81 ha (3,510.9 acres)
Buffer zone	4,811.73 ha (11,890.0 acres)

Veria (Greek: Βέροια or Βέρροια, romanized: Véroia or Vérroia; Aromanian: Veria^[2]), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea,^[3] is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located 511 kilometres (318 miles) north-northwest of the capital Athens and 73 km (45 mi) west-southwest of Thessaloniki.

Even by the standards of Greece, Veria is an old city; first mentioned in the writings of

.

The extensive archaeological site of

, lies 12 km (7 mi) south-east of the city center of Veria.

History

Classical and Roman Veria

The city is reputed to have been named by its

Veria surrendered to

records:

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

— 

Acts

17:10–15

Recent Discoveries

In December 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of an unfinished Roman-era statue of a young athletic man at Agios Patapios. The headless marble statue is about three feet tall. According to the Greece's Culture Ministry, the sculpture has similarities to statues of the Greek gods Apollo and Hermes.^[7][8][9]

Byzantine Veria

Under the

(see below).

In the 7th century, the

The city was apparently held by the

After the

The 14th century was tumultuous: the area was pillaged by

According to a tradition preserved by

Ottoman Veria

The Ottomans called Veria Karaferye ("black Veria"), because of its characteristic morning mist during the humid winter seasons.^[14][13] In 1519 (Hijri 925) the town had 231 Muslim and 578 Christian households.^[15] Under Ottoman rule, Veria was the seat of a kaza within the Sanjak of Salonica; by 1885, the kaza, along with Naoussa, included 46 villages and chiftliks.^[13] The 17th-century traveller Evliya Çelebi reports that the city was peaceful, without walls or garrison; it had 4000 houses, 16 Muslim quarters, 15 Christian quarters, and 2 Jewish congregations. The city was a prosperous center of rice production.^[13]

According to the 1881/82-1893 Ottoman General Census, the kaza of Veria (Karaferiye) had a total population of 25,034, consisting of 15,103 Greeks, 7,325 Muslims, 2,174 Bulgarians, 393 Jews, and 39 foreign citizens.^[16] Veria was an important regional center of Greek commerce and learning, and counted many important Greek scholars as its natives (e.g. Ioannis Kottounios)

Modern Veria

The presence of a large, prosperous and educated bourgeoisie made Veria one of the centers of Greek nationalism in the region of Macedonia, and the city's inhabitants had an active part in the Greek War of Independence; important military leaders during the uprising included Athanasios Syropoulos, Georgios Syropoulos, Dimitrios Kolemis and Georgios Kolemis, among others;^[17] however, as was the case with the rest of Northern Greece, eventually the uprising was defeated, and Veria only became part of modern Greece in 1912 during the Balkan Wars, when it was taken by the Hellenic Army on October 16, 1912 (October 16 is an official holiday in Veria, commemorating the city's incorporation to Greece), and was officially annexed to Greece following the signing of the Treaty of Athens in November 1913.^[13]

World War II

During

]

During the Occupation almost all of the Jewish community of the city was deported and exterminated by the Nazis.[18]

Postwar

Postwar Veria saw a significant rise in population, and a greatly improved standard of living. The 1980s and 1990s in particular were a period of prosperity, with the agricultural businesses and cooperatives in the fertile plains around Veria successfully exporting their products in Europe, the US and Asia. The discovery of the tomb of

), also made Veria a tourist destination.

Veria has a significant immigrant population, mainly from countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Ecclesiastical history

Berrhoea was a

.

The names of five of its bishops appear in extant contemporary documents:

• Gerontius took part in the
  Council of Sardica
  (c. 344),
• Lucas in the
  Robber Council of Ephesus
  (449),
• Sebastian in the Council of Chalcedon (451),
• Timothy in
  Patriarch Menas of Constantinople
  in 536, and
• Joseph in the
  Photius.^[19][20]

The Byzantine emperor

Latin titular see

The diocese of Berrhoea was nominally restored in 1933 by the

It has been vacant for decades, having the following incumbents:

• Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani (Italian) (1962.04.05 – 1962.04.20)
• Pierre-Auguste–Marie–Joseph Douillard (1963.05.22 – 1963.08.20) as emeritate
• Federico Kaiser Depel,
  M.S.C.
  (1963.10.29 – death 1993.09.26)

Local government — municipality

The municipality Veria was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units:^[22]

• Apostolos Pavlos
• Dovras
• Makedonida
• Vergina
• Veria

The municipality has an area of 796.494 km², the municipal unit 359.146 km².^[23]

Geography

Geology

Veria is located at 40º31' North, 22º12' East, at the eastern foot of the

River. The town straddles the Tripotamos (river), a Haliacmon tributary that provides hydroelectric power to the national electric power transmission network and irrigation water to agricultural customers of the Veria plain.

Climate

This section includes a improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (February 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

Veria has a humid subtropical climate (

). Snow typically falls once or twice a season. Major temperature swings between day and night are seldom.

Economy

The modern town has cotton and woolen mills and trades in wheat, fruit and vegetables. Lignite mines operate in the area. The largest wind farm in Greece is to be constructed in the Vermio Mountains by Acciona, S.A. It will consist of 174 wind turbines, which will be connected to the national electric power transmission network, generating 614 MW.

Transport

Road

Veria is connected to the motorway system of Greece and Europe through Egnatia Odos, the Greek part of the European route E90. It is also connected to more than 500 local and national destinations via the national coach network (KTEL).

Rail

.

Air

is the closest international airport, located 88 km (55 mi) east-northeast of Veria.

Culture

The city has a number of Byzantine monuments, as well as post-Byzantine churches built on Byzantine foundations.

Museums in Veria include the

There is also a 19th-century Jewish synagogue in the protected former Jewish neighbourhood in Barbuta.

The archaeological site of Aegae/Aigai (Αἰγαί; modern name

UNESCO World Heritage Site

, lies 12 km (7 mi) south-east of the city centre of Veria.

Every summer (August 15 to September 15) the "Imathiotika" festivities take place with a cultural program deriving mainly from Veria's tradition. The site of Elia has an extensive view of the Imathia plain. Neighboring

Seli

is a well-known ski resort and a few kilometers outside the city is the Aliakmonas river dam.

Education

Veria has one of the largest public libraries in Greece. Originally a small single-room library with limited funds and material, it expanded into a four-story building offering multimedia, and special and rare editions. Veria's public library collaborates with many international organizations and hosts several cultural events. In 2010, it won the Access to Learning Award (ATLA) prize nominated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the amount of $1.000.000. Since then, the library became a role model for other libraries in Greece.^[26]

The Department of

Twin towns — sister cities

Veria is

with:

• Strovolos, Cyprus (1993)^[28]
• Kazanlak, Bulgaria
• Rognac, France^[28]
• Užice, Serbia
• Cava de' Tirreni, Italy (2024)

Sports

Veria is home to many sports clubs. Most prominent is the handball team of Filippos Veria, competing in the first national division and which has won many championships (both national and international) over the last 40 years. The most famous is

(Greece's 1st division). Veria also has two basketball teams, AOK Veria and Filippos Veria, which compete in the local and third national division respectively.

Sport clubs based in Veria
Club	Founded	Sports	Achievements
Veria F.C.	1960	Football	Presence in A Ethniki (First division)
Filippos Verias	1962	Handball, Basketball	Panhellenic titles in Greek Handball, one of the most successful Handball teams in Greece
GE Veria		Handball	Panhellenic titles in Greek Handball
Pontioi Verias F.C.	1984	Football	Earlier presence in Beta Ethniki
AOK Veria	1998	Basketball	Earlier presence in A2 Ethniki women

Notable locals

Patriarch of Alexandria

• Sopater, kinsman of Saint Paul
• Demetrius Vikelas
  , Greek writer; the first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
• Konstantinos Raktivan, liberal politician, lawyer, Greek Council of State's first president, member of the Academy of Athens, speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
• Ioannes Kottounios, Renaissance humanist and philosopher
• Kallinikos Manios, scholar
• Konstantinos Kallokratos, teacher and poet
• Patriarch Metrophanes of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria
• Patriarch Nephon I of Constantinople
  , Ecumenical Patriarch (Constantinople)
• Sonia Theodoridou, Greek soprano
• Efthymios Varlamis, Greek architect, sculptor and painter
• Sedat Alp, Turkish archaeologist
• Michalis Chrysochoidis
  , Greek politician
• Yorgos Karamihos, Greek actor
• Mimis Papaioannou, Greek football player
• Kostas Tsartsaris, Greek professional basketball player
• Yiannis Arabatzis
  , footballer
• Pantelis Kafes, footballer
• Panagiotis Tsalouchidis, former football player
• Pavlos Kontogiannidis, actor, singer
• Dimitris Mavropoulos, actor and theatrical director
• Macedonian struggle, publicist against the Hellenization of Aromanians
  (Vlachs) in Macedonia
• George Murnu, Romanian university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator, and poet
• Elie Carafoli, Romanian engineer and aircraft designer
• Ion Caranica, Romanian, activist of Iron Guard death squads
• Sterie Ciumetti, Romanian, activist of Iron Guard
• Kyriakos Amiridis, Greek diplomat
• Konstadinos Stefanopoulos, Olympic race walker
• Sofia Ifantidou
  , Olympic record holder in heptathlon javelin throw
• Maria Ntanou, Olympic cross country skier

Gallery

• 
  Altar of

  Saint Paul
• 
  Statue of St Paul
• 
  The Byzantine Church of the Resurrection
• 
  Dormition fresco (1315) by Georgios Kalliergis in the Church of the Resurrection
• 
  View of Barabuta, Jewish quarter
• 
  Sts Kiriqos and Ioulitta Byzantine church (14th)
• 
  Christ fresco by Georgios Kalliergis (1315) in the Church of the Resurrection
• 
  Fresco in the Old Metropolis (14th)
• 
  Saint Antonios church (19th)
• 
  Veria Stadium
• 
  Traditional dress
• 
  Aerial view of the city during dusk

See also

• List of settlements in Imathia
• List of Catholic dioceses in Greece
• Bereans, various Protestant sects named after the city
• Murder of Alex Meschisvili

References

Sources and external links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Veria.

• Veria travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Veroia Municipality (official website)
• GCatholic

Bibliography – ecclesiastical history

• Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collection, passim
• Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 429
• Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, vol. II, coll. 69–74
• Raymond Janin, lemma '1. Berrhée' in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. VIII, 1935, coll. 885–887

Bibliography – synagogue and jewish history

• Μεσσίνας, Ηλίας. (2022). H Συναγωγή. Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Ινφογνώμων.
  ISBN 978-618-5590-21-5
• Messinas, Elias. (2022). The Synagogue of Veroia | Η Συναγωγή της Βέροιας. Seattle: KDP.
  ISBN 979-884-6836-06-8
• Messinas, Elias. (2022). The Synagogues of Greece: A Study of Synagogues in Macedonia and Thrace: With Architectural Drawings of all Synagogues of Greece. Seattle: KDP.
  ISBN 979-8-8069-0288-8