Country Greece Vehicle registration ΡΑ Local time Saturday 5:50 AM Administrative region Western Macedonia | Time zone EET (UTC+2) Elevation 620 m Municipality Florina Regional unit Florina | |
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Weather 4°C, Wind NW at 19 km/h, 84% Humidity | ||
Kato Kleines (Greek: Κάτω Κλεινές, before 1926: Κάτω Κλέστινα - Kato Klestina, Bulgarian and Macedonian Slavic: Долно Клештино, Dolno Kleštino) is a village and a former municipality in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Florina, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 188.564 km2. It is 7 km north of the city of Florina. The population was 2,735 in 2011.
Contents
Map of Kato Kalliniki 531 00, Greece
History
The village was first mentioned in an Ottoman defter of 1468, where it is listed under the name of Kleshtino and described as having ninety-seven households. In 1481, the village possessed two hundred and thirteen households, a church, mills, and a kiln. The Turkish documents suggest a prosperous place, noting the production of vines, walnuts, onions, garlic, cabbage, peas, flax, honey, pigs, and silkworms.
In 1845 the Russian slavist Victor Grigorovich recorded Kleshtina (Клештина) as mainly Bulgarian village. Johann Georg von Hahn in his map from 1861 marked the village as Bulgarian, too. Besides Slav-speaking population there were 150 Albanians in Kato Kleines in the end of 19th century.
After Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) and Population exchange between Greece and Turkey a number of Pontic Greeks were settled in the village of Kato Kleines and in some other villages in the municipality - Kato Kalliniki, Polyplatano, Mesokampos and in the new-founded Neos Kafkasos.