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The Greek state has systematically pursued a policy of Hellenisation following its independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1830s.[1][2] This ideology included replacing all geographical and topographic names with revived names rooted in Classical Greece – that is, any name deemed foreign, divisive against Greek unity, or considered to be "bad Greek" was hidden or assimilated.[2] The names that were considered foreign were usually of Albanian, Slavic or Turkish origin.[2] Byzantine Greek was considered bad Greek at the time of the establishment of the state until well after the Balkan Wars; accordingly those places were also renamed.[3][4]
The aim of the name changes was to cover the memory of the "dark past": meaning Roman, Frankish, Venetian, and especially Turkish rule. The name changes followed the territorial expanses of Greece and continued into the Greek Republic. They occurred in the Arvanite settlements in central Greece since 1830, in Thessaly since 1881, after the Balkan Wars in Macedonia since 1913, and Western Thrace since 1920. The last name changes occurred in 1998.[2]
Wherever possible, places were renamed after the learned names in Classical Greece, mainly by consulting Description of Greece by Pausanias.[2] The process of renaming was undertaken from two directions: "bottom-up" and "top-down". Central and southern Greece followed the "bottom-up" approach with different towns competing for the name of a nearby archaeological site. In this regard, even the Arvanites of Attica demanded that their place names be Hellenised. In contrast, the changes in the north were made "top-down" with a team of historians, folklorists, and archaeologists and archaising names foreign to the inhabitants were introduced. Railway companies also gave their stations ancient names so that European visitors could easily recognise them.[2]
By covering the "dark past" and recalling classical Greece the new names were selected to align historical consciousness with the national narrative. To this day, the use of the old Albanian, Slavic, or Turkish place names by authorities, organisations, and individuals is penalised under Greek law.[5][6] The result of these policies was a successful restoration of a distant past through nationalism to show that modern Greece was "really the same country as classical Greece".[2]
- ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From Historical Minorities to Immigrant Newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 49. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ a b c d e f g Zacharia, Katerina (2012). Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 230–233. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ Zacharia, Katerina (2012). Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 235. ISBN 9789004221529.
For example, the renowned Byzantine city-fortress of Monemvasia was temporarily renamed Epidaurus Limira, that is to say it was given an unknown name for which there was no authority. It was unclear whether only names that recalled the foreign conquerors ought to be changed, or if the modification of the name ought to consist of a general restoration of names of the Classical Era. This dilemma was explained by the fact that, at the time of the creation of the Greek state, the only "past" which was thought worthy of commemoration was the Classical Period. Ancient sites and monuments were subjected to the same procedure of erasing the medieval past. The image of the Parthenon we see now was created in the nineteenth century after the elimination from the Acropolis of all the buildings not belonging to the Classical Period of the fifth century BC. It was only after the Balkan wars in 1912-1913 that the Byzantine and medieval periods began to be thought capable of providing references in "space-time" for modern Greek ideology. However, even after the national ideology was enriched in these ways, Classical antiquity never lost its primacy.
- ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From Historical Minorities to Immigrant Newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 9789004221529.
One of the most revealing cases regards the change of the name of Ghioumoultzina/Gümülcine to Komotini: The Ottoman version of the name was very close to the old original Byzantine name Koumoutzina, but the more hellenised Komotini has prevailed. Report by the Committee on the place names in Greece to the Ministry of the Interior, 2.11.1921, AP 417, State General Archives of Athens, Collection Stamoulis, K85.c, 8, doc 085.
- ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From Historical Minorities to Immigrant Newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 9789004221529.
- ^ Whitman, Lois (1990). Destroying Ethnic Identity: The Turks of Greece. Human Rights Watch. p. 1. ISBN 9780929692708.
Since 1977, all Turkish village names have been changed to Greek names; it is forbidden to use Turkish names for official purposes, on pain of fines or imprisonment. In addition, giving the Turkish name in parentheses following the Greek name is not allowed. The Minority Rights Group, Minorities in the Balkans, op. cit., page 33.