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Periphery: Thessaly
Prefecture : Larissa

Municipality Gonnoi

Gonnoi (Greek: Γόννοι) is a former municipality in the Larissa peripheral unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tempi, of which it is a municipal unit.[1] Population 3,119 (2001). The municipality was created under the Kapodistrias Law in 1997 out of the former communes of Gonnoi, Kallipefki, Itea and Elia.

Nearest places

Kato Olympos, north
Makrychori, south
Ampelonas, west
Ampelakia, east

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Gonnoi is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):

Gonnoi (Gonnoi, Elaia)
Itea
Kallipefki

Population
Year Settlement population Municipal district population Municipality population
1981 2,660 - -
1991 2,443 - 3,622
2001 2,190 2,288 3,119

After World War II and the Greek Civil War, the population steadily declined as residents moved to larger towns and cities and the richest countries in the world, the population declined between 1981 and 2001.

Ancient Gonnoi

In a hillside near the contemporary Gonnoi, called "Kastri" (i.e. castle), lies the ancient city of Gonnoi.

Resolution by the city of Gonnoi about the election of a representative in Eleusinian Mysteries and Panathenaea, end of 3rd c BC

History

The area was later ruled by the Kingdom of Macedonia, the Roman, the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires, the final non-Greek rule lasted for several years, its name during the Ottoman rule was Dereli (Δερελή or Ντερελή), it saw the Greek War of Independence of 1821 to end its struggle but they lost and continued until 1881. Gonnoi fully became a part of Greece after liberating much of Thessaly in 1881, when Greeks from near places came to replace Turks that moved away. Its main income has been poor. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, many buildings were rebuilt, several remain and repaired. Electricity and automobiles arrived in the 1960s, it was linked with pavement in the late-20th century, television arrived in the 1980s. Internet and computers arrived in the late-1990s.

Division of the municipality

Gonnoi / Δ.δ. Γόννων [ 2288 ]
- Gonnoi / οι Γόννοι [ 2190 ]
- Elaia / η Ελαία [ 98 ]
Ita / Δ.δ. Ιτέας -- η Ιτέα [ 291 ]
Kallipefki / Δ.δ. Καλλιπεύκης -- η Καλλιπεύκη [ 540 ]

Kallipefki

Kallipefki is a mountain village (alt. around 1054 m). It is named since 1927 Kallipefki (nice pine) after the pine tree forest in the region. In the past it was near a lake called Askyritida which was drained in 1911. The population was 540 in 2001. Kallipefki is around 56 km from Larissa.