Stratoniki is one of the mountainous villages of the Municipality of Aristotelis, perched on Mount Stratoniko, with an expansive view of the Bay of Ierissos and the Athonian peninsula. It was part of the 12 Mademohoria villages, and its inhabitants traditionally worked in the mines. It is believed that the village was built by the Macedonian king Perdiccas in honor of his sister Stratonike. Essentially, the present-day village, with approximately 800 residents, is connected with Stageira.
The history of the Stratoniko area is linked to its mineral-rich land—mostly silver—as popular tradition suggests, dating back to the time of Alexander the Great. Stratoniki, due to the nearby Black Stones (Mavri Petra) deposit, is filled with tunnels beneath. Some of the old houses of Stratoniki have been preserved, and among them, the four-story Athanasiadis mansion stands out. This house belonged to an elderly merchant from Constantinople who came here in 1890. The house was furnished luxuriously, with even silver door handles.
HISTORICAL DETAILS
Stratoniki experienced great prosperity from 1530 AD, after Sultan Suleiman I reorganized the Ottoman Empire’s mining operations, which had been known in the area since Byzantine times as Siderokapsia (or Siderokapsi, Senter-kapisi). The prosperity of the mines transformed Stratoniki into a large and thriving center, employing about 6,000 workers in 500-600 furnaces scattered across the mountains. During those years, alongside Greeks, workers of other nationalities such as Bulgarians, Serbs, Vlachs, Circassians, Turks, Albanians, Jews, and even Germans as technicians flocked to the area.
The area became a small “Babel,” with many languages heard from the workers who had arrived from all over. Greek could be heard from workers and residents of the surrounding villages, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) from the many Jewish merchants and moneylenders, as well as several Balkan languages. Interestingly, on Saturdays, the Jewish shops closed, and the market became quiet, while on Sundays, the Christians did not work. Thus, paradoxically, a peculiar weekend holiday was observed!
In the Siderokapsia, it is likely that a mint was operating from the time of Sultan Murad II (1421-1451). However, by the mid-16th century, it is estimated that the sultan received from the mines a monthly mineral output worth 20,000-30,000 golden coins—an enormous sum for that time.
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