The Town at its Prime

The area belonged to the monastic property which the Ottoman conqueror of Macedonia, General Ghazi Evrenos, established, and his descendents maintained at Giannitsa. The pure Greek population which resettled enjoyed from the start certain particularly significant privileges, thanks to the intervention of valide sultana Mara Brankovich. These privileges allowed population to gather rapidly and the development of handcrafts (gunsmiths, goldsmiths, textiles, etc.). In parallel, they created circumstances conducive to the flourishing of a pure Greek community, self-governed and with its own guard. Thus, in combination with its economic development, we already have from the 17th century a small urban centre with a thousand homes, vineyards, gardens, a market and bazaar, which exerted significant economic influence in the area of Central Macedonia, and even further yet.

The 18th century finds Naoussa having achieved a fairly high level of development. Known mainly for its exceptional wine, significant educational and cultural activities develop in parallel to productive and commercial ones. Population almost doubles compared to the previous century. The area's development, however, is halted to a certain degree in 1804, by the subjection of Naoussa to Ali Pasha of loannina, who held it under his suzerainty until 1812. Many villages, mainly in the mountains surrounding Naoussa, still remained under his suzerainty even after 1812.