Velušina

Velušina
Velušina ; Велушина; Vellushinë
	Village
	Velušina church frescos
	Velušina Location within North Macedonia
	Coordinates: 40°55′N 21°21′E
Country	North Macedonia
Region	Pelagonia
Municipality	Bitola
Population (2002)
• Total	160
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Car plates	BT
Website	.

Velušina (Macedonian: Велушина, Albanian: Vellushinë) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Bistrica.

Velušina is located 15 kilometers south of Bitola (Битола) on route R2333 (about six kilometers north of the border with Greece) at the foot of Mount Baba in the Pelagonija (Пелагонија) Valley. The Velushka River (Велушка Река) flows through the village.

Name

Etymologically the name of the village originates from the local Slavic phrase Velika Elyeusa (велика Елеуса – Велеушина), referring to the main village Church of the Holy Mother of God (Богородица Елеуса, Bogoroditsa Elyeusa) which is situated in the village.[1] It is a similar situation to Veljusa's (Вељуса), near Strumica, where the church of the Most-Holy Merciful Theotokos is located.

The church of the Merciful Theotokos in Velušina is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, it is a paleochristian basilica built on the 4th-5th century, during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. It is situated in the southeastern part Velušina near the ancient Via Egnatia and the old road from Kastoria to Irakleia. Today it is known by the local population as the "old church".

Demographics

In statistics gathered by Vasil Kanchov in 1900, the village of Velušina was inhabited by 920 Macedonian Christians.[2] In 1905 in statistics gathered by Dimitar Mishev Brancoff, Velušina was inhabited by 880 Patriarchist Macedonians and had a school.[3] According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 160 inhabitants.[4] Ethnic groups in the village include:[4]

Notable people

Petros Christou (1987 - 1908), Greek teacher and chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle

References

Роберт Михајловски. Од духовното наследство на Via Egnatia: црквите Успение на Богородица од Велушина и Богородица Пречиста од Граешница
Vasil Kanchov (1900). Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics. Sofia. p. 236.
D.M.Brancoff (1905). La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne. Paris. pp. 168-169.
Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 69.

External links

Visit Macedonia

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[1] Роберт Михајловски. Од духовното наследство на Via Egnatia: црквите Успение на Богородица од Велушина и Богородица Пречиста од Граешница

[2] Vasil Kanchov (1900). Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics. Sofia. p. 236.

[3] D.M.Brancoff (1905). La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne. Paris. pp. 168-169.

[Statisticaloffice-4] Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 69.