Ouranoupoli
village in Chalkidiki, Greece
Ouranoupoli (Greek: Ουρανούπολη, lit. 'Sky City', formerly Ouranopolis) is an ancient city and a modern village in Chalcidice, Greece. It is part of the municipality Aristotelis.
Location
The village of Ouranoupoli is situated on the coastline in the northwest part (the very beginning) of the Athos peninsula, part of the bigger Chalkidiki peninsula. It is the last settlement before the border with the monastic state of Mount Athos (the Holy Mountain). The city of Thessaloniki is about 140 km from Ouranoupoli and approximately 140 km from the city of Kavala.
History
The village was named after the nearby ancient city of Uranopolis that was founded by Cassander's brother Alexarchus in the late 4th century BC. and was later destroyed by an earthquake.
In the 1920s, many Greek refugees from Asia Minor (now Turkey) settled in the village and established rug manufacturing.
In 1926, the old Tower of Prosforion was leased from the monks of Vatopedi to Sydney and Joice Loch who were based there till their deaths in 1955 and 1982. The tower now houses the Christian Chalkidiki Exhibition.
In 1956, a road was built to the village along the old pilgrim route.
“Ouranoupoli” enters the record as village in Chalkidiki, Greece. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ouranoupoli, village and Chalkidiki can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ouranoupoli” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ouranoupoli, village and Chalkidiki provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q430886. The first chronological checks are 1926, 1955, 1982 and 1956.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ouranoupoli”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ouranoupoli primary sources, Ouranoupoli archive and Ouranoupoli research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ouranoupoli”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ouranoupoli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.