Nikiti

Nikiti village

Nikiti (or Nikitas, greek – Νικητή) is one of the oldest villages of Halkidiki. It is located in the north of the Sithonia peninsula, 37 km east from Nea Moudania, approximately 90 km from Macedonia airport in Thessaloniki and between the villages Metamorfosi and Neos Marmaras.

Nikiti has approximately 2500 inhabitants. The village Nikiti consists of two parts, the old and the new village. They are split up by the main road Halkidiki – Sithonia.

The old Nikiti, the original village, is located closer to the internal part of Sithonia from the main road, you can see the typical Halkidiki homes from the road. Distance to the sea is approximately 2 km. The ‘new’ Nikiti, the newer village part, extends from the main road up to the sea.

Nikiti today

Nikiti is a very lively typical old greek village and has a lot of tourists in a high season. Picturesque landscape with pine tree forests, olive groves and beautiful beaches attract a lot of tourists here. The village has developed tourist infrastructure: hotels and apartments for rent from cheap to the luxury ones, car-rentals, cash-dispensers etc. There is a long beach promenade with a lot of restaurants, taverns, cafeterias, internet-Cafes and a lot of entertainments for children . There is a port in Nikiti where you can rent a boat and make a water journey.

Main occupation for inhabitants of Nikiti is tourism and agriculture (olives, sheep-and goat flocks and beekeeping). Nikiti is famous with its honey and produces 20 % of the Greek honey. There are a lot of honey stores in Nikiti where you can chose a honey according to your taste among more than 20 different types of it.

Events and places of interest in Nikiti

Every Friday morning: traditional market in Nikiti where you can buy the famous honey and other local products.

July: The famous “International Swimming Marathon of Toroneos Gulf”. The 26 km swimming marathon which starts from the Kassandra peninsula in Kalithea to Nikiti, is organized yearly by “Sithon”, the Cultural Youth Organisation of Nikiti.

The historical places of interest in Nikiti:

• The early Christian basilica of Sofroniou at St. George. Excavation is in progress, and so far has revealed a marvelous mosaic floor and impressive carved marble decoration (5th century).
• The old chapel of Agios Giorgos (St. George 18th century) stands on top of a second basilica of the 5th century.
• Basilica (5th century) as the early Christian church in Elia.
• Parts of the church of the Virgin Maria located in the village cemetery, where wall paintings from the end of the 16th century remained.
• The church of the patron saint St. Nikitas in the old village. Built in 1867, rebuilt 1949, with fine icons by the well-known painter George Paralis and a small collection of 17th century icons.
• The tower of 19th century windmills.

History of Nikiti

Before Nikiti. The ancient history of Nikiti remains still mainly unknown. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area of Nikiti has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Organized settlements existed during the classical and roman era. Remains of ancient Halkidiki homes have been found in Elia and Agios Georgios, Castri and Lagomandra, all of which are located at the seacoast. In particular, the area between Castri and Ai Yiannis was very probably the location of the ancient city of Galypsos named by Herodotus. According to today’s knowledge ancient Galypso was founded 5-6 km from Nikiti village. Roman historians suppose that the city of Fyskella was in the area. Some scientists claims that Galypsos and Fyskella were two different names for the same city. But the fact is that the area had been continuously inhabited during ancient times.

Creation of the old settlement in Nikiti. The local archeologist I. Papaggelos researched the most complete study about the origin of the name Nikiti and the creation of the settlement. According to his research, the first written document about the area of Nikiti is a census of the estates of the Monastery of Xenophontos in Mt. Athos, dated from 1300AD. The area is called land of Neakitou. In process of time the population grew and the small settlement became an independent village.

Turkish occupation period. The Ottomans begun the conquest of Macedonia at the end of the 14th century and they completed it emphatically with the dramatic siege and storming of Thessalonica in 1430. They recorded people, land and animals in order to get taxation. In that census, Nikiti was mentioned as the village Nikito in Halkidiki which had 35 Christian households (homes) with the population appr. 180 people. It is easily concluded that the name Nikito is derived from Neakitou. Furthermore, another census of 1519 mentioned Nikiti to have 95 homes and it was one of the largest villages in Halkidiki at that time. This means 450-500 inhabitants.
During the long period of Ottoman rule, Nikiti became one of the major settlements in Sithonia and in the whole of Halkidiki.
In 1821 (the year of Hellenic revolution for liberation from the Turkish occupation) Nikiti had almost 700 inhabitants and was one of the first villages which raised the revolution against the Turks. Nikitians fought and after the unsuccessful ending of the revolution, the Turks burnt down the village. That year many of Nikiti’s inhabitants had to leave their destroyed Halkidiki homes and with other Halkidiki villagers they moved to Northern Sporades, in Evia and in other islands of the Northern Aegean Sea. Even today immigrants of Nikiti – people who had left their village after the great disaster of 1821 are still living in those parts.
After successful liberation from turkish occupation a new era of recreation follows, the inhabitants rebuilt their destroyed houses. According to the documents of Bishop of Kassandra K. Chrysanthos, the Nikitians built the temple of St. Nikitas in 1867 in the same place where the church was built in earlier times. Behind the church the public school was built in 1870.
Nikiti was a well-organized community with 1000 inhabitants according to data taken from a newspaper in 1900.
Nikiti started to grow slowly to the sea from 1900 to 1910.

After liberation. In 1920 Nikiti had already a population of 1335 inhabitants and the first houses appeared along the beach. Every week the ship from Thessaloniki to Kavala passed through Nikiti, supplying salesmen and inhabitants with the goods from the city.
The earthquake in 1932 destroyed a lot of old Halkidiki homes, but people rebuilt it. After 1950 the village grown towards the sea very fast. Within a few years the area along the road has been built up.
Today the main road coming from Thessaloniki and leading around the Sithonia penisula divides Nikiti into the “old village” going to the mountains, and the newer part to the sea.

Property in Nikiti

Our company Dionisiou Real Estate suggests properties in Halkidiki, in Nikiti – apartments and houses. Nikiti with its perfect beaches, clear sea and picturesque landscapes will satisfy any expectations. You can choose the location of your dream Halkidiki home according to your taste – closer to active life or in a quite part of the village.