Siatista,West Macedonia,Greece

amalia lam posted a photo:

Siatista is a mountainous small town in West Macedonia .From the 17th until the 19th century it flourished thanks to the trade conducted by merchants in Siatista initially with other merchants in neighboring towns and then with the Balkan and Central Europe. Venice, Trieste, Bucharest, Belgrade and Vienna were familiar cities for the Siatistan merchants. The products they transferred included leathers, furs, saffron and imported cotton and silk fabrics, glass and porcelain, gilded mirrors with wooden frames, jewelry with precious stones etc. , many of which survive today in various families. That contact of the people from Siatista with the culture of free Europe resulted in the spiritual and social development and the rise in their living standards. The conditions of this general prosperity contributed to the development of art and especially of architecture. Fine examples of the 18th century architecture in Siatista are mansions, built by errant guilds (related) of Epir! us and Macedonian craftsmen. Thirty of them still survive today but with obvious signs of neglect and arbitrary repairs and additions.

Thanks all of you for your visit.

URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalia-lampri/7813581388/

Enclosure: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8442/7813581388_eda405d6fd_b.jpg