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Kalamaria (Municipality, Greece)

Καλαμαριά

Flag of Kalamaria, two versions - Images by Thanos Tzikas, 10 July 2003, and Olivier Touzeu, 14 October 2013, respectively

Presentation of Kalamaria
Flag of Kalamaria

See also:

Presentation of Kalamaria

The municipality of Kalamaria (91,279 inhabitants in 2011; 640 ha) lies next to Thessaloniki, to which it separated on 1 January 1943.
The municipality was not changed with the 2011 local government reform.

Though the area has been inhabited since the ancient years, the name "Kalamaria" appeared in 1083 for the first time. It must mean kali meria ("a nice place") or skala meria (the place of the skala, which was the name for a Byzantine naval station). Most of Kalamaria's people came after 1922 and the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. They were Greeks who lived in Pontos, Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace.
Kalamaria has seen substantial recent growth as part of a population shift from rural and urban areas to suburban areas, particularly to those east of Thessaloniki.

Thanos Tzikas & Olivier Touzeu, 14 October 2013

Flag of Kalamaria

The flag of Kalamaria (municipal website) is white with "Argo", the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship "writes" ΔΗΜΟΣ ΚΑΛΑΜΑΡΙΑΣ (Municipality of Kalamaria) above the sea waves. The Kokkonis website shows the flag with the year "1943 (the year Kalamaria became a municipality) added under the ship.
The municipal website shows the emblem either with or without "1943"; accordingly, the two flags must be used, too.

Thanos Tzikas & Olivier Touzeu, 14 October 2013