Ptolemaida

Archaeologists, in November 2005, discovered the remains of two farming villages dating back to the Neolithic period. A press report notes that such farming villages were trading centres and had a "developed knowledge of metalworking".[6]

A golden necklace dating to roughly 4500 BC was discovered on February 16, 2006.[6] Associated Press reporter Costas Kantouris describes the item as a "flat, roughly ring-shaped [which] probably had religious significance and would have been worn on a necklace by a prominent member of society."[6]

Lately in the lake Zazari near Ptolemaida there were found 16 houses that belong in the Neolithic era due to archaeologists. These houses were in the lake and were exposed because of the decreased water level of the lake. That particular small settlement gives information about the society and the people in the Neolithic era.

Ancient ceramic plate from Ptolemaida

Ancient Macedonian grave in Ptolemaida

In the area of Ptolemaida many archeological findings have occurred in the last 30 years due to mining operations. Ceramic artifacts, dating to the 6th century BC have been found at two sites near Grevena and Ptolemaida. Archaeologists found the artifacts at two prehistoric farming settlements. Two Ancient Macedonian graves have also been found in the area of Ptolemaida, dated from the 5th century BC.

In 336 BCE the area around Ptolemaida came under the control of expanding Kingdom of Macedon under Philip II. The Land of the Chords and the whole region of Eordea was fully incorporated into Macedon under Philip II and later his successor Alexander. Two of the six generals of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and Aristones are claimed to hail from Eordaia.

With the death of Alexander, his empire was divided and Macedon came under the control of Antigonus I. Macedon remained an important and powerful kingdom during both Wars of the Diadochi and later the Punic wars with Rome. There were many clashes during the long struggle between the Macedonians and the Romans who tried to enter the basin of Eordea and promote it into mainland Greece, but also because the area was a focal point as a secondary road passed through it. Macedon remained a force to be reckoned with until the Battle of Pydna (22 June 168 BC), in which the Roman general Aemilius Paulus defeated King Perseus of Macedon, ending the reign of the Antigonid dynasty over Macedonia.

For the period of Roman times we have a lot of information from historians referring to the region of Ptolemais and Eordaia. The Roman Egnatia highway, which was detached from the main artery after leaving the Straits of the Key, led to present-day Kozani and then, through the Sarantaporos Strait, to Thessaly. In 395, Ptolemaida and all of Macedonia became part of the Eastern Roman Empire.

At various times, Ptolemaida was part of the First Bulgarian Empire, Latin Empire, the Kingdom of Thessalonica, Second Bulgarian Empire, the Empire of Nicaea, the Despotate of Epirus and Serbian Empire.

During the Ottoman period, Ptolemaida was called Kayılar, and it had two parts: Aşağı Kayılar and Yukarı Kayılar. Aşağı Kayılar was Bektaşi and Yukarı Kayılar was Rufai, Hanefi.

Before 1360, large numbers of nomad shepherds, or Yörüks, from the district of Konya, in Asia Minor, had settled in Macedonia; their descendants were known as Konariotes.[3] Further immigration from this region took place from time to time up to the middle of the 18th century. After the establishment of the feudal system in 1397, many of the Seljuk noble families came over from Asia Minor; their descendants may be recognized among the Beys or Muslim landowners around Kayılar.[3] At the beginning of the 18th century, the Turkish population was quite considerable, but since that time until at least the early 20th century it continuously decreased.[3] A low birth rate, the exhaustion of the male population by military service, and a large mortality from epidemics brought about a decline which has lately been hastened by emigration.[3] The Turkish rural population around Kayılar was mainly composed of Konariot shepherds.[3] In the late 19th and early 20th century, Ptolemaida was part of the Manastir Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.

Ptolemaida was occupied by the Greek forces on 15 October 1912 during the First Balkan War, and later incorporated into the Greece. In 1924, the Turkish population was exchanged with Greeks from Anatolia following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Since then, Ptolemaida became a majority Greek city once again. In the 1970s, Greece's largest coal-fired power plants were built in the region of Ptolemaida, these increased pollution and it is expected these will be shut down by the year 2028.[7]