Sklithro-Zelenic-Sebalci

The village of Sklithro is located in the province of Florina, Greece.

Before 1913, the village was known as Zelenich, situated in the region of Lerin within the Ottoman Empire. Following the Balkan Wars and the redrawing of borders, the village became part of the Greek state. On August 20, 1927, its name was officially changed to Sklithro.

The 1913 map shown here records Zelenic as a village inhabited by a mixed population of Christian Macedonians and Turkish Muslims. This coexistence shaped village life until the early decades of the twentieth century, when political decisions far beyond the village transformed its people and its future.

This website is dedicated to the people who came from and still live in Sklithro-Zelenic-Sebalci located in Aegean Macedonia. As you browse through the website, you will be taken on a journey from Neolithic times to the present. The narrative of this village is a compilation of documented material intertwined with the oral history passed on by our grandparents. We hope to also include stories and pictures of your ancestors who had to leave the village because of forced and or voluntary migration.

The story of the village is built from documented historical sources, maps, and records, interwoven with the oral histories passed down by our grandparents—stories remembered, retold, and carried across generations. Together, they form a living record of place, memory, and belonging.

We also seek to preserve the stories and photographs of those whose ancestors were forced—or chose—to leave the village through migration. Of particular importance are the stories of the village’s Muslim inhabitants, who were compelled to depart as a result of the 1923 Greco-Turkish population exchange. At that time, nearly one third of Zelenic’s population was Muslim. Their departure left a profound absence, soon followed by the arrival of Christian Orthodox refugees from Asia Minor, themselves displaced and of mixed national and cultural backgrounds.

This site exists to remember all of them.

If you have family stories, photographs, documents, or personal connections to Sklithro–Zelenich–Sebalći, we warmly invite you to share them. By adding your voice, you help ensure that the village’s history remains whole—honoring those who stayed, those who left, and those who were never able to return.