Rentina, Thessaloniki

Rentina
Ρεντίνα
Rentina is located in Greece
Rentina
Rentina
Location within the regional unit
Coordinates: 40°40′N 23°37′E / 40.667°N 23.617°E / 40.667; 23.617
CountryGreece
Administrative regionCentral Macedonia
Regional unitThessaloniki
MunicipalityVolvi
Area
 • Municipal unit128.77 km2 (49.72 sq mi)
Elevation
35 m (115 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Municipal unit
4,874
 • Municipal unit density38/km2 (98/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Agia Marina church
Remains of the fortress

Rentina (Greek: Ρεντίνα) is a village and a former municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been a municipal unit within the municipality of Volvi.[2] Its population was 4,874 in 2021. The municipal unit has an area of 128.770 km2.[3] The seat of the (former) municipality was in Stavros. The village Rentina (pop. 115 in 2021), part of the community Volvi, lies at the eastern end of Lake Volvi.

The well preserved Rentina fort served as a strategic strong hold on the Mygdonian basin, overseeing Via Egnatia, at the most eastern domain of thema Thessalonikon and adjacent to thema Strymonikon, particularly during the last 200 years of the Byzantine Empire. References on the last military company that served at Rentina are reflected in the recordings of megas domestikos John Kantakouzenos who as participant observer specified in his History that: "[in July–August of 1334] between Thessaloniki and the fort of Rentina situated on a hill by the shore of lake Bolbi Emperor Andronikos III laid camp for his army, at a certain village known as that of the Cretans which was inhabited by an army of Cretans who for a cause had risen up and moved off the island".[4]

  1. ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ "ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
  3. ^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece.
  4. ^ Agelarakis, P. A. (2012), Cretans in Byzantine foreign policy and military affairs following the Fourth Crusade. Cretika Chronika, 32, 41-78.