A Visit to Naoussa – Home of the Genitsaroi and Boulos Carnival

During my five days in Edessa I’d more or less exhausted all the key attractions so yesterday I decided to visit the neighbouring town of Naoussa. Naoussa is famous for its vineyards and winemaking. In the past it also had a thriving wool industry and many households in Greece would have had a blanket made in Naoussa. However, it was several years ago whilst researching the Carnivals of Greece that the town came to my attention. Naoussa along with a couple of other places had made it onto my shortlist but not the final cut. However, being so close to Edessa, I thought I’d pay a visit to the town to see if it was a place I’d like to visit for Carnival in the future.

Edessa train station is around a 20-minute walk from my apartment, located on the outskirts of the town. Not as handy as the bus station which is less than 20 metres away though you wouldn’t even notice it was there unless you needed to use it.

It’s a rather quaint station with old abandoned carriages now the canvas for some interesting street art. The train was already in the station with its diesel engine chugging away. I called into the office on the left where the train staff and station master were drinking coffee and having a smoke. They confirmed the train times and directed me to the ticket office next door.

From Edessa there is one train that departs at 1555 arriving in Naoussa at 1625. The return train departs Naoussa at 2020 giving me around 3.5 hours in the town. Interestingly the ticket price online was 2€ per way. When I bought a return ticket at the station it was 1.60€ per way.

https://www.hellenictrain.gr/en

The only unknown is according to Google Maps, Naoussa train station is about 7km from the centre of Naoussa town. I boarded the train on a wing and prayer, hoping the station would be manned or have at least one waiting taxi.

The journey was a pleasant one that took me past acres upon acres of fruit orchards of different varieties. Although they are still bare-stemmed, they are grouped by type and each have their different forms and habit. Fruit thrives well in these parts not just because of the microclimate and the soil. It’s also the cold snap of winter followed by the warmth of the spring that forces the fruit trees out of their dormancy. I liken it to going into cardiac arrest, being given CPR and then grasping life with both hands and appreciating the joys of being alive.

My prayer was answered. The station was manned and there was a waiting taxi. The driver took me to the centre of the town, giving me his card to call him to take me back later. The cost was 8€.

To my left was the Municipal Park of Naoussa which seemed as good a starting point as any. From here I could see that Naoussa, like Edessa was set on a high plateau above the flat fertile plains and at the foot of Mount Vermio.

The park pays homage to its fallen heroes including Antonios Miggas, son of Naoussa and brave Macedonian fighter. He met his demise after being captured by the Bulgarians during the Greek struggle for Macedonia. Along with his fellow officer Agapinos, they were both killed by hanging in nearby Karydia from a walnut tree. More information available in the Yessios Museum in Edessa.

Sitting on top of the cliff is a memorial to the 1241 Naoussians who died fighting for their freedom during the 1822 massacre.

Although there weren’t any festivities taking place in Naoussa this evening, Carnival fever has definitely begun. Running along the edge of the park on the main street is a string of temporary stalls selling hot dogs, candy floss, bubble waffles (whatever they are) and children’s plastic toys that whirr and light up. The streets are festooned with ribbons and masks (Prosopo) which is emblematic of the Naoussa Carnival.

The festival of the Genitsaroi and Boulos is said to have originated from Dionysian times. Originally called Boula/Boulos, the festival represented the rites of passage into manhood for the young men of the town. Only single men took part in the carnival. The Boulos or bride was a man dressed as a woman. The ritual would involve the bride’s clothes being removed to be replaced by the traditional clothes of a man.

In 1705 when the region was under Ottoman occupation. The Turkish occupiers attempted to recruit the Naoussian youth into their army but were met with violent resistance. The Turks were slaughtered and the young men fled to the mountains. Revenge was swift and the young men were hunted down and killed.

In an act of defiance, instead of mourning their dead, they dressed in their Armitole uniform and to conceal their identity, covered their faces in a white mask called a Prosopo. On the anniversary of the massacre, the event was reenacted during the Boulos Carnival wearing this costume. Since then this addition to the festival was incorporated into the traditional Boulos to become the Genitsaroi and Boulos Carnival. The word Genitsaroi is said to be a derivation of the name Dionysus. (Dionysus – Gianysus – Gianytsarus – Genitsaros) though I’d read that it is also Turkish for New Soldier (Janissary). Any info would be much appreciated.

Naoussa is an attractive town that gradually climbs up towards Mount Vermio whose snowy caps peep out between the buildings. It’s a modern town made up of apartments and a large shopping centre. There is also some very striking street art dotted around the town part of the Naoussa Street Art Festival.

The architecture of the town is predominently modern though I did spot a couple of traditional houses sandwiched between the concrete blocks.

It’s a shame that the timings of the train meant that I’d missed the opening times of the museums. The Wine and Vine Museum, the Folklore Museum and the Local History Museum would have been interesting. Nonetheless in my whistlestop tour I spotted a few interesting landsmarks. The Clock Tower, the traditional Water Mill (Water Wheel) and the former textile mill The Vetlans Old Mill, now a trendy wine bar overlooking the valley below.

Before I prepared to leave Naoussa I wanted to buy a little souvenir for my office. Working for a travel agency that specialises in Greek travel, my office space is very representative of that. I’m not much of a souvenir shopper but sometimes something just takes my fancy. I found a little haberdashery shop that had tiny replicas of the Prosopo mask. The shop and the old man that owned it was utterly charming. He wrapped the mini mask carefully for me and then took down a flat stone with pictures of him and his family dressed in carnival garb. In his broken English he explained the generations of his family that had taken part of Carnival. He, his brothers and his sons – though he told me “Me no dance now!.

It was now time to head back to the train station to return to Edessa. I phoned the taxi driver who picked me up from the municipal park. It was rather eerie at the empty train station though I took some respite in the fact that the taxi driver stayed in the car park waiting for arriving passengers. Five minutes before the train arrived, so did a handful of other passengers. I’ll never get used to having to walk across the tracks to get on train! That’s enough adventure for one day!

You can also visit Naoussa from Thessaloniki as part of a day trip to visit the wineries and the surrounding Pella region.