Drama County, Greece Genealogy

Greece

Drama County

Guide to Drama County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

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History

Drama is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the town of Drama. The regional unit is the northernmost within the geographical region of Macedonia and the westernmost in the administrative region of East Macedonia and Thrace.

Drama (Wikipedia)

Geography

Drama (Greek: Δράμα) is a city and municipality in northeastern Greece. Drama is the capital of the regional unit of Drama which is part of the East Macedonia and Thrace region. The town (pop. 44,823 in 2011) is the economic center of the municipality (pop. 58,944), which in turn comprises 60 percent of the regional unit's population. The next largest communities in the municipality are Choristi (pop. 2,725), Χiropótamos (2,554), Kallífytos (1,282), Kalós Agrós (1,178), and Koudoúnia (996). Built at the foot of mount Falakro, in a verdant area with abundant water sources, Drama has been an integral part of the Hellenic world since the classical era.

Municipalities

Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.

New municipality Old municipalities 2. Doxato Doxato Kalampaki 1. Drama Drama Sidironero 3. Kato Nevrokopi Kato Nevrokopi 4. Paranesti Paranesti Nikiforos 5. Prosotsani Prosotsani Sitagroi Villages List of villages in Drama County List of former toponyms in Drama Prefecture (County) Village names during the Ottoman Empire, etc. Many settlements in Macedonia region in Northern Greece had Greek and non-Greek forms. Most of those names were in use during the multinational environment of the Ottoman Empire. Some of the forms were identifiably of Greek origin, others of Slavic, yet others of Turkish or more obscure origins. Municipal Archives Quite comprehensive records for your family, perhaps for several generations, are kept by the mayor's office of each municipality. Civil registers of birth, marriage, and death since 1925 are kept there. In addition, an important record, unique to Greece, the Dimologion is similar to a "family group record". Census records, contracts, and other records can be found. Information About Important Records in Municipality Archives Click on the links for an explanation on the types of records you will look for at the municipality level. Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon) Town (Resident) Registers (Dimotologion) Writing to Municipal Archives Municipality addresses for Drama County Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality Asking for a Birth record Asking for a Death record Asking for Family Structure (Dimitologion) Follow up Thank You letter Greek National Archives and Drama Archives The Greek National Archives (GAK or GSA) has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS). Some records are online. Others are not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request. See How to Navigate the Greek National Archives. Holdings Online records Contact information for services General State Archives (GSC) Dafni 61 15452 Psychiko Greece Phone:+30 210-6782200 FAX:+30 210-6782215 E-mail:archives@gak.gr Drama Archives Nomos DRAMA Ipeírou 16 66100 Dráma Greece Phone: 25210-45025 Fax: 25210-45025 E-mail: mail@gak.dra.sch.gr Website Online Files of the Prefecture (County) Drama Writing to the Greek National Archives (GAK) or the Drama Office of the GAK Again, not all records will be online. You can write and request searches for records. Instructions, form letters, and their translations are found here. Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK) Requesting Birth information Requesting Marriage information Requesting information about the family structure and death of an ancestor Follow up Thank You letter Greek Orthodox Church Records Important Church Records Book of Births: date of birth, place of birth, gender, name, surname, father’s name, date of baptism, godfather and priest, notes Book of Marriages: date of marriage, groom’s name, groom’s age, groom’s father’s name, groom’s mother’s name, bride’s name, bride’s age, bride’s father’s name, bride’s mother’s name, priest, place of birth, notes Book of Deaths: date of death, name of the deceased, father’s name, age, notes Writing to a Diocese Records may be either at the diocese archives or still at the local parish church. Usually only the most recent records are still at the parish. Contact information for the Diocese of Drama Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf: Form Letter to a Diocese Asking for a Marriage record Follow up Thank You letter How to Read the Records You do not have to be fluent in Greek to read and understand these records! Only a few vocabulary words are involved. True, the alphabet is different. But you learned one alphabet, and you can learn another alphabet! Greece Handwriting and Text will teach you the alphabet in print and handwriting and give you some computer translation tools. The article, This simple Greek Word List, features a short list of key terms. You should learn to recognize these. Other words will be used on a "look it up when you come to it" basis. For this, more thorough word lists can be found at : Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 10:THE LANGUAGE. Family History Research in Greece. Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 11: NUMBERS AND UNITS OF TIME. Family History Research in Greece. Catsakis, Lica. GLOSSARY. Family History Research in Greece.