Kilkis County, Greece Genealogy
Guide to Kilkis County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
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Contents
History[edit | edit source]
Kilkis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the city of Kilkis.
Until 1939, when created into a separate prefecture, the area was part of the Thessaloniki Prefecture. At the 2011 Kallikratis reform, the Kilkis Prefecture became a regional unit.
Kilkis (Wikipedia)
Geography[edit | edit source]
Kilkis (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Κιλκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the city of Kilkis.
- The Ottoman Empire conquered the area in 1371, and ruled it until the First Balkan War of 1912.
- In the Second Balkan War of 1913, the Greek army captured the area, which became part of Greece. It absorbed many of the Greeks from Northern Macedonia (now the Rep. of Macedonia), especially from Gevgeli, Vogdantsa, Polyane and Stromnitsa.
- In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, World War I and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) most of the Turkish and Bulgarian population of Kilkis emigrated, and many Greeks from Bulgaria and Turkey settled in the area, as prescribed by the Treaty of Lausanne. In fact, a very large segment of the population of Kilkis regional unit are in origin Caucasus Greeks (that is, Eastern Pontic Greeks) from the former Russian Imperial province of Kars Oblast in the South Caucasus. They left their homeland in the South Caucasus for Kilkis and other parts of Greek Macedonia, as well as southern Russia and Georgia, between 1919 and 1921, that is, between the main Greece-Turkey population exchange and Russia's cession of the Kars region back to Turkey as part of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk.
- Until 1939, when created into a separate prefecture, the area was part of the Thessaloniki Prefecture.
- At the 2011 Kallikratis reform, the Kilkis Prefecture became a regional unit. Kilkis (regional unit), Wikipedia
Municipalities[edit | edit source]
Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.
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Villages[edit | edit source]
Municipal Archives[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
- Municipality addresses for Kilkis 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, Historical Archives of Macedonia, and Kilkis County Archives[edit | edit source]
- 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.
General State Archives (GSC)
Dafni 61
15452 Psychiko
Greece
Phone:+30 210-6782200
FAX:+30 210-6782215
E-mail:archives@gak.gr
County Archives[edit | edit source]
Historical Archives of Macedonia
Address: Al. Papanastasiou 21
P.O. 18001
546 39 Thessaloniki
Greece
Tel. 2310 855255
Fax: 2310 868186
Nomos Kilkis Archives
Platonos Street 16
(P.O. 152)
61100 Kilkis
Greece
Tel.23410-29895
Fax:23410-29895
Email: mail@gak.kil.sch.gr
Writing to the Archives[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
Important Church Records[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
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 Goumenissa, Axiopolis, and Polykastron
- Contact information for the Diocese of Poliana and Kilkis
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[edit | edit source]
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 :
