# Aridaia

Aridaía (Greek: Αριδαία, Macedonian: С'ботско, Bulgarian: Съботско)) is a town and a former municipality in the Pella regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the Almopia municipality, of which it is a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former Almopia eparchy. It is located in the northwest corner of the Pella regional unit, bordering the southern part of the North Macedonia and the northeast corner of the Florina regional unit. Its land area is 562.910 km$^2$ (217.341 sq mi). The population of Aridaia proper is 7,118, while that of the entire municipal unit is 18,864 (2021 census). The municipal unit is divided into 17 communities. Its largest other communities are Prómachoi (pop. 1,654), Loutráki (1,176) and Sosándra (1,008).
The community of Aridaia includes the settlement of Ydraia with a population of 500 inhabitants.
A Greek battalion entered Aridea on November 4, 1912, during the 1st Balkan War, and it started to develop as a town after the installment of Greek refugees from Asia Minor.

## Etymology

There are two possible etymologies of the name Aridea. One is that "Aridea", is a corruption of the old name of the town "Ardea", which comes from the verb "Greek: Αρδεύω, lit. 'Irrigate', which is explained by the multiple rivers, streams, irrigation canals, etc. Another explanation is that the name "Aridea" comes from Philip III Arrideus, half-brother of Alexander the Great. The town used to be called "Αρδέα" (Ardea).

## Sights

At a distance of 7 km from Aridea is the Byzantine Castle of Chrysi which dates back to the 8th century AD. North of Aridea is a historic, though not very well known Monastery of the Province of Almopia, the Holy Monastery of Saint Hilarion, bishop of Moglena. This monastery has as its owner and founder Saint Hilarion himself, who was a great Hierarch of the Church of Greece in the 12th century, who lived and worked in the area of today's Almopia.
At a distance of 10 km from Aridea are the Pozar Baths with impressive natural beauty and thermal waters. It is a tourist destination with many infrastructures and all the amenities in combination with the Kaimaktsalan Ski Center which geographically belongs to the Municipality of Almopia. Next to the tourist village of Loutraki, seat of Loutra Pozar, is the tourist village of Orma from which the road to the Ski Center starts.

## Sports

A well-known football team based in Aridea is Almopos Arideas.

## Transport
### Bus service

The KTEL station is located on Passia Street, on the road to Exaplatanos and Notia. The KTEL of Pella connects Aridea locally with Edessa, with regular itineraries, and there are also routes to Athens, Skydra and Thessaloniki.

### Rail service

The town does not have a railway station and is served by the railway stations of Edessa and Skydra, while in the period 1916-1936 there was a railway station, since there was a railway line from Skydra to Aridea and Orma that closed in 1936. Railway Station, houses the Museum of Natural History. On February 19, 2019, the construction of the railway line Agios Athanasios – Chalkidona – Koufalia – Pella – Nea Pella – Giannitsa – Galatades – Karyotissa – Dafni – Kalivia – Skydra-Edessa and bypass from Skydra to Aridaia was announced, however no study has been presented, and it is currently unknown when the project will be completed.

### Roads

There is no National Road passing through the town, but there are five (5) provincial roads that connect Aridea with the surrounding settlements. The following streets pass through the town
* Edessa - Apsalos - Aridea. (Pella 1)
* Aridea - Exaplatanos to Skra and Axioupoli, Evropos Notia and Lagadia. (Pella 6)
* Aridea - Pozar Baths. (Pella 7)
* Aridea - Tsakona - Polykarpi. (Pella 8)
* Aridea - Sosandra - Promachos. (Pella 9)

### Air service

In the Prefecture of Pella there is no airport, so Aridea is served by the Airport "Macedonia" of Thessaloniki.

## People from Aridaia

* Petros Dourdoumpakis, singer
* Haris Kostopoulos,singer
* Antonis Minou, football player
* Giorgos Paschalides, civil mechanic and minister
* Nikodim Tsarknias, priest of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
* Unboxholics, YouTubers, Twitch streamers
* Loukas Vyntra, Greek footballer
* Nikolaos Xenitides, businessman and benefactor
* Despina Zapounidou, Greek Olympic race walker