Enosi Pontion Pierias
As part of the persecution of the Greek population in the Ottoman Empire (between 1914 and 1923), many of the people living there had to leave their homes and move abroad or to Greece. This affected in particular the Greeks from Asia Minor and the Pontos Greeks living in the Black Sea region. Many refugees found a new home in Macedonia, and some of them reached Pieria. There they represent a large part of nowadays population. Occasionally they bought lands and founded purely Pontic villages. To maintain the cultural peculiarities of the Pontus Greeks, in 1928 the  Enosi Pontion Pierias (Greek Ένωση Ποντιών Πιερίας, Association of Pontian Pierias) was founded, which was registered in 1932 officially as a club. It is thus the oldest club Pierias. Since June 1998 she has been a member of the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts, CIOFF. Location. Seat of the association is the Mitropoliti Trapesountos Chrisanthou 13, 60100 Katerini, Pieria, Greece. History. The first wave of the settlement of the Pontic Greeks in Pieria took place between 1920 and 1922. These refugees came directly from the Ottoman Empire. After 1939, another immigration from the former Soviet  Union took place. Several years after the arrival of the first refugees, the association was founded. The aim of the founding members was the preservation and maintenance of the In the first years after its founding, the association was the focal point for problems of all kinds. The members soon became involved in the fields of theater, folk dancing and folk music. From the beginning, so in the new environment no longer needed, pontic language was maintained within the club. The club has 740 members (as of August 2018) On boards, the historical development of the Pontic region from the  time of the first settlement (around 700 BC) to the escape is shown. In terms of mythology, the journey of the Argonauts, the Amazons and Prometheus are worth mentioning. The most prominent among the philosophers of the region was Diogenes. The Pontic eagle was around 450 BC stamped on coins of the city of Sinope. Based on historical and contemporary photographs, magazines and copies of official publications, the recent history is displayed. The statutory duties of the association: Building. The building is the property of the association, the land was given to the Enosi by the city of Katerini. The  house has three floors, a cellar and attic: Activities. Several times a year trips to the old home on the Black Sea are organized. In addition to the former capital of Trapezounda (now Trabzon), other historically important places such as the Panagia Soumela Monastery or the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in today's Istanbul are visited. In Katerini, the association organizes a multi-day summer festival with dance and theater every year. Further activities: Literature. History of the Enosi Pontion Pierias (Ένωση Ποντιών Πιερίας). Publisher Enosi Pontion Pierias, 2003