Velventos

Velventos (Βελβεντός) is a town and municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. The 2021 census recorded 2,949 people in the community of Velventos and 3,057 in the municipality.

Velventos lies at the foot of the Pierian Mountains, 33 km northeast of the city of Kozani. It is located near the artificial lake of Polyfyto. A local road connects it with the GR 3/E65 between Larissa and Kozani. It is located southwest of Veria, north northwest of Servia and Larissa, east northeast of Grevena and south southeast of Kozani. Surrounded by forests, it is located in the fertile valley of the Haliacmon river and produces fruit, mainly peaches. 10.6% of the area is cultivated. Agricultural production is organised in two agricultural cooperatives.

The area has been continually occupied since the prehistoric times. For this reason, many fruitful archaeological digs have been made in the area, unearthing mainly prehistoric findings. Velventos contains also many late Byzantine and post Byzantine monuments and temples, among them the 12th century church of Saint Minas and the 14th century church of Saint Paraskevi. During the Turkish occupation of Greece, Velventos saw great cultural development. Architect Stamatios Kleanthis was born here. Velventos became part of Greece during the Balkan Wars.

Velventos has a school, church, a lyceum (middle school), a gymnasium (secondary school), banks, a post office, and a square. A well organized athletic stadium for several indoor and outdoor sport activities is located at the exit of the town. There are 2 Athletic Clubs, A. C. Velventos who has Soccer, Basketball and Volleyball as their main sport activities and A. C. Taekwondo Velventos with Taekwondo and Kick Boxing.