Akritas (Bufi)

Just 16 km from Florina we find the picturesque village of Akritas, built at 1050m. The inhabitants of the village are mainly engaged in agriculture, animal breeding and lumbering. Αt first the village was built under the chapel of Agios Georgios and the movement of the inhabitants took place in the 15th century.
In later years Akritas was a head village with a population of 1,700 inhabitants,
The settlement was burnt to the ground in 1903 and was rebuilt later.
The village celebrates the feast of the Holy Spirit.
Traditional architecture
The settlement of Akritas is a special case compared to the other settlements in the area, since a large number of buildings belonging to a wide range of architectural styles coexist there. Next to the traditional brick and stone one- or two-storey houses, one can find well-preserved examples of the classicist architecture of the early 20th century. Also, eclectic influences are evident in the stone reliefs and other decorative motifs of several inter-war houses in the centre of the settlement.
Akrita’s Primary School
This building is a unique and rare example of public architecture.
The oldest inhabitants of the village recount that the community decided in 1907 – due to the increase in population and the need to accommodate the pupils – to build a new school building and for this reason it turned to the well-known master builder Bran (who had also built the church of Agios Nikolaos in 1872). The plan provided for the construction of a two-storey building with a total of eight classrooms, teachers’ offices and bedrooms, auxiliary rooms in the basement, etc., with the prospect of accommodating 800 to 1,000 pupils.
The construction of the school began in May 1908 with a crew of 40 people and the contribution of the villagers and was completed in 1910, at a total cost of 3,200 lire. In 2000 the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace declared the Primary School a preserved building.

SOURCE OF TEXT: Tourist Guide of Florina Prefecture (TGPF) -2003
SOURCE OF PHOTOS: 1-8 Christos Tegos
9-10 Archive of the Municipality of Florina