In Modern Greece today, scores of toponyms possess Slavic origins.  From the regions of Macedonia to Epirus and the Peloponnese, Slavic place names still permeate maps of the country even after the “purification” program of non-Greek place names launched by the Greek government in the 20th century. Although some place names reflect later Byzantine Slavic incursions, many have their roots in the first Slavic migrations and settlements in the area. The Slavs entered the Balkans between AD 500 and 700 and were part of the so-called barbarian migrations that defined much of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Their migrations into Greece (Epirus, Macedonia, Peloponnese) formed the southernmost expansion and settlement of this large ethnic group.

 The Slavic migrations and settlements have not featured in the Greek national narrative after the formation of the Modern Greek state following independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. The Roman and later the Ottoman and Venetian migrations and settlements in the country suffered a similar fate. My project considers the Slavic migrations in Greece from an interdisciplinary perspective (historical, archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic) and aims to re-introduce neglected periods in the history of Greece to the wider public.

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