Irlandos: New page: '''Bournova''' or Bornova or Bournabat was a suburb of Smyrna situated NE of that city. Its name is said to derive from the Turkish "burun" and "ova" - edge of the plain. Alternativel...

2010-05-29T08:11:19Z

New page: '''Bournova''' or Bornova or Bournabat was a suburb of Smyrna situated NE of that city. Its name is said to derive from the Turkish "burun" and "ova" - edge of the plain. Alternativel...

New page

'''Bournova''' or Bornova or Bournabat was a suburb of [[Smyrna]] situated NE of that city.

Its name is said to derive from the Turkish "burun" and "ova" - edge of the plain. Alternatively, the name could be derived from "birun" meaning outer and the suffix -abad. A third explanation is that Bournova or Bournabat was merely a corruption of Prinovalis - its name in Byzantine times.

Prior to [[1922]], Bournova was home to many Greeks and Levantines, some of which were quite wealthy. It had a sports stadium, built prior to [[1900]], and three sports clubs - "Orpheus", "Hermes" and AC Bournabat. Athletic contests were held here since the latter part of the 19th century and the first [[football (soccer)|football]] match on Ottoman soil is said to have taken place in Bournova in [[1890]], when British sailors played a local club.

Much of Bournova was looted and destroyed when the Turkish army entered the town in September [[1922]] at the conclusion of the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|Greco-Turkish War]]. Many of its Greek and Armenian inhabitants were killed in the atrocities that followed, the rest came to [[Greece]] as refugees.

Bournova is still remembered today as a result of several songs e.g. "Bournovalia", recently rendered by [[Glykeria]]; a different "Bournovalia" by [[Nikos Gatsos]], etc.
The most famous one is "Paporaki tou Bournova" (little boat of Bournova) by [[Manolis Papagikas]] which was revised and made a hit by [[Yiannis Kalatzis]] in the early [[1970s]]. Its original version was sung by many deserters of the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)]].

[[Category:Asia Minor]]

Bournova - Revision history

Irlandos: New page: '''Bournova''' or Bornova or Bournabat was a suburb of Smyrna situated NE of that city. Its name is said to derive from the Turkish "burun" and "ova" - edge of the plain. Alternativel...