KOZANI

town, capital of the noms (department) of Kozni, western Greek Macedonia. The town is situated on the edge of a fertile basin between the Vrmion and Vorinos mountains and has tobacco, cereal, potato, and vegetable cultivation, as well as cattle and dairy production. Founded in the European Middle Ages under Turkish rule, it was a centre of Greek culture; a library of books and manuscripts survives. The town is important for the services it provides to the noms, which is a dry mountain and plateau region that averages 2,000 feet (600 m) in elevation in the north and west, with several peaks reaching more than 6,000 feet (1,800 m). The noms is bounded by the Pindus Mountains (west), by Thessaly (south), and by the forested Vrmion and Piria massifs (east), between which flows the Alikmon River. Lignite, which is mined in the area, powers several thermal generating stations in Ptolemas. Kozni town is an active commercial centre trading in grains, livestock, and hides. There is some manufacture of textiles and agricultural tools, as well as asbestos and chromite mining in the vicinity. The town is linked by road to Thessalonki (Salonika) via Ptolemas and Edessa and serves as the seat of a metropolitan bishop. Area 1,376 square miles (3,565 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) town, 32,342; noms, 150,159.