Magnesia County, Greece Genealogy

Guide to Magnesia County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Magnesia, deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its capital is the city of Volos. About 70% of the population of Magnesia live in the Greater Volos area, which is the second-largest city in Thessaly and the third busiest commercial port in Greece.

Magnesia (Wikipedia)

Geography
Magnesia (Greek: Μαγνησία, Magnisía), deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly. Its capital is the city of Volos. Magnesia was created as a prefecture. In addition to the territory of the present regional unit of Magnesia, the Magnesia Prefecture included the Northern Sporades group of islands (Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos). As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was split into the Magnesia and Sporades regional units. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganized, according to the table below: Magnesia, Wikipedia

Municipalities
Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.

Villages

 * List of villages in Magnesia County

Municipal Archives
Quite comprehensive records for your family, perhaps for several generations, are kept by the mayor's office of each municipality. Civil registers of birth, marriage, and death since 1925 are kept there. In addition, an important record, unique to Greece, the Dimologion is similar to a "family group record". Census records, contracts, and other records can be found.

Information About Important Records in Municipality Archives
Click on the links for an explanation on the types of records you will look for at the municipality level.
 * Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers
 * Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon)
 * Town (Resident) Registers (Dimotologion)

Writing to Municipal Archives

 * Municipality addresses for Magnesia County
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality.pdf|Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality]]
 * Asking for a Birth record
 * Asking for a Death record
 * Asking for Family Structure (Dimitologion)
 * Follow up Thank You letter

Greek National Archives and Magnesia Archives

 * The Greek National Archives (GAK or GSA) has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS). Some records are online. Others are not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request.

General State Archives (GSC) Dafni 61 15452 Psychiko Greece Phone:+30 210-6782200 FAX:+30 210-6782215 E-mail:archives@gak.gr
 * See [[Media:GAK - How to Navigate.pdf|How to Navigate the Greek National Archives.]]
 * Online records
 * Contact information for services

Magnesia Archives
Nomos Magnesia Magniton 141 and Sp. Spyridi 38221 Bolos Greece Tel. - Fax: 24210 45833 and 24210 72 578. E-mail: mail@gak.mag.sch.gr,  library@gak.mag.sch.gr
 * Website
 * Online Files, Magnesia County

Writing to the Greek National Archives (GAK) or the Magnesia Office of the GAK
Again, not all records will be online. You can write and request searches for records. Instructions, form letters, and their translations are found here.
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK).pdf|Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK)]]
 * Requesting Birth information
 * Requesting Marriage information
 * Requesting information about the family structure and death of an ancestor
 * Follow up Thank You letter

Important Church Records

 * Book of Births: date of birth, place of birth, gender, name, surname, father’s name, date of baptism, godfather and priest, notes
 * Book of Marriages: date of marriage, groom’s name, groom’s age, groom’s father’s name, groom’s mother’s name, bride’s name, bride’s age, bride’s father’s name, bride’s mother’s name, priest, place of birth, notes
 * Book of Deaths: date of death, name of the deceased, father’s name, age, notes

Writing to a Diocese
Records may be either at the diocese archives or still at the local parish church. Usually only the most recent records are still at the parish.
 * Contact information for the Diocese of Demetrias and Almyros

Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf:
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letter to a Diocese.pdf|Form Letter to a Diocese]]
 * Asking for a Marriage record
 * Follow up Thank You letter

How to Read the Records
You do not have to be fluent in Greek to read and understand these records! Only a few vocabulary words are involved. True, the alphabet is different. But you learned one alphabet, and you can learn another alphabet!
 * Greece Handwriting and Text will teach you the alphabet in print and handwriting and give you some computer translation tools.
 * The article, This simple Greek Word List, features a short list of key terms. You should learn to recognize these.
 * Other words will be used on a "look it up when you come to it" basis. For this, more thorough word lists can be found at :
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 10 The Language.pdf| Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 10:THE LANGUAGE. Family History Research in Greece.]]
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 11 Numbers and Units of Time.pdf|Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 11: NUMBERS AND UNITS OF TIME. Family History Research in Greece.]]
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 12 Appendix A Glossary.pdf|Catsakis, Lica. GLOSSARY. Family History Research in Greece.]]