Hellenistic Era

The town is located in part of the ancient Paeonia, the exact boundaries of which, like the early history of its inhabitants, are very obscure. According to Herodotus (v. 16), they were Teucrian colonists from Troy. Homer (Iliad, book II, line 848) speaks of Paeonians from the Axios River fighting on the side of the Trojans, but the Iliad does not mention whether the Paeonians were kin to the Trojans. Homer gives the Paionian leader as a certain Pyraechmes; later on in the Iliad a second leader is mentioned, Asteropaeus son of Pelagon.

Roman Era (146 BC - 330)

After the Roman conquest of Macedon in 146 BC, Paionia east and west of the Axios formed the second and third districts respectively of the Roman province of Macedonia (Livy xiv. 29). Centuries later under Diocletian, Paionia and Pelagonia formed a province called Macedonia secunda or Macedonia Salutaris, belonging to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

Byzantine Era (330 - 1387)

When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western segments ruled from Constantinople and Rome respectively, Goumenissa came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). Goumenissa passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the Fourth Crusade and became part of the Kingdom of Thessalonica - the largest fief of the Latin Empire, covering most of north and central Greece.

In 1224 it was seized by Theodore Komnenos Doukas, the Greek ruler of Despotate of Epirus. The area was recovered by the Byzantine Empire in 1246. First report with the name Goumenissa we have at the year 1346, at the era of Palaiologos Dynasty. In an Imperial Act of this year, the region of Goumenissa is granted in the Holly Abbey Ibyron of Mount Athos and becomes religious centre because of the Monastery of Virgin Mary. Next to Monastery existed a settlement that little later with the union of small agro-pastoral settlements will create a dynamic town that will be named Goumenissa.

Ottoman Era (1387 - 1912)

The Ottomans had captured Goumenissa in 1387. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire the area was characterized self-governed town and acquired privileges because of the important production of buckram, used for the military uniforms of the Ottoman army. Goumenissa prospered during the 19th century and became economic, cultural and religious centre of the region. The famed wine of Goumenissa, made out of local varieties like Xinomavro and Negoska,^[5] become popular in the Ottoman Empire and beyond, particularly in Central Europe.

Even though being a town with privileges, it was not uninvolved in the Greek War of Independence of 1821. By the outbreak of the revolution, the Ottoman army conducted searches of premises and found 49 rifles. This led to violent islamization ordered by Pasha of Thessaloniki Abdul Abud. The punishment included the handing over of money, food, animals and carriages.

The Russian slavist Victor Grigorovich in 1845, however, recorded Igumencho as mostly Bulgarian village.^[6] The first Bulgarian school was founded in 1866-1867.^[7]

Modern Era (1912 - present)

During World War I, late 1915, Franco-British divisions under the command of French General Maurice Sarrail marched on Paionia Province. A French Division camped in Goumenissa and built a military hospital, a power station and the famous Fountain in Central Square.

The population exchanges among Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria after 1923 resulted in the replacement by Greek refugees from East Thrace, Asia Minor and Eastern Rumelia of most of the Slavic and Turkish elements. Greek Macedonia experienced radical demographic transformations with the arrival of the Pontic Greeks; by 1928, 427 families comprising 1,676 inhabitants arrived from Turkey.^[20] The Slavic-speaking minority in Greek Macedonia, who were referred to by the Greek authorities as “Slavomacedonians”, “Slavophone Greeks” and “Bulgarisants”, were subjected to a gradual assimilation by the Greek majority. Their numbers were reduced by a large-scale emigration to North America in the 1920s and the 1930s and to Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia following the Greek Civil War (1944–1949)^{[citation needed]}. During World War II Goumenissa and Central Macedonia were occupied (1941–44) by Germany. During the same time a detachment of the pro-Bulgarian paramilitary organization Ohrana was formed.^[21]

In the 1950s there was a massive emigration to the United States, Australia, Canada, West Germany and other Greek cities, mainly to Thessaloniki and Athens. In the 1980s many civil war refugees were allowed to re-emigrate.

Mayors of Goumenissa

Monasteries

• Monastery of the Virgin Mary at Goumenissa (Est. 1100)

Belongs to: Diocese of Goumenissa

• Monastery of St. Nikodimos at Pentalofon (Est. 1981)

Dependency of: the Monastery of Simonos Petra, Mount Athos

• Monastery of St. Raphael, Nicholas & Irene at Griva (Est. 1992)

Belongs to: Diocese of Goumenissa

• Monastery of St. George at Anydron (Est. 1991) (convent)

Belongs to: Diocese of Goumenissa