Built on the slopes of Mount Vertiskos and at an altitude of 650 m., Ossa is one of the oldest and most historic settlements in Central Macedonia, with archeological, folklore and architectural interest.

 

Antiquities of prehistoric, Hellenistic and Byzantine times have been found in the area, while ancient Ossa is located a little east of the current settlement and is mentioned as a city of Visaltia, which minted its own currency. In modern times it is known as the place of origin of the new martyr Agia Kyranna (+1751).

 

The oldest known reference to Bessokas dates back to the Ottoman settlement of 1568, where it is noted as a prosperous settlement with a small minority of Muslim inhabitants. In the following centuries, the settlement is referred to as Vyssoka or Vyrsoka. Its inhabitants were mainly engaged in tanning, footwear, hair trade, coal mining and mining, while women were involved in the manufacture of ornate and colorful woolen woven fabrics.

 

The inhabitants of Ossa are local, native Macedonians. Some families have their origins in Epirus and Thessaly, while after 1922 about 30 families from Almali in the East settled in the village. Thrace. Residents of Vysokoka also moved to Nigrita and Soho, which shows the close relationship between the three settlements, which is also reflected in the common cultural tradition, such as customs, traditions, songs and clothing.

 

The two churches of the village are of artistic interest. The oldest of the Brigadiers of 1804 with the rare wood-carved iconostasis and the icons of Koulakiotes painters and the second of 1840/60 dedicated to the patroness of the village of Agia Kyranna, inside which is kept its despotic icon, a work by Christodoulos Zografos.

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Particularly developed, too, at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, was the educational activity in Ossa with the operation of exclusively Greek schools, male and female schools, as well as the famous Urban School of Vyssokas.

 

The general concern of the Greek community for the things of the settlement is evidenced by the fact that the inhabitants had set up a kind of town hall and collected money with which they repaired the roads, kept the fountains, planted trees and generally beautified the town. At the same time, they took part in all the struggles of the nation for the defense of the freedom of the homeland.

 

Nowadays, Ossa is inhabited by about 300 permanent residents, who are engaged in agricultural production, animal husbandry and freelancers. In the village there is a Kindergarten and a Primary School, attended by 45 children of all grades. Although there was a declining trend in the period of the 1980s, in the 1990s and 2000s this situation was reversed, with the establishment of new families there -basically from Ossa-, but also a few that were installed by the nearby urban center of Thessaloniki, as a choice of better quality of life for their children. Moreover, in the village there is a Registry Office of the Municipality, a pharmacy, a carpentry shop, a workshop for making traditional pasta, two grocery stores, a butcher's shop, two grills and two cafes.