In the far north of Greece, close to the Albanian border, lies the picturesque, formerly wealthy, and rapidly depopulating city of Kastoria.
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On the shores of Lake Orestiada, this city is surrounded by rolling green hills, dotted by houses that remind one more of Balkan than Greek architecture.
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The area’s riches were mostly built on the fur industry, a business that has (justifiably) lost a lot of appeal worldwide in the last couple of decades. One of the city’s largest customer bases in recent years consisted of Russian visitors - many fur factories and shops in town have Russian translations on their signs - and the recent sanctions against Russians visiting Europe further brought down the already rapidly dwindling industry.
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Locals told us the population of the city proper has plummeted from 20,000 to 6,000. You can see it in the abandoned homes, shops, and mansions by the lake front. However, a lot of the city’s beauty remains intact, and it is definitely worth a visit.
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I myself refuse to wear fur. And am glad the industry is losing popularity worldwide. But visiting Kastoria made me think…when industries lose traction, towns like this are inevitably affected. Like coal towns in the U.S., like industrial cities in economies that have oriented themselves to more high-tech and service fields.
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Trying to bring the industry back is not an option. How do these towns re-orient to stay alive? And why do politicians and people seem averse to this necessary change? Or is the change too difficult?
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I would love thoughts and examples of cities successfully re establishing themselves below.
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