The mademohoria take their name from the Turkish word for mine, and they are the mining villages which enjoyed great prosperity during the years of Ottoman rule, exploiting the lead and silver deposits of the region. The men of these villages extracted silver and lead for the sultan from the deposits in Mt. Stratonikos. Many of them were fine workers in metal, as well as miners. These villages enjoyed special privileges and a certain amount of autonomy; although there was a local Turkish governor, he allowed the villagers great leeway to run their own affairs. The villages set up a sort of federation, administered by twelve vekilides or representatives of the mademohoria. The individual mining villages were as follows: Galatista, Vavdos, Kazantzi Mahalas (now Stageira), Stanos, Varvara, Liarigovi (now Arnaia), Novoselo (now Neohori), Isvoros (now Stratoniki), Horouda, Revenikia (now Megali Panayia) and Ierissos.