Porion

Poriņ is a small village in southwest Romania between the border with Bulgaria and the hills of Dobruja. Also known as Poron or Porina, the new name was adopted after 1990, when, as far as we know, the population increased to approximately 50 thousand people. Before this, most Porion residents spoke an archaic dialect of Romanian, often considered one of the last barbarian dialects of Romania. The name Porian itself comes from the Greek word “Poros”, which translates as “passage”. Obviously the village is located near the mountains, close to the border with Greece, so this is not surprising. In ancient times there was a Greek colony here, so the population of Porian consists of two-thirds Greeks, many of whom, despite speaking an archaic dialect, are associated with the folklore of the village. Most of our informants associate the origin of the name with the Greek god of the sea Poseidon and the small river Poros, which flowed not far from here. Perhaps it was the crossing of Poseidon that was the reason for the creation of a passage between the mountains. One thing is clear - Porian has a long history: archaeologists found the first traces of life here around 6000