The
stremma (
Greek:στρέμμα, plural στρέμματα) is a
Greek unit of land area, equal to 1000
square metres, also called the 'royal' stremma. The name comes from a root meaning 'to turn', presumably referring to the amount of land that can be plowed/turned in a day.
[Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής (Dictionary of Modern Greek), Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998. ISBN 960-231-085-5]
The "old", "Turkish", or "Ottoman" stremma was approximately 1270 m² (Λεξικό, 1998): it was the Greek name of the
Ottoman dönüm,
[Λεξικό] which was in turn based on the Byzantine stremma (see below). But Lapavitsas uses the value of 1600 m² for the region of
Naoussa in the early 20th century.
[Costas Lapavitsas, "Social and Economic Underpinning of Industrial Development: Evidence from Ottoman Macedonia", ''Ηλεκτρονικό Δελτίο Οικονομικής Ιστορίας'' http://www.hdoisto.gr/Keimena/Lapavitsas4112005.pdf]
The medieval or
Morean stremma was different, somewhere between 900 and 1900 square meters, depending on the period and perhaps even the type of land.
[Siriol Davis, "Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Part VI: administration and settlement in Venetian Navarino", ''Hesperia'', Winter, 2004 http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SDG/is_1_73/ai_n13493303/pg_17]
The Byzantine stremma was defined as 100 square
Greek feet or 40
Greek paces. It is likely the ancestor of the Ottoman dönüm/stremma.
[V.L. Ménage, Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. ''The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century'', Berkeley, 1971; in ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' (University of London) 36:3 (1973), pp. 659-661. at JSTOR (subscription required) ; see also Erich Schilbach, ''Byzantinische Metrologie'' (referenced but not seen)]