Souroti (Greek: Σουρωτή), a rural village in the Thessaloniki regional unit of Greece is located 25 kilometers (16 mi) outside of the city of Thessaloniki.
In Greece the village is particularly known for the mineral water bottled there.
Administratively it belongs to the municipality of Thermi. St. John the Theologian Convent is situated there, associated with the name of a famous Orthodox religious author and ascetic of the 20th century, St. Paisios of Mount Athos.
Souroti is an immigrant's village, one of the many that were established in Greek Macedonia after the Balkan wars and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Shortly before 1912 the area was called "Surukli" (from the Turkish suru which means heard) and was owned by five Turkish land owners (Τσιφλικάδες) who sold their land to Jews from Thessaloniki. The first Greeks that settled in the area were a vlach family from Vlasti of the Kozani regional unit, the Christos Lolas' family. Although they were originally shepherds, the family sold their sheep to buy the land from the Jews. In 1914 forty families of arvanites came from Mandritsa (Μανδρίτσα) in North Thrace following a Bulgarian invasion in their home village. Most of them were bilingual in Greek and Arvanitika. Their primary occupation was sericulture and they moved to Souroti to take advantage of the local mulberries. At the same time they maintained trade bonds with Jewish silk producers in Thrace. In 1922, after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey about 48 families arrived from Asia Minor originating from Izmir (Σμύρνη), Aydin (Αϊδίνιο), Cius (Κίος), Mudanya (Μουδανιά) and also from Eastern Thrace. Those were educated and they carried their own traditions. In Souroti they worked in sericulture, olive oil production and vine dressing. Between 1928 and 1930 more vlach shepherds came from Vlasti along with 4-5 families of Sarakatsanoi (Σαρακατσάνοι). Land was distributed to the immigrants by the Greek state first in 1914 and later in 1932.
Modern Establishment
The community of Souroti was officially established and recognized by the Greek state on Sep. 20th, 1947. Since then the village, whose main productive activities were agriculture and bottling of mineral water, has undergone steady development. In 1997 during a major reorganization of local self-government initiated by the Greek government called "Kapodistrias plan", Souroti merged with the municipality of Vasilika along with Ag. Paraskeyi, Ag. Antonio, Libadi, Monopigado and Peristera. In 2011 with the Kallikratis plan, Vasilika merged with the municipality of Thermi. Nowadays people from the nearby Thessaloniki are moving to the area around the village which is expected to turn into a suburb of Thessaloniki.