Goumenissa (Greek: Γουμένισσα [ɣuˈme̞nisa]) is a small traditional town in the Kilkis regional unit, Macedonia, Greece.

It is known for its folklore museum, its impromptu brass bands (Τα Χάλκινα της Γουμένισσας Ta Chalkina tis Goumenissas) and its customs, events and fetes, all of them are reflective of the traditional lifestyle.

Goumenissa passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the Fourth Crusade and became part of the Kingdom of Thessalonica - the largest fief of the Latin Empire, covering most of northern and central Greece.

In an Imperial Act of this year, the region of Goumenissa is granted in the Holly Abbey Ibyron of Mount Athos and becomes religious centre because of the Monastery of Virgin Mary.

The famed wine of Goumenissa, made out of local varieties like Xinomavro and Negoska,[6] become popular in the Ottoman Empire and beyond, particularly in Central Europe.

The rioting in Macedonia, the atrocities of Bulgarian komitadjis troops against Greek locals and especially the death of Pavlos Melas (killed by Turks in 1904) caused intense nationalistic feelings in Greece.

[9] Conflicts ended after the revolution of Young Turks in July 1908, as they promised to respect all ethnicities and religions and generally to provide a constitution.

Source:[10] During World War I, late 1915, Franco-British divisions under the command of French General Maurice Sarrail marched on Paionia.

A French Division camped in Goumenissa and built a military hospital, a power station and the famous Fountain in Central Square.

Their numbers were reduced by a large-scale emigration to North America in the 1920s and the 1930s and to Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia following the Greek Civil War (1944–1949)[citation needed].

[21] In the 1950s there was a massive emigration to the United States, Australia, Canada, West Germany and other Greek cities, mainly to Thessaloniki and Athens.