The initial aim of the present research was to highlight the importance of water and waterfalls for the sector of industry, hence for the living conditions in the towns of Veria, Edessa and Naoussa.

Firstly, the history of industrial development in Europe and Greece is presented briefly; then, more details are given concerning the study area (Veria, Naoussa, Edessa) and, more specifically, the industrial workshops which existed there are presented; their main characteristic is that they used water as a power resource.

The rivers of Tripotamos, Vodas and Arapitsa have been a vital source of energy for these three towns. Water has been used for many years for the movement of a water wheel which provided energy to the industries of these regions. Watermills and small industrial units at a family level were created at first, while later big textile, tannage and other relevant industries appeared, making these regions quite privileged.

The use of water by those industries brought life to these towns for  many decades. A lot of work positions were created; so many unemployed found jobs and settled down there. Unfortunately, the shutting down of these industries created a serious problem of unemployment to the residents, since a great percentage of the populations worked there. One could say that the consequences of the de-industrialisation were disastrous for these towns.

Subsequently, for  the demands of the research, the industrial buildings,  which still exist within the urban space of these towns, have been located in mapsand reports have been  created, for each building, including historical data, photographs and plans.

As far as industrial buildings are concerned, many of these were restored and reused. So, it was quite essential for a historical documentation and record to be done for the historical machinery. As we can understand, it’s quite odd to have saved and  reused, but have not , in reality, enrolled in the way they should be; all these installations (machines) that used water, without seeing anywhere the water. So, it’s not just the shelter of a building or just the machinery that should be rescued and featured, but it is the whole unity that must travel the visitor to the period when those industries functioned consisting ,in combination with a proper restoration, a reliable and remarkable sample of our industrial heritage.

Nevertheless, many industrial buildings which stand abandoned and half-dejected still exist within the towns, creating dark and unexploited spots.

Sixteen reused industrial buildings were tracked down in a total of 39, within the areas of Veroia, Edessa and Naoussa.