Kavala and Phlippi in Greek Thrace
View of Kavala from the sea
The port of Kaval
The castle fortifications
The castle from the inside
The view of the town from above
The viaduct from the castle
Inside the castle
Kavala, one of the pearls of Thrace is about 50 min away from the new pass on the Bulgarian boundary –Makaza. Having heard positive feedback from friends, we finally decided to visit the city one spring day.
Kavala was a modern Greek city, with lots of road and pavement repairs in the centre, which had a castle remains on top of a hill, an impressive viaduct from Roman times and an old part, covered with flowers and lime trees. The Old Town is full of houses, whole style is called Bulgarian in Bulgaria and in Turkey it represents Ottoman architecture, but is most likely Byzantine style of house building.
We walked up the hill to the castle, most of which is from Ottoman times, and enjoyed superb views from above of the city, the viaduct and the bay of the sea. The streets were so steep and narrow that cars were struggling to get up and down the hill. The old town was full of attractive buildings, hotels, restaurants and little coffee places, adding to the atmosphere. Greek music was heard from everywhere. We’ve had some superb fish in a restaurant in the central square, near the port and enjoyed the distance arrows pole, giving us the distances from Kavala, to all parts of the world, calling Istanbul Constantinople.
The Old Town
On the next day, we visited the museum and learned something about the history of the place. The ancient Greek name of the city was Neapolis, the Byzantine one – Christoupolis and the modern name– Kavala. There have not been pre-historic settlements on the spot of the present city, may be because the pre-historic people had no interest in the sea and were more land-orientated, as land gave them food.
In the Old Town
The first city – Neapolis was built on this spot and was a colony of Thasos at about 7 century BC. At the time, Thasos had many gold mines and was an extremely rich island. Neapolis was of great commercial importance, as the road, linking Thrace, Thasos and Macedonia passed through it. The port grew in importance and the road was not only used by commercial travellers, but by subjugating armies like those of Alexander of Macedonia, the Persians, etc. The goddess, patron of the city was Parthenos.
The birth place of Mehmed Ali in the Old Town
Not far from Kavala, I recommend that you visit the old Roman city of Philippi – one of the most important towns in eastern Macedonia. The area was peopled during Neolithic times and finds suggest that they inhabitants were island people – like the Cretans. In later times, very much like in Kavala it attracted other settlers – colonists from rich Thasos, who recognised the natural resources of the area of precious metal and timber, the agricultural possibilities and settled there sometime before 360 BC. The first name of the town was Dato.
Chris in the Old Town
Later, when the area came under Macedonian rule, Philip of Macedonia took Thasos and named Philippi, after himself, making it the capital of the area, after extensive renovation and building programme. Neapolis, which had lost its silver mines, became the port of the city of Philippi, as it was about 35 kms form Kavala.
Exhibits in the Kavala Museum
The city of Neapolis came into Roman hands sometime around the 100 BC and Philippi, became the scene of the Battle of Philippi – between theaders of the Roman Senate – Brutus and Cassius, which determined the fate of the Roman Empire. Many roman settlers came to live in the city, turning it into a completely Roman town.
The Kavala Museum again
Kavala agian
During the Roman period, the importance of the road, now named Via Egnatia, linking the east from Constantinople, passing through Kavala, to Durres in Albania and then Italy, increased its trade and military importance.
Around the 450 BC, Neapolis joined the Athenian alliance and paid taxes to Athens. It remained firmly in alliance with Athens, despite political and military provocations.
After the Roman Empire divided in an Eastern and a Western part, Philippi was abandoned in 7 century AD as a result of a large earthquake and Slav raids in the area.
Neapolis was renamed Christoupolis at the beginning of the 8th or 9th century, and placed in the Strymon region of the Byzantine Empire. The walls of the town originate from 926 AD. When the Latin armies took over the Byzantine Empire for about 2 centuries, Christoupolis fell in the hands of Lombards, who contributed further to the rebuilding and the strengthening of the city fortifications.
Philippi – the commercial agora
The outside of the Philippi’s ancient theatre
In the 14th century, during the period of the Byzantine Civil War, the power of the empire had subsided greatly and it was losing territories to the Serbians and the Ottomans, who were the new conquerors. Christoupolis became one of the last bastions of Byzantium.
The theatre – Philippi
However, in 1387, it was finally occupied and destroyed by the Ottoman armies. Sometime in the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, the town changed its name to Kavala. Then, the population consisted of mainly Greeks and Turks, with some Jews, brought over after the Ottoman wars with Hungary. Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the expansion of the town to the port, the improving of the buildings and streets of the new town. With time, the Greek population of the city increased and it organised itself in a powerful community.
In the museum in Philippi
In October 1912, Kavala was occupied by the Bulgarians and various plaques tell the visitor of the oppression, cruelty and torture the Bulgarian occupation brought. But, in June 1913, Greek marines took back the city and were met as liberators. In 1952, due to the Megali Idea plan, where Turks and Greeks exchanged populations, about 25,000 Greeks form former Byzantium – now Turkish territory came to live in Kavala. This resulted in an economic boom in the 1930-ies and the town became the largest processor an exporter of tobacco in the areas of Macedonia and Thrace.
A gravestone – Philippi
The museum itself – centrally situated is full of riches of mainly Hellenistic and Roman times – beautiful statues, burial stones, sarcophaguses, gold coins, jewellery, pots and other ceramics and is very much worth the visit.
The Kamares Viaduct was built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1550 on the remains of a long wall, which Andronicus II Paleologus of Byzantium built to stop the return of the Catalans – the remaining soldiers of Roger de Flor. He only just managed to banish them after the murder of their leader from his lands, and many of whom had settled in Western and Southern modern Greece. So, the viaduct was the secondary role of this defensive wall, which had been almost destroyed by the 15th century. Kameras means “arches” and the largest of them is 52 meters high. A spectacular view from wherever you look!
Philippi
The town centre is full of beautiful, well restored houses, some of them working as museums. A large Tobacco warehouse, belonging to a Turkish merchant, is now used by two museums. The Municipal library is one of those magnificent buildings, with previous history.
In the museum in Philippi
The port, surrounding a large bay on the Adriatic, is one of the best parts of the city! Used by ships and ferries, as well as cruise ships and fishing boats, it has preserved is charm and simplicity. It is surrounded by restaurants, offering freshly cooked fish to eat. At nigh the reflections of the lights of the city, bring magic to the area.
The fortress, built by the Turks and the Venetians in 1425, includes the city walls, up to 180 metres long. The wall were actually old – they were built in the 5th century BC. They were expanded in 1306 by Andronicus II Paleologus, as part of his Long Wall.
The Forum in Philippi
In the old part of Kavala, we saw a large statue of Mehmet Ali – the founder of the last ruling Egyptian dynasty, who was born in the city in 1769. He lived here for a long time and loved the city, making it a recipient of many monetary and practical benefits. He became the Pasha of Egypt in 1807, and as thanks, the Greeks offered him the island of Thasos as a hereditary gift. The Greeks of Egypt erected the beautiful statue, now n front of our eyes, in 1934, in his honour. His family home, which is as a museum, is still there, near the statue. He also built the Imaret building –a former seminary and poor people’s house, built from his income, derived from Thasos. It is considered to be one of the jewels of Islamic architecture.
Several beautiful churches, a few monasteries and the lighthouse also add to the attraction of the city.
We noticed a large number of Turkish tourists- whole families – possible some, whose parents and grandparents had lived there and had to move to Turkey.
We went to Philippi for a whole day. Its terrain is hilly, which suits the site. It was an enormous city, built with scope. We parked the car and started towards the ancient theatre – built in 356 BC by Philip II – King of Macedonia. With about 25 rows of seats and a large stage, it takes one’s breath away. What is left from the Forum today is a few columns and the vast area, covered with marble slabs. Missing are the large buildings, surrounding it. There are two roads, which link it to the Via Egantia road, assisting commercial developments. We trotted to the commercial agora– there are many more remains there, some inscriptions, statues and part of it was incorporated in a church in Byzantine times.
We sent a large amount of time in the museum, which was full of fascinating remains and artefacts, very much worth the visit! Saw the cell, in which St Paul was imprisoned. A very worth-while day altogether.
And here are some more photographs: