The Evros Prefecture (Template:Lang-el) is the northernmost of the prefectures of Greece. It is located in the eastern and northeastern part of the region of Thrace, and borders Turkey at the Evros river. Evros borders Bulgaria to the north and the northwest. The Rhodope prefecture borders it to the west. Evros is the northernmost prefecture in Greece. Its capital town is Alexandroupoli.
The prefecture was established in 1930, when the former Prefecture of Thrace was divided into the Rhodope and Evros prefectures.[1] Its name is derived from the Evros river (Hebros), which appears to have been a Thracian hydronym.
Municipalities and communities
| Municipality | YPES code | Seat (if different) | Postal code | Area code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandroupoli | 1301 | 681 00 | 25510-2 through 7 | |
| Didymoteicho | 1303 | 683 00 | 25530-2 | |
| Feres | 1313 | 685 00 | 25550-2 | |
| Kyprinos | 1304 | 680 05 | 25560-2 | |
| Metaxades | 1305 | 680 10 | 25530-3 | |
| Orestiada | 1306 | 682 00 | 25520-2 | |
| Orfeas | 1307 | Lavara | 680 04 | 25530-3 |
| Samothrace | 1308 | 680 01 | 25510-4 | |
| Soufli | 1309 | 684 00 | 25540-2 | |
| Traianoupoli | 1310 | Aristino | 681 00 | 25310-4 |
| Trigono | 1311 | Dikaia | 680 07 | 25560-3 |
| Tychero | 1312 | 680 03 | 25540-4 | |
| Vyssa | 1302 | Nea Vyssa | 680 01 | 25520-7 |
Provinces
- Province of Orestiada - Orestiada
- Province of Didymoteicho - Didymoteicho
- Province of Soufli - Soufli
- Province of Alexandroupoli - Alexandroupolis
- Province of Samothrace - Samothrace
Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.
Geography
Evros is one of the largest prefectures of Greece and is the largest in Thrace, covering over 45%, of Western Thrace, one of the three regions of Northern Greece (the other two are Macedonia and Thessaly) covering over half of the entire region in Greece. Its length is about 150 km from north to south (with Samothrace and water 200 km, the length from the Gulf of Corinth to Larissa); almost as long as the Larissa and the Aetolia-Acarnania prefectures, up making up one of the longest such lengths in Greece. Its width ranges from 70 to 100 km from east to west and is almost the same as the Larissa prefecture, while the prefecture includes the small island of Samothrace. Its second river is the Arda.
The Rhodope mountains lie to the west and to the southwest, the foothills and the hills to the centre and northern parts, and a plain and farmland taking in the Evros valley to the east, with the Aegean to the south. Samothrace is mountainous.
Climate
The areas that mainly experience Mediterranean climate conditions are at the southern and central portions. Its climate is mainly continental with cold winters in higher elevations and the northern part.
History
Before it was annexed to the Kingdom of Macedonia, the area was ruled by the Thracians. Macedonian rule lasted until the revolution of the 310s BC, when it became a part of the Seleucid Dynasty that ruled until 90 and 80 BC. It joined the Roman Empire and the province of Thrace and was under its rule until 395 AD, at which time Rome split into the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. Thrace was to be ruled with the Eastern Roman Empire, ending in the 15th century. The Goths invaded the area and shortly afterwards it was invaded by the Slavs. It became a part of the Ottoman Empire. The modern prefecture was invaded by Bulgaria during the Balkan Wars and affiliated to that country. The area did not became fully Greek until the war of 1920 ended non-Greek rule over the area. It became a part of the prefecture of Thrace which was not subdivided until 1947, one of these new areas being the modern Evros prefecture. During the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), many Greek refugees relocated to the sporadic parts of the modern prefecture including towns and villages some areas formerly inhabited by the Turks and others , and with the new city of Orestiada, its economy slowly improved. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, one of the few areas of which to be spared Alexandroupoli, many structures were rebuilt. Its economy was reconstructed, but some of its inhabitants left for larger towns and cities in Greece, and abroad in the mid to late 20th century.
The river area was devastated by floods in the 1950s and the 1960s, devastating villages around Orestiada ; it was affected again with flooding of Lavara and Didymoteicho in late-1997, with a recurrence between February 17 to February 22, 2005, and again from March 1 to March 4, 2005.
The prefecture was hit by a forest fire on Monday July 30, 2007, burning forests filled with pines and fir (Greek Fir) in the area of Aisymi or Aissymi, 40 km north of the city of Alexandroupoli. It took tens of fire trucks, firefighters, helicopters and planes to battle the blaze; it calmed and was brought under control . Another natural disaster occurred on August 6, days after the fire, to the south of the village ; a tremendous rainstorm brought across with the low pressure systems of Central Europe. It brought heavy rains during the morning hours and was heavy enough to flood homes and damage properties, even cutting off a bridge and splitting Mesimvria in two. Several mudslides were reported and properties flooded in the prefectural capital city of Alexandroupoli. Near Alexandroupoli along its main railway linking west to Thessaloniki and cutting the entire Evros Prefecture's railway into two, a bridge was washed away by its stream leaving nothing but tracks; residents watched the phenomenon next to the train tens of metres from where the bridge had stood. The area's highway, the Egnatia Odos, was also shut off to traffic. Off the Thracian Gulf , by the coasts of Makri near its campground and beach, a trailer floated as far as 1 km away from the seashore. The rainstorm also affected Dikella and the surrounding areas, particularly by the coastline.
Transport
Notable people
- Duke Ter Hachatrjan Aleksandr
- Todor Dinov (1919–2004), Bulgarian graphic artist and animator
- Hrysopiyi Devetzi (1976), Greek athlete
- Demis Nikolaidis (1973), Greek footballer
- Athanasios Tsigas (1982), Greek footballer
- Lefteris Hapsiadis (1953), Greek Lyrics Creator and Writer
References
- ^ Law, Gwillim (1999). Administrative subdivisions of countries: a comprehensive world reference, 1900 through 1998. McFarland. p. 152. ISBN 9780786407293.