Alexandroupolis
Alexandroupolis or Alexandroupoli, is a port city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit, in Greek Thrace. It is the largest city in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,751 and is an important port and commercial center for Northern Greece.
The city was first settled by the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and grew into the fishing village Dedeağaç. In 1873, it became a kaza and one year later was promoted to a sanjak. The city developed into a regional trading center. Later, it became a part of Adrianople Vilayet. During the Russo-Turkish War, the area was briefly captured by the Russians. Ottoman rule ended with the First Balkan War, when the city was captured by Bulgaria in 1912. In the Second Balkan War, Greece took control of the city. With the Treaty of Bucharest, the city returned to Bulgaria.
With the defeat of Bulgaria in World War I, the city came under Greek control for the second time. In 1920, the city was renamed to honour the King of Greece, Alexander. With the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Alexandroupolis became an official part of Greece.
Alexandroupolis benefits from its position at the centre of land and sea routes connecting Greece with Turkey. Landmarks in Alexandroupolis include the lighthouse in the port, the archaeological sites of the Mesimvria Zone, the city's waterfront, the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, the thermal springs of Traianoupoli, the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus and the nearby Evros delta.
Alexandroupolis has developed into a strategic port for both Greece and NATO in 2022, complementing the port of Souda in southern Greece.
Name
The modern city of Alexandroupolis was founded as a small fishing village in the early 19th century under the Ottoman Empire, by fishermen from Ainos and the villages of Makri and Maroneia. It became known as Dedeagach. The name supposedly comes from an old Turkish wise man who spent much of his time under the shade of a tree and was eventually buried beside it. From the first days of the city's capture, the local authorities as well as the Metropolitan, decided to rename the city from Dedeağaç to Neapoli, as it was the newest Greek city. In 1920, King Alexander I of Greece visited the city, and the local authorities renamed the city Alexandroupolis in his honor, with the approval of the central government.History
From Neolithic Period to the 19th century
Human settlements appear since the Neolithic Period at the southeast end of Western Thrace. In the Bronze Age there is no strong evidence of active city participation. During the Early Iron Age the various Thracian tribes appeared and settled in mountainous and, more rarely, in lowland areas.The modern city is near the site of ancient Sale, a colony of Samothrace. Sale, was a member of the Delian League led by Athens. Alexandroupolis, as well as the whole area from the Evros Delta to Lake Vistonida and the foothills of Rhodope Mountains, was inhabited by Cicones, a Thracian people with whom, according to mythology, Odysseus and his comrades clashed on their return from Troy. The area became part of Macedon under Philip and his son Alexander the Great, passing to his successor in Thrace after his death, Lysimachus. During the Hellenistic age the area became part of the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, Antigonid empires, kingdom of Pergamum and finally the Roman Empire as part of the Roman province of Thrace and later Diocese of Thrace.
In the Byzantine Period, the region which covers the modern city of Alexandroupolis was part of the theme of Macedonia and played an important role, due to its proximity to Constantinople. For this reason the settlement was guarded by powerful military installations. Basil I "the Macedonian" hailed from the theme of Macedonia in Thrace, and the Macedonian dynasty he founded was named after the theme of Macedonia.
In the following years, up to the 19th century, the city seems to have been deserted and covered by forests and wild trees.
Ottoman era
The modern city was first settled in the 19th century, under the Ottoman Empire. Long used as a landing ground for fishermen from the opposite coast of Samothrace, a hamlet developed in the area during the construction of a railway line connecting Constantinople to the major cities of Macedonia from Pythio. The work was part of an effort to modernise the Empire, and was assigned to engineers from Austria-Hungary. The settlement grew into a fishing village, Dedeağaç.In 1873 it was made the chief town of a kaza, to which it gave its name, and a kaymakam was appointed to it. In 1884 it was promoted to a sanjak, and the governor became a mutasarrıf. In 1889 the Greek archbishopric of Aenus was transferred to Dedeağaç. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Dedeağaç was part of the Adrianople Vilayet.
Russo-Turkish War
Dedeağaç was captured by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War. Russian forces settled in the village. The officers in charge saw that reconstruction incorporated wide streets running parallel to each other, allowing the quick advance of troops, and avoided cul-de-sacs. This was very unlike the narrow alleys, cobbled streets, and dead-ends that were characteristic of Ottoman cities at the time. The city returned to Ottoman control by the end of the war. The brief Russian presence had a lasting effect on the design of Alexandroupolis' streets.Balkan Wars
The building of a railway station in Dedeağaç led to the development of the village into a town, and a minor trade centre by the end of the century. The town became the seat of a pasha as the capital of a sanjak. Ottoman control of the town lasted until the Balkan Wars. On 8 November 1912, Dedeağaç and its station was captured by Bulgarian forces with the assistance of the Hellenic Navy. Bulgaria and Greece were allies during the First Balkan War, but opponents in the Second Balkan War. Dedeağaç was captured by Greek forces on 11 July 1913. The Treaty of Bucharest determined that Dedeağaç would be returned to Bulgaria along with the rest of Western Thrace.In September 1913, after the end of the Second Balkan War, about 12,000 Bulgarian refugees took refuge in the outskirts of the city. They were from 17 different villages all over the Western Thrace fleeing ethnic cleansing.
World War I
The defeat of Bulgaria by the Allies in World War I ensured another change of hands for the town. Western Thrace was withdrawn from Bulgaria under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly. Alexandroupolis was under temporary management of the Entente led by French General Charpy. In the second half of April 1920 prime ministers of the main allies of the Entente powers, gave Western Thrace to Greece at the San Remo conference. Bulgaria retained the right of transit to use the port of Dedeagach to transport goods through the Aegean Sea.The change of guard between French and Greek officials occurred on 14 May 1920, in the city's Post Office. In the interior of the Post Office there is a memorial plaque concerning this event. The city was soon visited by Alexander of Greece. He was the first King of Greece to visit the town which was renamed in his honour.
Greco-Turkish War
Following the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War, the Greek Army under General Theodoros Pangalos retreated from Eastern Thrace to the area of Alexandroupolis. Bulgaria used the opportunity of the Greek defeat to demand that Alexandroupolis either be returned to Bulgarian control or declared a neutral zone under international control. Both demands were rejected by the Greek leadership and found no support in the League of Nations. The Treaty of Lausanne affirmed the Greek sovereignty of Western Thrace.World War II
During World War II the Nazis gave Alexandroupolis to their Bulgarian partners. Alexandroupolis was under Bulgarian occupation between May 1941 and 1944. Before the war the city had a Jewish community of 150 members. The city suffered destruction of its Jewish population by Bulgarian forces. In March 1943 the Jews were deported to the Nazi death camps, where they were exterminated. Only 4 Jews survived. The city suffered some damage to buildings and a loss of population during the war.Alexandroupolis was largely spared the effects of the Greek Civil War. Forces of the communist Democratic Army of Greece in and around the town area were small and loosely organized, resulting in the absence of major battles in the area. The return of peace allowed for Alexandroupolis to grow from a town of 16,332 residents in 1951 to a city of 57,812 residents by 2011.