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47-549: Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace , northeastern Greece . It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace . Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided by the Kosynthos River, into the west part, where the old and the modern town are located, and the east part that boasts a rich natural environment. The "Old Town of Xanthi"

94-582: A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys , or after Xanthi, one of the Amazons that ruled the region, according to legend. Xanthi is known as İskeçe in Turkish and Скеча ( Skecha ) or Ксанти ( Ksanti ) in Bulgarian . Xanthi is sometimes identified with the ancient city of Xantheia mentioned in the 1st century BC by the geographer Strabo , but it was not mentioned by any other ancient historian. It began as

141-500: A key entering point for illegal immigrants trying to enter European Union territory; Greek security forces, working together with Frontex , are also extensively deployed in the Greco-Turkish land border. The approximate area of Western Thrace is 8,578  km with a population of 371,208 according to the 2011 census . It is estimated that two-thirds (67%) of the population are Orthodox Christian Greeks , while about

188-567: A part of the latter until the end of World War I . Following the Bulgarian defeat in this war, Western Thrace came under Allied administration and on 4 October 1919 the Greek army under Georgios Leonardopoulos command entered the city. That date is today celebrated in Xanthi as the anniversary of its liberation. Second lieutenant Gavriel Ladas , who was from Xanthi, led the first Greek troops in

235-406: A significant role in the city's economy. Over 40 cultural associations from around Greece participate in the carnival program. The festivities which take place during the period include concerts, theatre plays, music and dance nights, exhibitions, a cycling event, games on the streets, and re-enactments of old customs. There are two theories regarding the origin of its name: it was either named after

282-562: A small village and experienced all the tumultuous periods of the history of Thrace , such as raids, disasters, ethnic conflicts, civil wars. The population of the region of Xanthi had dwindled down to almost nothing, as the region was depopulated in the 3rd century AD and almost everything had been destroyed when the Ottomans conquered the region in 1361. For this reason, the Ottomans brought Turkish settlers from within of Asia Minor , which

329-461: A third (33%) are Muslims who are an officially recognised minority of Greece. Of these, about a quarter are of Turkish origin , while another quarter are Pomaks who mainly inhabit the mountainous parts of the region. The rest are Muslim Greeks or Romani. The Romani of Thrace are also mainly Muslim, unlike their ethnic kin in other parts of the country who generally profess the Orthodox faith of

376-577: Is divided into the three regional units (former prefectures ): Xanthi , Rhodope and Evros , which together with the Macedonian regional units of Drama , Kavala and Thasos form the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace . The Fourth Army Corps of the Hellenic Army has its headquarters in Xanthi ; in recent years, the region has attracted international media attention after becoming

423-480: Is how Genisea (Γενισέα) was created, while Oraio (Ωραίο) and Xanthi remained mainly Greek and Christian centres. Known references to Xanthi ( Ξάνθη ), or Xanthia ( Ξάνθεια ), the city's origins are obscure; it was a prosperous stronghold of the Byzantine era but latter became a colony of the Ottomans known as Eskije . Xanthi is first recorded in 879 (Bishop Georgios of Xantheia is reported as taking part in

470-596: Is known throughout Greece for its distinctive architecture, combining many Byzantine Greek churches with neoclassical mansions of Greek merchants from the 18th and 19th centuries and Ottoman-Era mosques. Other landmarks in Xanthi include the Archaeological Museum of Abdera and the Greek Folk Art Museum. Xanthi is famous throughout Greece (especially Macedonia and Thrace ) for its annual spring carnival ( Greek : καρναβάλι) which has

517-546: Is very popular (every February) and is one of the most popular in Greece, while the "old town festival" (early September) is equally famous. Furthermore, the bazaar of Xanthi is famous and takes place at Emboriou Square every Saturday. In addition, the Manos Hatzidakis ' festival attracts worldwide interest. Xanthi is twinned with: Western Thrace Inhabited since paleolithic times , it has been under

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564-694: The Bulgarian Second Army . During the Bulgarian occupation, more than 2,000 men from Xanthi, both Christians and Muslims were sent for forced labor in Bulgaria. On 4 March 1943 the Jews of Xanthi were arrested by the Bulgarians and imprisoned in a tobacco warehouse. On 18 and 19 March, they were deported to Nazi concentration camps in Poland. From a community of 550 people, only six Jews survived

611-588: The Byzantine Empire , Western Thrace benefited from its position close to the imperial heartland and became a center of medieval Greek commerce and culture; later, under the Ottoman Empire , a number of Muslims settled there, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece . Topographically, Thrace alternates between mountain-enclosed basins of varying size and deeply cut river valleys. It

658-602: The Fourth Council of Constantinople ). From the 13th to the 14th century it was the most important city of the region. Three monasteries date from the Middle Ages : Pammegiston, Taxiarchon, and Panagia Archangeliotisa, although written records indicate several others now lost. Xanthi featured in the campaign of Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1327. By 1715, Xanthi, as well as Genisea , became renowned for its tobacco quality. Many foreign sightseers traveled throughout

705-585: The Roman province of Thracia founded in 46 AD. At the beginning of the 2nd AD century Roman emperor Trajan founded here, as a part of the provincial policy, two cities of Greek type (i.e. city-states), Traianoupolis and Plotinopolis . From this region passed the famous Via Egnatia , which ensured the communication between East and West, while its ramifications were connecting the Aegean world with Thracian hinterland (i.e. upper and middle valley of Evros river). From

752-756: The San Remo conference which gathered the leaders of the main allies of the Entente powers (except the US), Western Thrace was given to Greece. Throughout the Balkan Wars and World War I , Bulgaria , Greece and Turkey each forced respective minority populations in the Thrace region out of areas they controlled. A large population of Greeks in Eastern Thrace , and Black Sea coastal and southern Bulgaria,

799-808: The Sanjak of Gümülcine within the Adrianople Vilayet . During the First Balkan War , Xanthi was captured by the Bulgarian army from the Ottomans in 8 November 1912. In the Second Balkan War the Greek army captured it in July 1913. However, with the Treaty of Bucharest , Xanthi along with Western Thrace were ceded to Bulgaria (where it was also called Скеча Skecha ), and remained

846-567: The Treaty of Lausanne . Western Thrace was ceded to the Entente in December 1919, after which many Bulgarians left the region, while many Greeks moved in. The Government of the Entente (led by French general Sharpe) held its own census in 1920, according to which Western Thrace had a population of 204,700, of whom: Turks 36.5% (74,720 Muslims), Bulgarians 32.2% (65,927 = 54,079 Christians and 11,848 Muslims), Greeks 27.4% (56,114 Christians), Jews 1.5% (2,985) Armenians 0.9% (1,880), others 3,066. At

893-490: The political , cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era ; Greeks from the Aegean islands extensively colonized the region (especially the coastal part) and built prosperous cities such as Abdera (home of Democritus , the 5th-century B.C. philosopher who developed an atomic particle theory, and of Protagoras , a leading sophist ) and Sale (near present-day Alexandroupolis). Under

940-565: The 1912-1920 period gave the following results about the ethnic distribution of the area that would become known as Western Thrace: The Pomak population depending on the source was sometimes counted together with the Turks (Muslims) following the Ottoman system of classifying people according to religion, while in other occasions was specified separately. According to the Bulgarian view, they are considered "Bulgarian Muslims" and an integral part of

987-556: The Bulgarian army remained in the region until the end of October 1944 and it withdrew under pressure from the Allies. Nowadays Xanthi is a modern city, rich in history, traditions and customs, and with many attractions for the visitors (including the surrounding areas). Xanthi is known as the city of a thousand colours , and like Komotini (Gümülcine) and Didymoteicho (Dimetoka) has a large population of Turkish-speaking Muslims. The Muslim population of East Macedonia and Thrace dates to

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1034-454: The Bulgarian nation. By the Bulgarian census in 1919, held on the request of the Entente, of the population of Western Thrace was 219,723 of whom: Turks 35.4% (77,726 Muslims), Bulgarians 46.3% (101,766 - 81,457 Christians and 20 309 Muslims), Greeks 14.8% (32,553 Christians), Jews 1.4% (3,066) Armenians 1.5% (2,369), others 0,9% (1,243). The area ceded to the Entente also included Karaagach and its environs, which became part of Turkey after

1081-514: The Greek majority. Thrace is bordered by Bulgaria to the north, Turkey to the east, the Aegean Sea (Greece) to the south and the Greek region of Macedonia to the west. Alexandroupolis is the largest city , with a municipal population of 72,959 according to the 2011 census. Below is a table of the five largest Thracian cities: After the Roman conquest, Western Thrace further belonged to

1128-518: The Holocaust. The synagogue of Xanthi built in 1926 at the corner of Hatzistavrou and Anatolikis Thrakis streets, was used by Christian Associations and later abandoned. It was sold and demolished in 1995. The city was liberated following the 9 September coup d'etat in Bulgaria when partisans of the Greek People's Liberation Army entered the city and took over control without a fight. However,

1175-491: The Ottoman army. On 15 November 1912, on the right bank of the river Maritza , Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps captured the Turkish corps of Yaver Paha, which defended Eastern Rhodopes and Western Thrace from invading Bulgarians. The victors quickly fell into dispute on how to divide the newly conquered lands, resulting in the Second Balkan War . In August 1913, Bulgaria was defeated, but kept Western Thrace under

1222-516: The Ottoman period, and unlike the Ottoman Muslims and Greek Muslims of Greek Macedonia and Crete was exempted from the 1922–23 Greek-Turkish population exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne . In 1972 the Greek authorities planned to demolish the landmark of the city, the clock tower , built by Pomak Hadji Emin Aga in 1870. This decision resulted in protests by the local Muslims and

1269-612: The Western Thracian Muslim minority. Before World War 2 Western Thrace was home to a Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish population. After Greece was occupied by Axis forces, around 4,075 Jews living in Western Thrace and Macedonia were sent to Treblinka extermination camp and were murdered. The last censuses which asked about ethnicity were held in the transitional period before the region became part of Greece. A number of estimates and censuses during

1316-401: The city of Genisea was burned down and thus all of the agencies and services were transferred to Xanthi which, at that time, had a population of about 10,000 inhabitants. In 1891, a rail line was established near the city, while further economic development led to the founding of schools and associations. During the late period of Ottoman rule until 1912, the city was administratively located in

1363-543: The city. Ladas became the mayor of Xanthi from 1959 to 1964. On 8 April 1941 the 164th Infantry Division captured Xanthi following the German invasion of Greece and the Germans passed the city to Bulgaria, who occupied the whole region east of Strymonas , except a small German zone near the border with Turkey. The city became the administrative center of the Bulgarian province of Belomorie and served as headquarters for

1410-544: The coast also passed the sea route Troad–Macedonia, which the Apostle Paul had used in his journeys in Greece. During the great crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD, Western Thrace suffered from the frequent incursions of the barbarians until the reign of Diocletian , when it managed to prosper again thanks to its administrative reforms. The region had been under the rule of the Byzantine Empire from

1457-473: The further development of the region. Tourism is slowly becoming more and more important as the Aegean coast has a number of beaches, and there is also the potential for winter tourism activities in the Rhodopi mountains , the natural border with Bulgaria, which are covered by dense forest. It's estimated that two-thirds (67%) of the population are Orthodox Christian Greeks while about a third (33%) are part of

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1504-590: The plans were cancelled. A few kilometers outside Xanthi, the Egnatia Motorway crosses Xanthi with Macedonia , Epirus and the rest of Thrace . The Xanthi Bus Station runs daily services to several cities throughout Greece. Xanthi is 206 km from Thessaloniki , 704 km from Athens , 397 km from Istanbul and 236 km from Edirne . On 15 January 2010, the Agios Konstantinos border crossing point between Greece and Bulgaria

1551-475: The population exchange). The population of the region, according to the official census of 1928 and 1951 conducted by the local authorities, per mother tongue, was as follows: 41°06′00″N 25°25′00″E  /  41.1000°N 25.4167°E  / 41.1000; 25.4167 Sanjak of G%C3%BCm%C3%BClcine The Sanjak of Gümülcine ( Ottoman Turkish : Sancak-i Gümülcine , Greek : Υποδιοίκησις Γκιουμουλτζίνας , Bulgarian : Гюмюрджински санджак )

1598-417: The primary occupation of the residents of the area. During the last decades, tourism has also increased, especially during the period of the "Old Town Festival". School of Engineering The city has a rich history, tradition, and customs and it is the cultural center in the area. It is also considered a multi-cultural city and it has been characterized as "the city of the thousand colours". Xanthi's Carnival

1645-536: The recognized Muslim minority of Greece. Of the Muslim minority: Turkey, a signatory state of the Lausanne Treaty, initially claimed the whole of the Muslim minority to be strictly an ethnic Turkish minority even though it actually consists of multiple ethnic groups. In his 7 December 2017 visit to Greece Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , acknowledged for the first time the multi-ethnic nature of

1692-484: The region and described both the life and struggles of the locals. The tobacco trade throughout Europe led Xanthi into a course of prosperity. George Demetriou was active in the Xanthi area during the Greek Revolution of 1821. In March and April 1829 two earthquakes leveled the city, however, they played a decisive role in the further developments as the city's rebuilding immediately got underway. In 1870,

1739-542: The region. At 1821, several parts of Western Thrace, such as Lavara , Maroneia , and Samothraki rebelled and participated in the Greek War of Independence . During the First Balkan War , the Balkan League ( Serbia , Greece , Bulgaria and Montenegro ) fought against the Ottoman Empire and annexed most of its European territory, including Thrace. Western Thrace was occupied by Bulgarian troops who defeated

1786-519: The status of a minority to the Muslims in Western Thrace, in exchange for a similar status for the ethnic Greek minority in Istanbul and the Aegean islands of Imbros and Tenedos . After the German invasion (April 1941), the area was occupied by Bulgarian troops, as part of the triple Axis occupation of Greece , during World War II. During this period (1941–1944) the demographic distribution

1833-556: The terms of the Treaty of Bucharest . In the following years, the Central Powers ( Germany , Austria-Hungary , and the Ottoman Empire ), with which Bulgaria had sided, lost World War I , and as a result, Bulgaria had to surrender Western Thrace under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly . Western Thrace was under temporary management of the Entente led by French General Charles Antoine Charpy. In late April 1920, as per

1880-575: The time of the division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western empires in the early fourth century AD. The Ottoman Empire conquered most of the region in the 14th century and ruled it until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. During Ottoman rule, Thrace had a mixed population of Turks and Bulgarians , with a strong Greek element in the cities and the Aegean Sea littoral . A smaller number of Pomaks, Jews, Armenians and Romani also lived in

1927-583: The time this census was conducted, a part of the Greek population of Xanthi, who left massively the Xanthi district after the Balkan wars (1913), returned. According to the Turkish researches the population of Western Thrace in 1923 was 191,699, of whom 129,120 (67%) were Turks/Muslims (also includes the Pomaks ) and 33,910 (18%) were Greeks ; the remaining 28,669 (15%) were mostly (Christian) Bulgarians , along with small numbers of Jews and Armenians (before

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1974-654: Was a second-level province ( sanjak ) of the Ottoman Empire in Thrace , forming part of the Adrianople Vilayet . Its capital was Gümülcine, modern Komotini in Greece . The sanjak of Gümülcine was created in 1878 out of the territory of the sanjaks of Gallipoli and Filibe ( Plovdiv ) from the Adrianople Vilayet , as well as parts of the sanjak of Drama of the Salonica Vilayet . It comprised six sub-provinces or kazas , which were further subdivided into nahiyes : The sanjak survived until it

2021-400: Was expelled south and west into Greek-controlled Thrace. Concurrently, a large population of Bulgarians was forced from the region into Bulgaria by Greek and Turkish actions. Turkish populations in the area were also targeted by Bulgarian and Greek forces and pushed eastward. As part of the Treaty of Neuilly and subsequent agreements, the status of the expelled populations was legitimized. This

2068-434: Was followed by a further population exchange which radically changed the demographics of the region toward increased ethnic homogenization within the territories each respective country was ultimately awarded. This was followed by the large-scale Greek-Turkish population exchanges of 1923 ( Treaty of Lausanne ), which finalized the reversal of Western and Eastern Thrace region's pre-Balkan War demography. The treaty granted

2115-435: Was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units: The municipality has an area of 495.118 km, the municipal unit 153.116 km. The municipal unit Xanthi is subdivided into the communities Evmoiro, Kimmeria and Xanthi. These communities contain the following settlements: Traditionally, the tobacco business, commerce, and farming have been

2162-450: Was further changed, with the arrest of the region's approximately 4,500 Jews by the Bulgarian police and their deportation to death camps administered by Germany. None of them survived. The economy of Thrace in recent years has become less dependent on agriculture. A number of Greek-owned high-tech telecommunications companies have settled in the area. The A2 motorway (Egnatia Odos) motorway which passes through Thrace has contributed to

2209-658: Was inaugurated, 51 km from Xanthi, linking the nearby village of Thermi with the town of Zlatograd . A link road between the A2 motorway and the Bulgarian town of Rudozem is planned. Outside Xanthi is the Xanthi railway station on the Thessaloniki-Alexandroupoli line , with daily services to Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis . Xanthi does not have an airport. It is mainly served by Kavala Airport , 42 km away, and secondarily by Alexandroupolis Airport , 112 km away. The municipality Xanthi

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