1.
Syros
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Syros, or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located 78 nautical miles south-east of Athens, the area of the island is 83.6 km2 and it has 21,507 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari, Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and of the Cyclades. It has always been a significant port town, and during the 19th century it was more significant than Piraeus. Other villages are Galissas, Foinikas, Pagos, Manna, Kini, Syros also refers to USS LST-325, which is an American made World War II-era tank landing ship that was sent to Greece on 1 September 1964, as part of the grant-in-aid program. She served in the Hellenic Navy as RHS Syros from 1964 to 1999 and it is now decommissioned and docked in Evansville, Indiana. Ermoupoli stands on a naturally amphitheatrical site, with buildings, old mansions. The City Hall, where Miaoulis Square lies ringed with cafes, the City of Hermes has numerous churches, including Metamorphosis, Koimisis, St. Demetrius, Three Hierarchs, Anastasis, Evangelistria and St. Nicolas. The Archaeological Museum has many finds and the Municipal Library contains numerous editions, the quarter of the town known as Vaporia is where the sea captains lived. Along its narrow streets, stand numerous neo-classical mansions, Ano Syros is the second town of Syros and was built by the Venetians at the beginning of the 13th century on the hill of San Giorgio, north-west of Hermoupolis. Ano Syros maintains a medieval atmosphere, innumerable steps between narrow streets and houses with coloured doors lead to the top of the town. The medieval settlement of Ano Syros is accessible by car, the town is served mostly by marble steps, the distance from the harbour up to the main entry point of the town is approximately 1000 metres. The Catholic cathedral of Saint George dominates Ano Syros, the cathedral church was constructed during the 13th century. From the cathedral visitors have a view of the neighbouring islands of Tinos, Delos, Mykonos, Paros, Andros and Naxos. The history of settlement on Syros goes back at least 5,000 years and this is when the hill-top settlement of Kastri began. Archaeologists describe Early Cycladic III culture as Kastri culture, Kastri, dated by archaeologists to 2800-2300 BC, was one of the earliest settlements in Greece that were protected by stone walls with rounded bastions. Also the cemetery of Chalandriani is associated with Kastri, inside the fortification, the houses shared party walls and were packed close together. It is estimated that the town was home to up to 300 people
2.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
3.
Hermes
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Hermes is an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology, the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia, and the second youngest of the Olympian gods. Hermes is considered a god of transitions and boundaries and he is described as quick and cunning, moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and divine. He is also portrayed as an emissary and messenger of the gods and he has been viewed as the protector and patron of herdsmen, thieves, oratory and wit, literature and poetry, athletics and sports, invention and trade, roads, boundaries and travelers. In some myths, he is a trickster and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind and his attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, winged sandals, and winged cap. His main symbol is the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus, which appears in a form of two snakes wrapped around a staff with carvings of the other gods. The earliest form of the name Hermes is the Mycenaean Greek *hermāhās, most scholars derive Hermes from Greek ἕρμα herma, prop, heap of stones, boundary marker, from which the word hermai also derives. The etymology of ἕρμα itself is unknown, R. S. P. Beekes rejects the connection with herma and suggests a Pre-Greek origin. Scholarly speculation that Hermes derives from a primitive form meaning one cairn is disputed. In Greek, a find is a hermaion. It is also suggested that Hermes is a cognate of the Vedic Sarama, homer and Hesiod portrayed Hermes as the author of skilled or deceptive acts and also as a benefactor of mortals. In the Iliad, he is called the bringer of luck, guide and guardian. He was an ally of the Greeks against the Trojans. However, he did protect Priam when he went to the Greek camp to retrieve the body of his son Hector and he also rescued Ares from a brazen vessel where he had been imprisoned by Otus and Ephialtes. In the Odyssey, Hermes helps his son, the protagonist Odysseus, by informing him about the fate of his companions. Hermes instructed Odysseus to protect himself by chewing a magic herb, when Odysseus killed the suitors of his wife, Hermes led their souls to Hades. Hermes was then instructed to take her as wife to Epimetheus, aesop featured him in several of his fables, as ruler of the gate of prophetic dreams, as the god of athletes, of edible roots, and of hospitality. He also said that Hermes had assigned each person his share of intelligence, Hermes, as an inventor of fire, is a parallel of the Titan Prometheus. In addition to the lyre, Hermes was believed to have invented many types of racing and the sports of wrestling and boxing, in 1820 Shelley translated this hymn
4.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
5.
Shipyard
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A shipyard is a place where ships are repaired and built. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships, dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles. The shipbuilding industry tends to be fragmented in Europe than in Asia. In European countries there are a number of small companies. The publicly owned shipyards in the US are Naval facilities providing basing, support, Shipyards are constructed nearby the sea or tidal rivers to allow easy access for their ships. Sir Alfred Yarrow established his yard by the Thames in Londons Docklands in the late 19th century before moving it northwards to the banks of the Clyde at Scotstoun. Other famous UK shipyards include the Harland and Wolff yard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Titanic was built, and the naval dockyard at Chatham, England on the Medway in north Kent. The site of a large shipyard will contain many specialised cranes, dry docks, slipways, dust-free warehouses, painting facilities, after a ships useful life is over, it makes its final voyage to a shipbreaking yard, often on a beach in South Asia. Historically shipbreaking was carried on in drydock in developed countries, but high wages, the worlds earliest known dockyards were built in the Harappan port city of Lothal circa 2600 BC in Gujarat, India. Lothal engineers accorded high priority to the creation of a dockyard, the dock was built on the eastern flank of the town, and is regarded by archaeologists as an engineering feat of the highest order. It was located away from the current of the river to avoid silting. The name of the ancient Greek city of Naupactus means shipyard, Naupactus reputation in this field extends to the time of legend, where it is depicted as the place where the Heraclidae built a fleet to invade the Peloponnesus. During its time of operation it was changed, rebuilt and modified. It is currently a maritime museum, ships were the first items to be manufactured in a factory, several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, in the Venice Arsenal, Venice, Italy. The Arsenal apparently mass-produced nearly one every day using pre-manufactured parts. Chantiers de lAtlantique – established in 1861 Nantes-Indret, France – Establish in 1771 it built ships for the American Revolution including the Deane, jean Street Shipyard 1843–present – The oldest continually operated shipyard in the U. S. Located on the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida, Gloucester Marine Railways 1859–present – Oldest working shipyard in New England
6.
Piraeus
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Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area,12 kilometres southwest from its city center, the municipality of Piraeus and several other suburban municipalities within the regional unit of Piraeus form the greater Piraeus area, with a total population of 448,997. Piraeus has a recorded history, dating to ancient Greece. During the Golden Age of Athens the Long Walls were constructed to connect Athens with Piraeus, the port of Piraeus is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe and the second largest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers annually. With a throughput of 1.4 million TEUs, Piraeus is placed among the top ten ports in container traffic in Europe, the city hosted events in both the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The University of Piraeus is one of the largest universities in Greece, Piraeus, which roughly means the place over the passage, has been inhabited since the 26th century BC. Consequently, it was called the Halipedon, meaning the salt field, through the centuries, the area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, and thus by early classical times the land passage was made safe. In the late 6th century BC, the area caught attention due to its advantages, in 511 BC, the hill of Munichia was fortified by Hippias and four years later Piraeus became a deme of Attica by Cleisthenes. The Athenian fleet played a role in the battle of Salamis against the Persians in 480 BC. From then on Piraeus was permanently used as the navy base, the citys fortification was farther reinforced later by the construction of the Long Walls under Cimon and Pericles, with which Piraeus was connected to Athens. Meanwhile, Piraeus was rebuilt to the grid plan of architect Hippodamus of Miletus, known as the Hippodamian plan. As a result, Piraeus flourished and became a port of high security and great commercial activity, during the Peloponnesian War, Piraeus suffered its first setback. In the second year of the war, the first cases of the Athens plague were recorded in Piraeus, in 404 BC, the Spartan fleet under Lysander blockaded Piraeus and subsequently Athens surrendered to the Spartans, putting an end to the Delian League and the war itself. As a result, the tattered and unfortified port city was not able to compete with prosperous Rhodes, the destruction was completed in 395 AD by the Goths under Alaric I. Piraeus was led to a period of decline which lasted for fifteen centuries. During the Byzantine period the harbour of Piraeus was occasionally used for the Byzantine fleet and it was also called Porto Drako by Greeks, drako meaning not just dragon, but any monster. When Piraeus was taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1456, it known as Aslan Liman. The Piraeus Lion itself was looted in 1687 by Francesco Morosini during his expedition against Athens and was carried to the Venetian Arsenal, a copy of the lion statue is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
7.
Saint Nicholas
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Saint Nicholas, also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor. Because of the miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, in addition, some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other Reformed churches have been named in honor of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers. The historical Saint Nicholas, as known from history, He was born at Patara. In his youth he made a pilgrimage to Egypt and the Palestine area, shortly after his return he became Bishop of Myra and was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian. He was released after the accession of Constantine and was present at the Council of Nicaea, in 1087, Italian merchants took his body from Myra, bringing it to Bari in Italy. Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire, to a Greek family during the century in the city of Patara. He lived in Myra, Lycia, at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture and he was the only son of wealthy Christian parents named Epiphanius and Johanna according to some accounts and Theophanes and Nonna according to others. He was very religious from an age and according to legend. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young and he tonsured the young Nicholas as a reader and later ordained him a presbyter. In the year AD305, several monks from Anatolia in Asia Minor came to the Holy Land to Beit Jala, Judea and this was before St. Sava’s Monastery was founded in the desert east of Bethlehem on the Kidron Gorge near the Dead Sea. These monks lived on the mountain overlooking Bethlehem in a few caves, in the years 312–315, St. Nicholas lived there and came as a pilgrim to visit the Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha, Bethlehem, and many other sites in the Holy Land. The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is located on the site of his cave in Beit Jala where today there are stories about Nicholas still handed down from generation to generation. A text written in his own hand is still in the care of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, in 317 he returned to Asia Minor and was soon thereafter consecrated bishop in Myra. In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea, there, Nicholas was a staunch anti-Arian, defender of the Orthodox Christian position, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed. Tradition has it that he became so angry with the heretic Arius during the Council that he struck him in the face. The modern city of Demre, Turkey is built near the ruins of the home town of ancient Myra
8.
Pavlos Melas
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Pavlos Melas was an officer of the Hellenic Army, and he was among the first who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia. He was born in Marseilles, France, the son of Michail Melas who was elected MP for Attica and mayor of Athens and his father, a wealthy merchant, was of Epirote origin. At an early age Pavlos moved to Athens to study, and later joined the Army, in 1892, he married Natalia Dragoumi, the daughter of Kastorian politician Stephanos Dragoumis and sister of Ion Dragoumis. In 1895, the couple had a son named Michael and a daughter, the village with coordinates 40°42 N 021°16 E has been renamed Melas in his honour, after joining Greece. Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, Thessaloniki Pavlos Melas Museum, Kastoria Photographs from the website of the Hellenic army academy including one of Melas with his family
9.
Rebetiko
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Rebetiko briefly can be described as the urban popular song of the Greeks, especially the poorest, from the late 19th century to the 1950s. The word rebetiko is a form derived from the Greek word rebetis. The word rebetis is today construed to mean a person who embodies aspects of character, dress, behavior, morals, the word is closely related, but not identical in meaning, to the word mangas, which means strong guy that needs correction. The earliest source of the word to date is to be found in a Greek-Latin dictionary published in Leyden, Holland in 1614 where the word ῥεμπιτός is defined as a wanderer, blind, misguided, etc. The melodies of most rebetiko songs are often considered to follow one or more dromoi (Greek for roads or routes. The names of the dromoi are derived in all but a few cases from the names of various Turkish modes, furthermore, rebetika has come to be played on instruments tuned in equal temperament, in direct conflict with the more complex pitch divisions of the makam system. During the later period of the rebetiko revival there has been a cultural entente between Greek and Turkish musicians, mostly of the younger generations. This portion of the repertoire was played almost exclusively on the instruments of Smyrneika/Ottoman café music, such as kanonaki, santouri, politikí lyra, tsimbalo. The scales used in music are the traditional western major and minor scales, such as a series of eastern makams. Some of them include rast, uşşâk, hijaz, saba, most rebetiko songs are based on traditional Greek or Anatolian dance rhythms. Most common are, Syrtos, a name for many Greek dances, Zeibekiko. There is one component within the tradition which is common to many musical styles within Eastern musical spheres. This is the freely improvised unmeasured prelude, within a given dromos/makam and this is known in Greek as taxim or taximi after the Arabic word usually transliterated as taqsim or taksim. The first rebetiko songs to be recorded, as mentioned above, were mostly in Ottoman/Smyrna style and it is a view of the studio of the Athens luthier Leonidas Gailas, whom the artist describes as Fabricatore di bossuchi. The drawing clearly shows a number of bouzouki-like instruments, despite this evidence, we still know nothing of the early history of instruments association with what came to be called rebetiko. This recording, reissued for the first time in 2013, reveals a folk melodic style never recorded before or since, the first recording to feature the instrument clearly in a recognisable somewhat more modern melodic role, was made in 1929, in New York. Three years later the first true bouzouki solo was recorded by Ioannis Halikias, also in New York, in Greece the bouzouki had been allowed into a studio for the very first time a few months previously, in October 1931. The amateur bouzouki player Konstandinos Kalamaras accompanied a professional Byzantine singer, Konstandinos Vorgias, and these recordings marked the real beginning of the bouzoukis recorded career in Greece, a career which continues unbroken to the present day
10.
Demetrius Vikelas
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Demetrios Vikelas was a Greek businessman and writer, he was the first president of the International Olympic Committee, from 1894 to 1896. After a childhood spent in Greece and Constantinople, he found fortune in London and he then moved to Paris, on account of his wife. Abandoning business, he dedicated himself to literature and history, and published novels, short stories and essays. After the Games were over, he stepped down, remaining in Athens until his death in 1908, Vikelas was born in Ermoupoli, on the island of Syros in Greece. His father was a merchant, originally from Veria and his mother and he was educated at home by his mother, possibly due to his fragile health. When he was six, the moved to Constantinople. There he started working for his fathers business, already he showed signs of his literary potential. At the age of 17 he translated Esther, a tragedy by Jean Racine. While aged 17, in 1852, he left home to live in London with his uncles Leon and Vasileios Melas and he also began to maintain a weekly correspondence with his mother. This correspondence, which was kept, is one of the most important in establishing his biography. He also kept a journal in which he recorded not only facts about his life but also advice from his uncle Leon and his thoughts on books he had read. After his days work at his uncles business, he took evening classes at University College London, there, he obtained a degree in botany. He also took part in fencing, horse-riding and rowing, although circumstances did not allow him to keep these up. He had also become very scholarly, and started to publish — an anthology of poems in 1862 and numerous articles in London periodicals, on the British press and he also wrote letters to the main newspapers of the time to demand that Greeces rights be respected. Also in 1866, he married Kalliope Geralopoulou, a sister of Katerini. He also became a partner in his uncles business. He also met and became friends with Charilaos Trikoupis - the son of the Greek ambassador to Britain Spyridon Trikoupis, at the time they met, Charilaos Trikoupis was just starting his diplomatic and political career as an attaché, then chargé daffaires, of the Greek legation. The two men kept a busy correspondence, in his historical essay of 1874, On the Byzantines, he wrote that he wanted to restore the reputation of the Byzantine Empire
11.
Agios Nikolaos, Crete
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Agios Nikolaos or Aghios Nikolaos is a coastal town on the Greek island of Crete, lying east of the islands capital Heraklion, north of the town of Ierapetra and west of the town of Sitia. In the year 2011, the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, which takes in part of the surrounding villages, claimed 27,074 inhabitants. The town is a municipality of Crete region, and sits partially upon the ruins of the ancient city of Lato pros Kamara.694 km2, the name Agios Nikolaos means Saint Nicholas. Its stress lies on the syllable of the word Nikolaos. Agios Nikolaos or Ayios Nikolaos is a placename in Greece and Cyprus, since Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors. Near the town theres a site of ancient Priniatikos Pyrgos. It appears to have been first settled in the Final Neolithic, activity on the site continued throughout the Minoan Bronze Age and the Classical Greek and Roman periods, spanning a total of up to 4,000 years. Since 2007, Priniatikos Pyrgos has been undergoing excavation by a team under the auspices of the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens. Agios Nikolaos is accessible from the mainland and the whole of Europe through Nikos Kazantzakis airport, and you can also travel through Sitia airport boarding onto a domestic or charter flight or through its harbour. Recently the town became host to a department of a Technological Educational Institute, Agios Nikolaos is probably best known as a tourist town that serves as a hub to the twenty or so small villages and farms that make up that part of Lassithi. Tourist attractions include the small lagoon Lake Voulismeni, small beaches in the town, the tiny island Agioi Pantes, the archaeological museum, the local flora exhibition “Iris” and numerous fairs. Just a short ferry away from Agios Nikolaos is the island of Spinalonga. Tourism is mainly West European with Greek tourism concentrated in mid August, the lagoon features a small park with a trail, traditional fishing boats, ducks, pigeons, an amphitheatre and many cafès. The modern city of Agios Nikolaos became internationally well-known during the 60s and it was then that the rapid tourist development of the area started. Among the various productions filmed were He Who Must Die, The Moon-Spinners, daphne du Mauriers short story Not After Midnight was set in and around the town
12.
Alexandroupoli
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Alexandroupoli is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit in East Macedonia and Thrace. It is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece, Alexandroupoli is one of the newest cities in Greece, as it was only a fishing village until the late 19th century. However, the city is located at the site of ancient Sale. Alexandroupoli benefits from its position at the centre of land and sea routes connecting Greece with Turkey, the modern city was founded in the middle of the 19th century by fishermen from the villages of Makri and Maroneia and it became known as Dedeağaç. According to the legend, the name was based on a wise old Turkish man or dede who spent much of his time in the shade of a tree and was eventually buried beside it. In 1920, the King of Greece, Alexander I, visited the city, the request was duly approved by the central Greek government, and Alexandroupoli has been the citys name ever since. Alexandroupoli is about 14.5 km west of the delta of the river Evros,40 km from the border with Turkey,346 km from Thessaloniki on the newly constructed Egnatia highway, and 750 km from Athens. At the 2001 census, the city had a population of 48,885. Besides Alexandroúpolis, its other largest settlements are the villages of Mákri, Ávas, Sykorráchi, Aisými, the settlements history goes back to the 19th century, when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire. The work was part of an effort to modernise the Empire, the settlement soon grew into a fishing village known as Dedeağaç. In 1873 it was made the town of a Kaza, to which it gave its name. In 1884 it was raised in rank from a Kaza to a Sanjak. 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 of the Ottoman Empire. Dedeağaç was captured by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, 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, the city returned to Ottoman control by the end of the war, but the brief Russian presence had a lasting effect on the design of Alexandroúpolis streets. The building of a station in Dedeağaç led to the development of the village into a town. The town became the seat of a Pasha as the capital of a sanjak, Ottoman control of the town would last 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
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