Φωτογραφίες

Old Kavala view:

Its geographical location, its natural port and its adjacency with gold-bearing Mt Pangaion make Kavala one of the oldest coastal towns, with its traces being lost in the mists of prehistory.

“New City” or Neapolis. This is what the Thassian colony decided to call this new port on the mainland that was founded in the 7th century BC.

Gold and silver was the driving force for this new colony to be formed as these precious metals were discovered in the Pangaion mountains close by. By the 5th century BC, they managed to break their ties with Thasos and allied themselves with Athens.

By 350 BC, Philip ll was moving south. Philippi was founded and Neapolis was conquered. It served as the harbor for Philippi 14 km to the north.

In 168 BC the tides changed as the Romans marched east. In 42 BC Neapolis was a military base for Brutus and Cassius leading up to the “Battle of Philippi”. It was here that they harbored their fleets. With the victory of Augustus, Philippi and the region around became a roman colony.

It was to this town that the Apostle Paul came to teach the message of Christianity for the first time in Europe in 49 AD, and baptised Lydia, the first European Christian woman, on the banks of the River Zygaktis.

Until 1864, the Old Town was confined to the triangular peninsula on Kavala hill, which was itself a continuation of ancient Neapolis and Byzantine Christoupolis. Within this same space, the same city appeared in different eras, and with different names. Each name was characteristic and corresponded to a historical period. Neapolis in ancient times, Christoupolis during the Byzantine period, and Kavala in the modern era.

During the Ottoman period, the town was razed to the ground, to be reborn from its ashes and, from the 18th century, once again became an important commercial port, acquiring its current, modern appearance.


Διαβάστε περισσότερα: https://www.visitkavala.gr/en/sightseeing/istoria/