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'Alexandroupoli' (also ''Alexandroupolis'', Greek: Αλεξανδρούπολη, Turkish: Dedeağaç) is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros Prefecture in Thrace.
Geography
Alexandroupoli is about 14.5 km (9 miles) west of the delta of the river Evros, 40km from the border with Turkey, 300 km (186 mi) from Thessaloniki on the newly constructed Egnatia highway, and 750 km (466 mi) from Athens. Around the city one finds small fishing villages like Makri and Dikela to the west, and suburban Antheia, Aristino, Nipsa, Loutra to the east, while north of the city are the ever closing Palagia, Abantas, Aissymi and Kirkas. At the 1991 census, the main city had a population of 36,994 and the municipality had a population of 38,220. The current metropolitan population is estimated at around 70,000 inhabitants, and its area covers the southwestern portion of the prefecture, at around 300 km², and it runs approximately 40 km long and wide, its length shorter northward. Its boundary goes 70% of the way from the Rodopi Prefecture to the Evros Delta.
History
The city's history only goes back to the 19th century. Long used as a landing ground for fishermen from the coast of Samothrace opposite, the location was known as Dedeagatch (Greek: ''Δεδεαγάτς'' Dedeagats, and ''Dedeağaç'' in Turkish, meaning "tree of the monk"). The name was based on a local tradition of a wise dervish having spent much of his time in the shade of a local tree and being eventually buried beside it.
A small settlement developed in the area during the construction of a railway line connecting Istambul to the major cities of Macedonia. The work was part of an effort to modernise the Ottoman Empire, and was assigned to engineers from Austria-Hungary. The settlement soon grew into a fishing village, which also used the name Dedeagatch.
Russo-Turkish War
Dedeagatch was captured by the army of Imperial Russia during the last Russo–Turkish War of 1877–1878, and Russian forces settled in the village. The officers in charge put some effort into urban planning, with an emphasis on the design of wide streets, allowing the quick advance of troops. The streets run parallel to each other, and cul-de-sacs were avoided as too confusing. This was very unlike the narrow allies, 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, but the brief Russian presence has had a lasting influence in the design of Alexandroupoli' urban streets.
Balkan War
The building of a railway station in Dedeagatch 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 with administrative duties. The Ottoman control of the town would last until the Balkan Wars. On 8 November 1912, Dedeagatch 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. Dedeagatch was captured by the Hellenic Army on 11 July 1913. This would prove short-lived, for the Treaty of Bucharest (10 August 1913) determined that Dedeagatch would be returned to Bulgaria along with the rest of Western Thrace.
World War I
The Fishing Village of Makri
The defeat of Bulgaria by the Allies in World War I (1914 - 1918) ensured another change of hands for the town. The Treaty of Neuilly (27 November, 1919) required the ceding of Western Thrace from Bulgaria to Greece. However Bulgaria retained the right of transit to use the port of Dedeagatch to transport goods through the Aegean Sea. The change of guard between Bulgarian and Greek officials occurred on May 14, 1920. The city was soon visited by Alexander I of Greece amidst great celebration. He was the first King of Greece to visit the town which was renamed in his honor.
Greco-Turkish War
Following the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War (1919 - 1922), forces of the Hellenic Army retreated from Eastern Thrace to the area of Alexandroupoli under the leadership of General Theodoros Pangalos. Bulgaria used the opportunity of the Greek defeat to demand for Alexandroupoli either to be returned to its control or to be 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 (24 July, 1923) affirmed that Western Thrace and Alexandroupoli would continue to be controlled by Greece. The previous agreement allowing a Bulgarian presence in the town port had expired; representatives of Greek Prime Minister Stylianos Gonatas offered a renewal of the agreement in an apparent attempt to improve the relationship between the two Balkan countries. Their Bulgarian counterparts informed Prime Minister of Bulgaria Aleksandar Tsankov and returned with a negative reply.
World War II
Thrakiko Pelagos
Bulgaria used its alliance with Nazi Germany to regain control of Western Thrace during World War II (see Axis Occupation of Greece during WWII). Alexandroupoli remained under Bulgarian occupation between May 1941 and 1945. The city suffered damage to buildings and loss of population during the war but was largely spared the effects of the Greek Civil War (1946 - 1949). 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 Alexandroupoli to grow from a town of 16,332 residents (1951) to a city of 35,999 residents by 1981.
Recently in Alexandroupoli
The area in Aissymi north of Alexandroupoli was ravaged by a forest fire in late-July 2007. Another natural disaster occurred on 6 August 2007, days after the fire; it happened near the villages of Makri and Dikella, with a tremendous rainstorm brought across from a low pressure system in Central Europe. Heavy rains during the morning hours were extensive 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 and several stores, and near Alexandroupoli, in its main railway linking west to Thessaloniki 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 the Egnatia Odos motorway was also shut off to traffic. Off the Thracian Gulf by the coasts of Makri by its campground and beach, a trailer floated as far as 1 km away from the seashore, and the rainstorm also affected Dikella and the surrounding areas, particuarly on the coastline.
Education
Alexandroupoli has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the Democritus University of Thrace, a world-renowned research and teaching institution. Some highly specialised medical operations are performed in the new Regional Hospital - Research center, currently the largest one in the Balkans.
The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of the city council (though the student are subjects under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education). There are also many private lanquage schools, most of them offering European Languages courses. Like many other cities in Greece, Alexandroupoli now handles the integration of a large number of expatriates and immigrants from Russia, Central Asia and Middle East. Lanquages spoken by the citizens include: English, Russian, Bulgarian, Armenian, German, and Turkish. The city has a reputation of consistently exporting high number of students to attend national and international universities.
Transportation
Alexandroupoli is served by Dimokritos International Airport (IATA:AXD) in the suburbs of Apalos, about 6km from Alexandroupoli city center. It is one of the busiest airports in Greece and a main hub for Olympic Airways and Aegean; there are 4 daily flights to Athens, and also flights to Creta, while during the summer months some seasonal flights operate to rom Germany and Russia. The airport is connected to the city by highway, taxi services and scheduled bus services, and it is fair to say that historicaly, the port of Alexandroupolis has been used principally by travellers. There are daily servies to the Island of Samothraki and a weekly Trans-Aegean service to all the eastern islands of the Aegean, with the final destination of the island of Rhodes.
Municipal districts
★ Agnantia
★ Amfitriti
★ Aissymi
★
★ Leptokarya
★ Kirki
★ Makri
★
★ Dikella
★
★ Ennati
★
★ Koimisi Theotokou
★
★ Mesimvria
★
★ Panorama
★
★ Paralia Dikellon
★
★ Plaka
★ Sykorrachi
★
★ Atarni
★
★ Avra
★
★ Komaros
★
★ Mesti
★
★ Perama
★
★ Stathmos
Culture
The city is similary famous for the many painters that where born here over the years. Rallis Kopsidis, Syni Anastassiadi, Theodoros Agglias, Maria Sidiropoulou (http://alex.eled.duth.gr/kekkeris/painters/zof0001), Paschalis Angelidis (http://alex.eled.duth.gr/kekkeris/engbio.html), Victoria Dedegian (http://alex.eled.duth.gr/kekkeris/painters/zof0000)and Economou-Maurogeni Zoe.
Its most popular writers are: Kalliopi Papathanassi-Moussiopoulou , Angelos Poimenidis and Georgios Stavridis (http://stavridis.org).
Born in Alexandroupoli
Duke Ter Hachatrjan Aleksandr
Historical population
| Year | Population | Change | Municipal population | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 35,999 | - | - | - |
| 1991 | 36,994 | 995/27.9% | 41,860 | - |
| 2001 | 52,720 | 42.51% | ~70,000 | - |
See also
★ Communities of the Evros prefecture.
★ Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline
References
External links
★ Ethnological Museum of Thrace, webpage: EMThrace-English.
★ Αλεξανδρούπολη. Η σύγχρονη πόλη που δημιουργεί την ιστορία της.
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