Cultural Guide of Kavala

The city of Kavala, a major port on the north Aegean coast, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The first city, named Neapolis or New City, was probably a colony of the nearby island of Thasos, which in turn was a colony of Paros in the Cyclades. The city enjoyed periods of prosperity while its relations with Thasos went through many fluctuations. During the Peloponnesian War the city sided with Athens. It minted its own currency, a sign of independence. Like the rest of the region, it came under the control of the Macedonians, the new leading Greek power, and rose to prominence as the seaport of Philippi. Its importance increased in Roman times with the settlement of Roman colonists and the construction of the Via Egnatia, being a crossroads both by land and by sea. This was one of the reasons which led Saint Paul to disembark in the city, having come from Asia Minor, on his first missionary journey to Europe, spreading Christianity. Christianity left its mark on the city with the establishment of several churches. During the migration period (7th-9th C.), when Kavala lost control of most of its hinterland, the city remained in the hands of the Byzantines, still an important port on the route from Constantinople to Thessaloniki. The city, rebuilt with funds provided by the imperial capital, was given a new name, Christoupolis, City of Christ. Plundered by the Normans, it fell into the hands of the Crusaders for a short time. During the Byzantine civil wars in the early 14th century it became the theatre of many battles; in order to avert the attacks of the Catalan Company a long wall was built by the Emperor loannis Palaiologos. After many changes of fortune, the city fell under the control of the Ottomans around 1390 and according to some sources it was razed to the ground. Life went on apparently less lavishly until the early 16th century when the city was revived by the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha and acquired the infrastructure of a standard Ottoman centre, equipped with a mosque, inn, imaret (scholarly and charitable foundation), hammam (baths), etc. The city remained a quiet, small administrative regional centre until the explosion of the tobacco trade at the end of the 17th century. The success of oriental tobacco in the western markets turned Kavala into a bustling commercial centre, attracting merchants from around the world. The rapid population growth led to the expansion of the city beyond its walls in the mid-1860s. Vast and numerous warehouses were built as well as new neighbourhoods for workers and entrepreneurs. The city passed shortly into the hands of the Bulgarians in the First Balkan War in 1912, before becoming part of Greece in 1913. During the Bulgarian occupation of 1916-1918 the city lost a large part of its population due to starvation. In 1923 many Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace settled. During the occupation in the Second World War, the city was annexed by Bulgaria, an ally of Nazi Germany, and paid a heavy toll. In the postwar period the city expanded and, after the collapse of the tobacco trade industry, its economy was oriented to services.