Kavala encyclopedia topics

History

It was originally founded by settlers from Paros in about the 6th century BC, who called it Neapolis ("new city"). Neapolis was a town of Macedonia, and the haven of Philippi, from which it was distant 10 M. P. It probably was the same place as Datum (Δάτον), famous for its gold mines (Herod. ix. 75; comp. Böckh, Pub. Econ. of Athens, pp. 8, 228, trans.), and a seaport, as Strabo (vii. p. 331) intimates: whence the proverb which celebrates Datum for its good things. (Zenob. Prov. Graec. Cent. iii. 71; Harpocrat. s. v. Δάτος.) Scylax does, indeed, distinguish between Neapolis and Datum; but, as he adds that the latter was an Athenian colony, which could not have been true of his original Datum, his text is, perhaps, corrupt in this place, as in so many others, and his real meaning may have been that Neapolis was a colony which the Athenians had established at Datum. Zenobius (l. c.) and Eustathius (ad Dionys. Perieg. 517) both assert that Datum was a colony of Thasos; which is highly probable, as the Thasians had several colonies on this coast. If Neapolis was a settlement of Athens, its foundation was, it may be inferred, later than that of Amphipolis. Neapolis also minted coins in antiquity.

It became a Roman civitas in 168 BC, and was a base for Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, before their defeat in the Battle of Philippi. (Appian, B.C. iv. 106; Dion Cass. xlvii. 35.) The Apostle Paul landed at Kavala on his first voyage to Europe (Acts, xvi. 11), and in Byzantine times the city was called Christoupolis by the Greeks and Morunets by the local Bulgarians.

Kavala was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1371 to 1912. Mehmet Ali was born here in 1769. Some of its most recognisable landmarks is a Byzantine castle, in the hill of Panagia, and an aqueduct rebuilt by Suleiman II during his reign. The latter two still serve today as symbols of the city.

Theodoros Zagorakis, the captain of the Greece national football team that stunned the football world by winning EURO 2004, is a native of Kavala.

Twinnings

Postage stamps

Between 1893 and 1903, the French post office in the city issued its own postage stamps; at first stamps of France overprinted with "Cavalle" and a value in piasters, then in 1902 the French designs inscribed "CAVALLE".

Other

Kavala has schools, lyceums, gymnasia, banks, a post office, a sporting centre and squares (plateies).
Kavala is one of the largest cities including Heraklio that does not have a train station in Greece.
Kavala FC is the football team of the town.
Cosmopolis International Festival, one of the biggest ethnic festivals in Greece.