Evidence of human occupation in the areas now known as Macedonia and Thrace reaches back to the Palaeolithic Period, and the settlement of Dikili Tash, northwest of Kavala, has been dated to the Late Neolithic Period (5500-4200 BC), continuing into the Bronze Age (3000-1050 BC) until the early Iron Age (1050-700 BC).

From at least the Bronze Age Thracian tribes occupied much of the land north of Thessaly, east of Illyria (modern Albania) to the Bosphorus (modern Istanbul), and as far north as the Black Sea and the Danube (modern Bulgaria). They were in constant competition with Celts, Macedonians and Scythians.

The earliest written accounts of the Thracians appeared in Homer's Iliad, in which they fought on the side of the Trojans against the Greeks.

The first large wave of Greek conquest and colonization around 1000 BC concentrated on Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the foundation of cities such as Miletus and Ephesus.

Around 680 BC Greeks from Paros founded a colony on Thasos, which was formerly a Phoenician colony. From Thasos the Parians founded or took control of several settlements on the mainland, and the new colonies became collectively known as the Thasian Peraia. [2]

The city now known as Kavala was named (or renamed) by the Thasian-Parians Neapolis (Νεάπολις, New City) and provided them with a port serving their commercial and military interests on the mainland.

They also colonized Krinides (Κρηνίδες, later Philippi, see below), 17 km inland, and took control of rich gold and silver mines at Scapte Hyle (Σκαπτὴ Ὕλη, a forest that may be dug) around Mount Pangaion, not far from Neapolis.

The Greek historian Herodotus (circa 484 - circa 425 BC) tells us that at the beginning of the 5th century BC Thasos earned an average of 80 talents a year from these mines.

They used much of this wealth to fortify their cities and build warships. At some time during the 5th century BC Neapolis was fortified with walls of local granite, and a fortress was built on the acropolis on the steep, rocky headland now occupied by the Panagia district.

Neapolis began minting its own coins around the last quarter of the 6th century BC. This has led many scholars to believe that the city may have become independent of Thasos around this time, although there appears to be little other evidence for this. If Neapolis was independent, did the Thasians still use its port to communicate with its other mainland territories, and what part did the city play in the mining business?

Two horoi (boundary markers) from a sanctuary of Demeter Hekatompedos in
ancient Galepsos (Γαληψός, on the coast, 55 km west of Kavala), end of the 6th
to the beginning of the 5th century BC. Like Neapolis, Galepsos was a colony
of the Thasian-Parians, and the inscriptions are written in the Parian alphabet.

Δήμητρως ℎώρως εἰμὶ
τὠ κατωνπέδω

Inscription SEG 43 400.

In 514-513 BC Megabazos, a general of the Persian King Darius I, conquered Thrace. Persian control lapsed during the Ionian Revolt by the Greeks of Asia (499-494 BC), but Darius sent an another expedition under his son-in-law Mardonius to conquer Thrace and Macedonia in 492 BC.

Although Darius' plan to conquer Greece was thwarted by his defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, Thrace and Macedonia remained in Persian hands. His successor Xerxes I gathered an even larger army and navy and launched his attack on Greece from Thrace and Macedonia in 480 BC, but was defeated at the Battle of Salamis, and again a year later at the Battle of Plataea (see History of Stageira part 4).

Eventually the Greek forces were able to drive the Persians out of Thrace and Macedonia. Around 477 BC Athens and other Greek states formed a military alliance, known to modern historians as the Delian League, to protect the freed Greek cities from the Persians. The members, which included Thasos and Neapolis, were obliged to support the league's campaigns by paying a tribute or quota fixed for each city, either in cash or by providing a certain number of ships.

The oldest written mention of the name Neapolis, as Neapolis in Thrace (Νεάπολις εν Θράκει, Neapolis en Thrakei) to distinguish it from several other cities with the same name (for example in Halkidiki and on the Hellespont), first appeared in 454/453 BC on a tribute list (or quota list) of the Delian League, tall marble steles set up on the Athenian Acropolis that listed the member cities and how much each was pledged to pay. In the list of the following year it was referred to as Neapolis near Antisaron (Νεάπολις παρ’ Αντισάραν, Neapolis par Antisaron), due to its proximity to the neighbouring settlement of Antisara (Αντισάρα, about 8 km west of Kavala), and on other lists simply as Neapolis or Neopolitans (see History of Stageira part 5).

The tribute lists show that Neapolis paid 1000 drachmes a year to Athens until 429/428 BC, except for 450/449 BC when it only paid 500 drachmes.

When, around 465 BC, Thasos rebelled against the conditions set by the league, it was attacked, besieged and defeated by Athens. The Thasians were forced to demolish their city walls, pay an increased sum to the league's fund and hand over their ships and their lands on the mainland, including the gold mines.

The Athenian historian Thucydides (Θουκυδίδης, Thoukydides, circa 460-395 BC) inherited the rights to mine the gold at Scapte Hyle, and after his banishment from Athens he retired here to finish his work The history of the Peloponnesian War.

The relief shows Athena (left, holding a shield) shaking hands with Parthenos, the patron goddess of Neapolis. The inscription of the decree below mentions two ambassadors from Neapolis to Athens: Demosthenes, son of Theoxenos, and Dioskourides, son of Amipsios.

The relative status of the two cities is evident from the fact that the figure of Parthenos is smaller than the Athenian patron deity.

In 356 BC Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 BC) took the nearby city of Krinides (Κρηνἱδες, Fountains) and renamed it Philippi (Φίλιπποι, Philippoi). With a new center of operations in eastern Macedonia he conquered Thrace in 346 BC and Thasos in 340 BC. He also gained control of the gold and silver mines of Mount Pangaion (Παγγαίο όρος), which enabled him to set up a mint and finance his further ambitions (see Big Money at The Cheshire Cat Blog).

Neapolis lost its autonomy and was relegated to being the port of Philippi, which became the most important city in the area and the location of the local Macedonian mint. Although Neapolis almost ceased minting its own coins, it did produce a new series of bronze coins during the Hellenistic period. The sanctuary of Parthenos continued to receive offerings from all around the Hellenistic world, and the city was mentioned in several inscriptions and resolutions in places such as Delphi and Kos.

Philip's son, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) continued his father's military expansion on a much grander scale. He conquered Greece's ancient enemy Persia and went on to conquer most of the known world to the east and south of the Mediterranean. This was Macedonia's finest hour, and great riches poured into the country. Presumably, Neapolis must have benefited from this brief period of glory.

But Alexander's concentration on his foreign adventures would lead to the end of Macedonian power forever. There was no automatic law of royal succession in Macedonia, as it was the custom for kings to choose their favourite son. And since Macedonians were also polygamous, they often had a wide choice.

As the Roman Empire spread eastwards, the Macedonians were still proving very troublesome. Rome had to defeat Macedonia to acquire Greece, which it did in 196 BC, although it did not completely conquer it until 168 BC.

Initially, Rome divided Macedonia into four subject, self-governing republics or cantons (Greek, μερίδες, merides; Latin, regiones), but around 148-146 BC it became a single Roman province, Provincia Macedonia (Greek, Ἐπαρχία Μακεδονίας, Eparchia Makedonias), with Thessaloniki as its capital.

Neapolis became an important station along the Via Egnatia, the military and commercial road built by the Romans between between the Adriatic in the west to Byzantium in the east, Greece's first superhighway. A 2 kilometre stretch of the Via Egnatia can still be seen at Kavala, see page 5, Activities and sightseeing in Kavala.

Exit Brutus. Enter Chrisitanity. Around 49 AD Saint Paul the Apostle made his first landing on the European mainland on his way from Troy to found the Christian church in Philippi.

Book of Acts chapter 16, verses 8-12:

"And passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us'.

When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days."

The Roman Empire declined and fell (a process which began in 180 AD according to Gibbon), and its successor the Byzantine Empire failed to keep a tight grip on its territories. Waves of invaders swept through Macedonia: Goths, Huns, Normans, Franks, Bulgarians, Serbians, Turks, Venetians... Again and again the inhabitants of the city had to take refuge within the fortifications of Panagia's acropolis, later known as the Kastro. Again and again the city and the fortifications had to be rebuilt.

Neapolis was mentioned as a city in the Byzantine eparchia (ἐπαρχία, administrative region) of Macedonia in the Synekdemos (Συνέκδημος), a 6th century collection of tables listing administrative divisions and cities of the Byzantine Empire. [3] The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (circa 500-565 AD) mentioned Neapolis among the places in Macedonia at which the fortifications were restored by Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565 AD). [4]

During the 8th-9th century, as part of the Byzantine Empire, the city became known as Christoupolis (Χριστούπολις, City of Christ) in commemoration of Saint Paul's visit. It was part of the Byzantine theme or district of Strymon (θέμα Στρυμόνος, Thema Strymonos), with its capital at Serres.

Over the next 100 years the city was slowly repopulated by Greeks and Turks. Following the conquest of Hungary by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (reigned 1520-1566) in 1526 a number of Jews living in the newly conquered territory were resettled here.

Around 1530, major rebuilding work was started, including a complete restructuring of the fortress and city fortifications. An aqueduct was built to the west of Panagia, apparently to replace an earlier aqueduct which had been ruined during the 14th century. Fed by a nearby spring, the new aqueduct was based on a Roman-style design and became known as the Kamares (Οι Καμάρες, the Arches).

Kavalans are proud to claim Mehmet Ali (also known as Mohammed Ali, 1769-1849), Pasha of Egypt as a native son. [6] This may come as a surprise to those who know of his ruthless political career, especially his role in attempting to crush Greece's struggle for independence from Turkey.

Mehmet Ali was the son of an Albanian farmer and lived in Kavala for many years. He was accepted by Kavalans as one of theirs, and is still hailed as a great benefactor of the city.

(Some sources state that he born in Cavajo in Albania, which is the cause of some confusion, probably itself caused by confusion of place-names and Mehmet Ali's ethnicity.)

He joined the Turkish army and was ambitious, scheming and ruthless in his swift rise to the top. After leading an Albanian contingent sent by the Turkish sultan to help drive Napoleon's armies out of Egypt, he manoeuvred himself into the position of Pasha (viceroy) of Egypt in 1805. He waged bloody military campaigns in the Middle East, North Africa and Greece, ostensibly to put down the enemies of the sultan, but he steadily increased his own political power and influence. In 1831 he threatened the Turkish Empire itself by seizing Syria. It took the combined powers of Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia to dislodge his forces.

He was eventually not only forgiven by the sultanate but his pashalic was made hereditary. Thus began the final Egyptian dynasty which ended with the last reigning monarch King Farouk (1920-1965), who abdicated in 1952 after a military coup which led to the foundation of the modern Republic of Egypt.

Left: A Muslim gravestone topped with a turban, with a simple inscription commemorating Ahmed Beşe (Beşe, pronounced Beshé, was a military title without specific rank or function) who died in year 1196 AH of the Muslim calendar (1781-1782). The inscription in Ottoman calligraphic lettering states:

"[Recite] the Fatiha for Ahmed Beşe,
who has been admitted to God's mercy and
whose sin has been forgiven,
who died at the appointed time of god's decree
in the year 1196."

Centre: A Christian funeral stele with reliefs of an angel (or cherub), a skull and crossed bones and a flower with a broken stem. Either side of the skull are the initials of the deceased's name "E" and "Σ".

Right: A tombstone from the Jewish cemetery of Kavala, with an inscription for a woman named Esterina Fransez who died in the year 5694 of the Jewish calendar (1934). The inscription is in Ladino, the language of Spanish Jews who fled from the Inquisition and settled in the Ottoman Empire, apart from the first and last lines which are abbreviations of stock tombstone phrases in Hebrew.

"B[lessed is the] T[rue] J[udge]
Here lie the
mortal remains
of the deceased
Ersterina Fransez
died on 18 Shevat 5694
M[ay her] s[oul be] b[ound up in the bond of
everlasting] l[ife]."

Another of the city's attractions is the Imaret, which Mehmet Ali had built in 1817, on the west side of the peninsula, on the street leading to his house, and near the site of the ancient sanctuary of Parthenos (see above). An elegant, long, low series of buildings crowned by domes and chimneys, its facade is a long, plain wall punctuated by entrance halls decorated with inscriptions in Arabic script. (Turkish has only been written in the Latin script since Atatürk began his reforms in the 1920s and had the entire vocabulary transcribed acccording to the German phonetic model.) Its function was as a hostel for students of the Medressa (Muslim seminary) a few hundred metres away, as well as an almshouse for the poor of the city.

The Medressa closed after the Turks lost the Balkan wars (1912-1913) and Macedonia gained its independence, but the Imaret continued to feed the poor with soup and bread until 1923. From 1924 it was used to house Greek refugees from Asia minor.

In 1821 the Greeks declared their war of independence with uprisings in the Morea (Peloponnese) and Crete. The sultan requested Mehmet Ali's help, and he sent his son and lieutenant Ibrahim Pasha (1789-1848, also born in Kavala) as head of his army to put down the revolt. For his efforts Ibrahim was granted governership of the two provinces.

Despite the disruption caused by the war between Greece and Turkey, Kavala began to develop and prosper as a port and trading centre during the 19th century. The city became an important location for the processing of tobacco, which was industrialized from the middle of the century. At first seasonal workers from the surrounding area and Thasos were employed for the period following the tobacco harvest in late summer, returning home when the work was finished. But as the trade grew many workers settled in the city.

As in other Ottoman cities such as Smyrna (Izmir), the tobacco trade in Kavala was mainly controlled by foreign merchants, and a new generation of European entrepreneurs, by skilfully negotiating advantageous trading concessions with the Turkish authorities, were able to introduce new production, processing, trading and shipping methods, and make larger profits quicker by supplying demands in domestic and foreign markets.

Tobacco was turned into a highly profitable cash crop as demand for the weed rapidly increased in Turkey and internationally, and smoking tobacco, particularly Balkan and Turkish blends, became fashionable among all classes. Kavala's "tobacco barons" became enormously wealthy, but the conditions of their workers remained miserable.

For centuries the city had been confined within the walls of the cramped citadel (the Panagia peninsula). However, after Sultan Abdulaziz I gave permission for building outside the walls in 1864, warehouses, factories and the grand representative houses of the wealthy, built in neoclassical and other eclectic styles, sprang up around the harbour. With such mansions and other buildings, the "tobacco barons" boldly demonstrated their wealth, power and influence. At the time this very foreign, literally outlandish architecture must have appeared quite alien to Turks and Greeks alike.

Although much of central and southern Greece and many of its islands had been freed from Turkish dominion between 1821 and the end of the century, Greek nationalists were still not satisfied. Their agenda was the "Megali Idea" (Μεγάλη Ιδέα, Great Idea), the dream to reunite Greek populations living throughout the old Byzantine territories. According to their new dream Greece would extend as far as Anatolia (western Turkey), with Constantinople (Istanbul) as the new Greek capital.

But they had rivals to their ambitions from nationalists of other emerging Balkan states whose ethnic populations (Albanians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Pomaks, Vlachs...), both Christian and Muslim, had become dispersed among Greeks over the centuries.

The Ottoman forces were finally driven out of Macedonia, but as a result of agreements thrashed out between the Balkan League members under the influence of the great powers, it was carved up between Greece, Serbia (Slavs) and Bulgaria.

There was not much time for Macedonians to enjoy their new freedom. The very upsurgance of Balkan nationalism that had freed them also sparked off World War I.

After World War I the allies failed to keep their promises to Greece. However, the Greeks in Anatolia went ahead with their ill-fated rebellion against the Turks. The "Smyrna Affair" in 1922, in which Greek forces were routed, the city (today known as Izmir) destroyed by fire and the Greek population evacuated by Allied ships, finally put an end to the "Megali Idea".

Around 25,000 Greek refugees from Anatolia arrived in Kavala in the first of a series of forced population exchanges between Greece and Turkey.

There are two such road signs in Kavala, both featuring the double-headed eagle, the symbol of the Byzantine Empire and the Greek Orthodox Church. They are part tourist attraction, part defiance or provocation.

In 1941 Nazi Germany invaded Greece, and its fascist ally Bulgaria once again occupied Macedonia and Thrace until 1944. Once again the inhabitants of the region suffered brutal oppression. The Jewish community suffered an especially grim fate. The Jews were rounded up and sent to Nazi concentration camps. 60,000 people were deported from Thessaloniki.

After World War II Macedonia became a Communist stronghold. The Greek left-wing leaders expected a share in government in recognition for their part in the defeat of the Nazis. However Britain and the USA (under Churchill and Truman respectively) would not tolerate a Communist-dominated Greece and backed the right-wing parties.

The civil war in Greece which consequently broke out between left and right was at least as bitter and bloody as the previous wars against foreign occupiers. Stories of barbarism and massacres on both sides are still controversial topics in Greece.

The left-wing forces, still backed by Communist Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, eventually proved no match for their enemies who received massive political, financial and military support from Britain and the USA.

During the Cold War (1945-89) Greece became a client state of the USA which maintained military bases and intelligence outposts.

As the country struggled to rebuild its economy, shattered by war, disunity and depopulation, Greek politics continued in its quagmire of left-right confrontations, characterized by intrigue and in-fighting on both sides, conspiracies, election fraud, strikes, demonstrations, assassinations and repression. Many more Greeks went to live abroad to escape the chaos and seek a better life.

The turning point came in 1967 when the Colonels' Junta, backed by the CIA, put an end to the turbulant attempts at democracy. The dictatorship was brutal and repressive, but ironically it was to have the effect of wiping the political slate clean. Political leaders on both sides, many of whom were now in exile, were forced to rethink their alignments and strategies.

When the Junta collapsed in 1974, PASOK (centre-left) and Nea Demokratia (centre-right) emerged as the two predominant political parties, with respective backing from the broad spectrum of left and right minority parties.

The re-establishment of democracy, the return of Greeks from abroad, membership of the European Union, the end of the Cold War and the increase in trade and tourism over the last two decades have all contributed to political stability and a degree of affluence in the country.

Kavala's position as a port serving a fertile agricultural area has helped it once more become a prosperous commercial centre. Its main exports are tobacco and grapes, but it also ships grain, timber and a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, as well as marble, which the locals claim is the whitest in the world.