Komotini

Discover Komotini

The provincial town is strongly influenced by Muslim culture and the center of Thrace. Komotini is the capital of the Greek region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It is the seat of an Orthodox bishop and since 1973 the Democritus University of Thrace. Tourist is of minor interest, but a detour is worthwhile, if you go on the way to Turkey or Bulgaria or spend your holidays on the wonderful beaches between Fanari and Maroneia. Life in Komotini is influenced by students, as the local university is a popular study site. The first written mention of the town dates back to the 14th century. At that time, Komotini was a small and insignificant settlement founded by the Byzantines to protect the Via Egnatia and the plains before the frequent raids of Slavs coming from the north. In 1361 the settlement fell to the Ottoman Turks. From the 14th century, Komotini (then called Komoutzina) took the form of a city when people from the nearby Byzantine city of Mosynoupolis (destroyed by the Bulgarian ruler Kaloioannis in 1206) settled here, as well as a large number of Ottoman from Asia Minor. As there was no longer enough room for Christians and Muslims in the old Byzantine fortress, new quarters were gradually built: Christian and Muslim quarters, the Gypsy quarter and the Jewish quarter within the walls of the city. With the end of the First World War Komotini became Greek. As a result, the Bulgarian population was expelled. About half of the inhabitants of Komotini are ethnic Turks and Pomaks of Greek nationality. They were excluded from the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923, as agreed in the Treaty of Lausanne.