Select language:

Traveler's Guide

East Macedonia & Thrace

Route in Kavala – Philippi archaeological site - Baptistery of Lydia – Dikili Tas prehistoric settlement – Mud baths of Krinides

Take the Kavala-Drama National Highway and, following thesigns for “Philippi Archaeological site”, you will find the site’s carpark (with a capacity of 1000 cars) after 16km.History: In the 4thcenturyBC, colonists from Thasos foundedKrinides in the south-eastern part of the Drama valley on theoutskirts of the marsh. As they were under pressure from theThracian tribes, they sought help from Philippos II, who took overthe town and gave it his name.In the 2nd c entury B C, R omans b uilt t he E gnatia R oad p assingthrough Philippi. From then on the town grew rapidly. Importantstages in its history: a) the famous Battle of Philippi (42BC), inthe bogs near the present mudbaths, between Octavianus andMarcus Antonius and the democrats Brutus and Cassius. Octavianus’svictory was crucial to the future of the Roman Empireand turned the town into an important financial, administrativeand artistic centre. B) the founding of the first Christian Churchin Europe in 49/50AD by Paul the Apostle, along with the transferof the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople in 330AD,marked the second period of prosperity. In the 7th century AD,earthquakes and invasions drove the town to decline, and theOttoman Conquest (14th century) meant the end of this glorioushistory.See: The walls of the 4th century AD and 6th century BC with a perimeterof 3.5km; The theatre, with evident Roman additions andalterations; The Roman Forum; North of the Forum, the largestone-paved road which has been identified as the ancient EgnatiaRoad; The 5th century AD triple-aisle Basilica and the tripleaisleBasilica B’ of 550 AD featuring sculptured decoration; The“Oktagono” complex. On the same site, visit the ArchaeologicalMuseum, built in the 1960s to plans drawn up by the architectsI.D. Triantafyllidis and D. Fatouros. Inscriptions, sculptures, urns,coins, jewellery, architectural elements, wonderful mosaics, aswell as historical and audiovisual material, take the visitor ona journey in the town’s history. Examine the Clock of Philippi, aunique example of navigation technology of the 4th century AD.Telephone: +30 25105 16251Ticket price: Combined (Archaeological Site and Museum): 4 eurosIf your stay in the area coincides with a performance at the PhilippiFestival, do not miss the opportunity. It is a magical experience.After Philippi, continue for another 2km, following the signs “towardsKrinides Baptistery”. It was here, in the Zygakti river, thatPaul the Apostle baptized the first Christian in Europe, Lydia.Apart from the church-baptistery, there is an outdoor baptisteryon the river bank. Every year at the celebration of the Agia Lydiaof Philippi (20 May), Christian baptisms are carried out.Information: +30 25105 16251.Celebrations: in Zygo (12.5km, 15 minutes from Krinides), thetraditional representation of a Pontus wedding is held on Sundayof Thomas, symbolizing the beginning of life and of Spring.Gastronomy: try “Keskek” (mixture of lean chicken and groundwheat).After Krinides, head towards the Kavala – Drama National Highwayand after 3km turn left towards the Krinides Municipal claytherapy centre (Mud baths). The mud has been known for itshealing properties since Homeric times. It is highly recommendedfor rheumatic, post traumatic, gynecological, cardiovascular,dermatological and neurological ailments and is also used as acosmetic.Open: 1 June – 15 OctoberInformation: +30 25105 16162 and +30 2510 518088

1
Archaeological site of Philippi
2
Archaeological Museum of Philippi
3
Baptistery of St. Lydia
4
Philippi - Thasos Festival

Form: Appointment of responsible person

Links

ΠΑΜΘ

Website of the “Region of Eastern Macedonia - Thrace”

Greek Tourist Organizer

Website of the “Greek Tourist Organizer”

ODYSSEAS

Website of “ODYSSEAS”

Privacy Policy

Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights - Responsibility of the Site and the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace

The content of this portal has been collected and evaluated by each partner of the project (Region of East Macedonia & Thrace, Regional Administration of Smolyan, Regional administration of Kardzhali και Regional Administration of Haskovo) for the area which each partner represents. Each partner represents each region for the implementation of the Action 3.2 "Content Collection" for the approved applitcation form of JTI - TARGET project under "Greece - Bulgaria 2007 -2013" Interreg Call. The content including images, photos, graphics, texts, textures and in general all the data of the portal is in the responsibility of each partner. The content update and upload of each region belongs to each partner which has also the copyright for those content. This means that the content in this portal of all the point of interests of the Region of Smolyan belongs to the Partner Regional Administration of Smolyan. The content in this portal of all the point of interests of the Region of Haskovo belongs to the Partner Regional Administration of Haskovo, The content in this portal of all the point of interests of the Region of Kardzhali belongs to the Partner Regional Administration of Kardzhali, The content in this portal of all the point of interests of the Region of Region of East Macedonia & Thrace belongs to the Partner Region of East Macedonia & Thrace.

Given the nature and the size of the Internet, under no circumstances, including the case of negligence, will the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace is not responsible for any kind of loss caused to the visitor/user of the pages, services, choices and contents of this portal, which one undertakes at one’s own initiative. The portal and the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace do not guarantee that the pages, the services, the choices and the contents will be provided non-stop and without errors and that the errors will be corrected, because each content belongs to the Region that belongs. Furthermore, the portal and the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace do not guarantee that the servers, through which it is made available to users, do not contain “viruses” or other harmful contents. The Region of East Macedonia & Thrace guarantee the correctness, completeness or even the availability of the contents, pages, services, choices or their results only for its Region, not for the other Regions.

Links to other Websites
The Portal and the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace do not control the availability, the content, the personal data protection policy, the quality and the completeness of the services of other web sites and pages to which it directs users through hyperlinks. Consequently, for any problem arising during their visit/use, the user has to address directly the corresponding web sites and pages, which have the full responsibility for the delivery of their services. The Portal and the Region of East Macedonia & Thrace can under no circumstances be considered to agree with or accept the content or the services of the web sites and the pages to which it directs users or to be associated with them in any way.

Applicable Law and other Conditions
The aforementioned terms and conditions of the use of the Portal, as well as any modification of them, are governed and completed by the Greek law, the law of the European Union and the relevant international treaties (like indicatively and not restrictively the Law 2472/1997 for the protection of the individual and the protection of personal data, as completed by the decisions of the Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Personal Data, the Presidential Decrees 207/1998 and 79/2000 and Article 8 of the Law 2819/2000, as well as the Law 2774/1999 and the European Law (directives 95/46/EC and 97/66/EC). Any provision of the above conditions that becomes opposing to the law, it ceases to apply by right and is removed from the present, without the validity of the remaining conditions being affected in any case. No modification of these conditions will be taken into account and will be part of this agreement, unless it has been officially formulated and incorporated into it.

Contractors: DOTSOFT AE & IKNOWHOW AE