Ormenio ( el, Ορμένιο, tr, Çirmen, bg, Черномен, Chernomen) is the northernmost place in all of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of

Trigono Trígono ( el, Τρίγωνο, , meaning "triangle") is a former municipality in the Evros regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Orestiada, of which it is a municip ...

in the Evros regional unit of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

. It is situated near the right bank of the river Evros, which forms the border with

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

here. On the other side of the Evros, 6 km to the north, lies the Bulgarian town

Svilengrad Svilengrad ( bg, Свиленград; el, Σβίλενγκραντ; ota, Cisr-i Mustafapaşa) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the border of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the h ...

. Nearby villages in Greece are Ptelea to its southeast and

Petrota Petrota ( el, Πετρωτά) is a village at the northernmost point of Greece, part of the municipal unit Trigono. It was created around 1530 by Greeks that moved there from Epirus and Malta. In 1961 its population was 1,510. In the 1970s ...

to its southwest.

History

In 1371 Ormenio was the site of the Battle of Maritsa in which the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

army under Ivan Uglesha and Vukashin was decisively defeated by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. It was known as "Çirmen" during Ottoman rule and was a sanjak centre until 1829. In 1878 it was inhabited by 870 Bulgarians and 120 Muslims. After the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, the village was annexed to Bulgaria as "Chernomen" until 1919, when the village was ceded to Greece in the

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (french: Traité de Neuilly-sur-Seine) required Bulgaria to cede various territories, after Bulgaria had been one of the Central Powers defeated in World War I. The treaty was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly ...

. In 1997 under the

Kapodistrias reform Kapodistrias reform ( el, Σχέδιο Καποδίστριας, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman Ioannis Kapod ...

, the community of Ormenio became part of the new municipality of Trigono with 12 other former communities. At the 2011 Kallikratis reform Trigono became a municipal unit of the municipality

Orestiada Orestiada ( el, Ορεστιάδα, formerly , ''Nea Orestiás''), is the northeasternmost, northernmost and newest city of Greece and the second largest town of the Evros regional unit of Thrace. Founded by Greek refugees from Edirne after the ...

Population

Transport

Road

Ormenio is bypassed by the

Greek National Road 51 Greek National Road 51 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 51, abbreviated as EO51) is a single carriageway road in northeastern Greece. It connects the Greek National Road 2 (Florina - Thessaloniki - Alexandroupoli - Turkey) near Feres with the Bulgar ...

European route E85 European route E85 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. The E 85 starts from Klaipėda (Lithuania) runs south through Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria to Greece, ending at Alexandroupo ...

(Feres - Soufli - Orestiada - Ormenio), which continues across the border as the Bulgarian road 80 to Svilengrad.

Rail

The community is served by

Ormenio railway station Ormenio railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Ορμένιο, Sidirodromikós stathmós Pythio) is a railway station that serves the village of Ormenio, Evros in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Located around nor ...

, the most northernly railway station in Greece and the terminal for (the Greek portion) the Alexandroupoli–Svilengrad line. There is currently no rail connection to

via Ormenio. Ormenio had a railway station on the line from Didymoteicho to

Harmanli Harmanli ( bg, Харманли , tr, Harmanlı) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Harmanli Municipality. Near the site of Hamanli in Late Antiquity, during the early 4th- ...

in Bulgaria. During the Ottoman era, Ormenio was called ''Çirmen'' in Turkish.http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0002131.pdf Georgios Liakopoulos' Master of Science Thesis in Bilkent University

Notable locals

Flavius Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...

, the famous Roman general, was born in Germen, the Roman precursor of Ormenio.Robert Graves, Count Belisarius and Procopius's Wars, 1938

References

External links

Ormenio on GTP Travel Pages
{{Trigono Bulgaria–Greece border crossings Populated places in Evros (regional unit)