Gratini ( el, Γρατινή) is a village of Rhodope regional unit in northern

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 ...

, some 13 km north of

Komotini Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of Komotini.

History

The village first appears in the late

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, as the town of Gratzianous (η Γρατζιανούς), while Ottoman documents mention it as Iğrican and Ağricanhišar. The late medieval village may possibly be identical to the ancient city of Gratianopolis, named after Emperor

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and wa ...

(r. 367–383), whose bishop is recorded as taking part in the

First Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperors, Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus deci ...

in 431. The town played a prominent role in the Byzantine civil wars of the mid-14th century. In 1344, during the war of 1341–1347, the well-fortified town was captured by

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under An ...

(r. 1341–1354), who appointed his son

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

to rule over it and the surrounding province. Gratzianous remained the seat of Matthew and his family until 1355/56, when, after another civil war, he surrendered it and all his

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

domains to

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

(r. 1341–1391) in exchange for the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

Fortress

The ruins of the 14th-century fortress are preserved in a hill to the north of the modern village, near the river Patermos. The single wall is built using roughly hewn stone with mortar and brick fragments, as well as irregular brickwork. From north to south the fort has a span of over 250 feet, and features a tower on its eastern wall. Amidst the ruins of the fortress lies a more recent chapel dedicated to the

Life-giving Spring The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (Greek: ''Ζωοδόχος Πηγή,'' ''Zoodochos Pigi'', Russian: ''Живоносный Источник'') is an epithet of the Holy Theotokos that originated with her revelation ...

(''Zoodochos Pigi'') next to which lies a large rectangular

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed cistern. Image:20100419_Gratinh_Zwodoxou_Phgh_Ekklhsia_Oxyrwma_Thrace_Greece_1.jpg , The fort of Gratini Image:20100419_Gratinh_Zwodoxou_Phgh_Ekklhsia_Oxyrwma_Thrace_Greece_2.jpg , The eastern tower Image:20100410_Gratini_Church_Zoodohu_Pigis_Rhodope_Thrace_Greece_1.jpg , The chapel of the

(''Zoodochos Pigi'')

Dam

1.5 km northwest of the village lies the Gratini Dam. With a height of 45 m and a capacity of 18 million cubic meters, it serves the nearby power plant of the

Public Power Corporation The Public Power Corporation S.A. ( el, Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Ηλεκτρισμού A.E., translit=Dimosia Epicheirisi Ilektrismou A.E., abbreviated PPC, or DEI InfoCuriaCommission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic Ca ...

People from Gratini

Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Χρύσανθος; 1881 – 28 September 1949), born Charilaos Filippidis (), was the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece between 1938 and 1941. He was born in 1881 in Gratini, T ...

(1881–1940)

References

{{coord, 41, 09, N, 25, 32, E, display=title, region:GR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in Rhodope (regional unit) Byzantine sites in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace