Kilkis ( el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Κιλκίς) is one of the

regional units of Greece The 74 regional units of Greece ( el, περιφερειακές ενότητες, ; sing. , ) are the country's Seventy-four second-level administrative units. They are divisions of the country's 13 regions, and are further divided into municipa ...

, in the

geographic region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Macedonia. It is part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

. Its capital is the city of

Kilkis Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...

Geography

The geography of the regional unit of Kilkis is characterized by the wide and flat

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

river valley in the westcentral part, and mountain ranges on its western and northeastern edges. The mountain range in the west, on the border with Pella regional unit, is

Mount Paiko Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(highest peak ). In the north, the

Kerkini Kerkini ( el, Κερκίνη) is a village and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sintiki, of which it is a municipal unit. It is named after ancient K ...

range straddles the border with

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. At the highest peak in Kilkis regional unit is located here. The border with Serres regional unit to the northeast is formed by the lower Kroussia range (highest peak ).

Lake Doirani Doiran Lake (, ''Dojransko Ezero''; , ''Límni Dhoïráni''), also spelled Dojran Lake is a lake with an area of shared between North Macedonia () and Greece (). To the west is the city of Nov Dojran (Нов Дојран), to the east the vill ...

is situated in the north, shared with North Macedonia. Kilkis borders the Thessaloniki regional unit to the south. The climate of the Kilkis regional unit is

humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

in the north, and

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

in the lower regions.

History

The area of the modern regional unit was part of the

Kingdom of Macedonia Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

from the 8th century BC until the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman f ...

(171 BC - 168 BC), when it became a part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. At the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the area joined the eastern part, later known as the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

. Between the 7th century and the 11th century, it changed hands between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire repeatedly. In the 13th and 14th century

Western Europeans Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and

Serbs 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 ...

briefly ruled the area. The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

conquered the area in 1371, and ruled it until the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

of 1912. In the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

of 1913, the Greek army captured the area, which became part of Greece. It absorbed many of the Greeks from what is now the Republic of North Macedonia, especially from Gevgeli, Vogdantsa, Polyane and Stromnitsa. n Greek: "Trapped...the Greeks of Skopje", Dimitrios Alexandrou, Erodios, Thessaloniki 2008/ref> In the aftermath of 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 ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) There have been several Greco-Turkish Wars: *Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), against the Ottoman Empire *Undeclared war in 1854 during the Crimean War, with Greek irregulars invading Ottoman Epirus (Epirus Revolt of 1854) and Thessaly * Fir ...

most of the Turkish and Bulgarian population of Kilkis emigrated, and many Greeks from

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 ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

settled in the area, as prescribed by the

Treaty of Lausanne (1923) The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the confl ...

. In fact, a very large segment of the population of Kilkis regional unit are in origin

Caucasus Greeks The Caucasus Greeks ( el, Έλληνες του Καυκάσου or more commonly , tr, Kafkas Rum), also known as the Greeks of Transcaucasia and Russian Asia Minor, are the ethnic Greeks of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia in what is now ...

(that is, Eastern

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks ( pnt, Ρωμαίοι, Ρωμίοι, tr, Pontus Rumları or , el, Πόντιοι, or , , ka, პონტოელი ბერძნები, ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group in ...

) from the former Russian Imperial province of

Kars Oblast The Kars Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was the city of Kars, presently in Turkey. The ''oblast'' bordered the Ottoman Empire to the west, the Batum Oblast ...

in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. They left their homeland in the

for Kilkis and other parts of

Greek Macedonia Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...

, as well as southern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, between 1919 and 1921, that is, between the main Greece-Turkey population exchange and Russia's cession of the Kars region back to

as part of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. Until 1939, when created into a separate prefecture, the area was part of the

Thessaloniki Prefecture Thessaloniki ( el, Μητροπολιτική Περιοχή Θεσσαλονίκης ''Mitropolitiki Periohi Thessaloníkis'', ''Metropolitan Area of Thessaloniki'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of Central Maced ...

. At the 2011 Kallikratis reform, the Kilkis Prefecture became a regional unit.

Sites of interest

Archaeological Museum of Kilkis The Kilkis Archaeological Museum is located in the city of Kilkis in Central Macedonia, Greece. It opened in 1972, its purpose being to collect finds handed in by private individuals and unearthed during excavations in the Kilkis area. The exhibi ...

* Saint George's Cave in

* Folklore Museum of

Goumenissa Goumenissa ( el, Γουμένισσα ) is a small traditional town in the Kilkis regional unit, Central Macedonia, Greece. It was the capital of the former Paionia Province. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality ...

* Giapatzis' Medieval Watermill in

* Natural History Museum in

Axioupoli Axioupoli ( el, Αξιούπολη), known until 1927 as Boymitsa (Боймица, Μποέμιτσα), is a small town and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province of Kilkis regional unit, Greek Macedonia. Since the 2011 local gov ...

Kilkis War Museum The Kilkis War Museum stands outside the town of the city of Kilkis in Central Macedonia, Greece. The museum was built in 1966, next to the war memorial built in 1927 on the Iroön Hill, the work of a sculptor named Dimitriadis from Athens. The ...

museum in Skra, dedicated to the

Battle of Skra-di-Legen The Battle of Skra-di-Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two-day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north-west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I ...

* Galazia limni (blue lagoon) with waterfalls, near Koupa * Metalliou lake, near Pigi, Kilkis * The picturesque villages of Paiko with Macedonian architecture,

Griva Griva (Serbian Cyrillic: Грива; trans. '' Mane'') was a Serbian and former Yugoslav hard rock band from Novi Sad. Band history 1982—1992 The band was formed in 1982 by former Ibn Tup members, Zlatko Karavla (drums) and Josip Sabo (guita ...

, Kastaneri and Karpi * The mountainous massif of Kroussia * The mountainous massif of Paiko * The mountainous massif of Kerkini (Beles) * Chilia Dentra (A Thousand Trees) in

Mouries Mouries ( el, Μουριές) is a village and a former municipality in the Kilkis regional unit, northern Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kilkis, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit h ...

, a perennial forest of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s and

ash trees ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are e ...

beside Doirani lake *

Doirani Doirani ( el, Δοϊράνη) is a town and former municipality in the Kilkis regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kilkis, of which it is a municipal unit. It is situated on the shores of Do ...

village, with fish taverns near lakeshore * The archaeological site of ancient Ioron near Palatiano * The archaeological site of

Evropos Evropos ( el, Ευρωπός), known before 1925 as Ashiklar ( el, Ασικλάρ) is a village and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province, Kilkis regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the munici ...

* The Monastery of Saints Rafael, Nicolaos and Irene, near

* The Monastery of

Nicodemus the Hagiorite Nicodemus the Hagiorite or Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain ( el, Ὅσιος Νικόδημος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης; 1749 – July 14, 1809) is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was an ascetic monk, mystic, theologian, and philos ...

, near Pentalofos *Lake Pikrolimni,

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

protected wetland and location of spa for

balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic e ...

and pelotherapy

Transport

The Motorway 1 ( E75, Skopje - Polykastro - Thessaloniki - Athens) runs through the regional unit from north to south. Two railways pass through the regional unit: from Thessaloniki to Skopje via Polykastro and

Idomeni Idomeni or Eidomene ( el, Ειδομένη, ) is a small village in Greece, near the border with North Macedonia. The village is located in the municipality of Paeonia, Kilkis regional unit of Central Macedonia (Greece). The village is built a ...

, and from Thessaloniki to Sofia, Istanbul and Alexandroupoli via Kilkis and

Administration

The regional unit Kilkis is subdivided into 2 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): *

Paionia In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia ( grc, Παιονία, Paionía) was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians or Paionians ( grc, Παίονες, Paíones). The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, a ...

(2) *

(1)

Prefecture

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the former Kilkis Prefecture ( el, Νομός Κιλκίς) was transformed into a regional unit within the Central Macedonia region, without any change in boundaries. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

Provinces

The former prefecture of Kilkis was subdivided into the following

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

: ''Note:'' Provinces no longer hold any legal status in

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 ...

References

External links

Municipality of KilkisPrefecture of Kilkis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilkis (regional Unit) Prefectures of Greece Regional units of Central Macedonia