Orfeas ( el, Ορφέας), named after the mythical musician

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...

, is a former municipality in the Evros regional unit,

East Macedonia and Thrace Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη, translit=Anatolikí Makedonía ke Thráki, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the coun ...

, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Soufli Soufli ( el, Σουφλί) is a town in the Evros regional unit, Greece, notable for the silk industry that flourished there in the 19th century. The town stands on the eastern slope of the twin hill of Prophet Elias, one of the easternmost spurs ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. Its land area is 643.266 km² (248.366 sq mi) and its population was 4,761 inhabitants at the 2011 census. It is located in the north-central part of Evros, and borders both southeastern

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 northwestern

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 ...

. The seat of the municipality was in

Lavara Lavara ( el, Λάβαρα) is a town located in the eastern part of Evros regional unit. In 1821, Lavara participated in the Greek War of Independence and rose up against the Ottoman Empire. It was the seat of the municipality of Orfeas ( el, Ο ...

(pop. 1,093 in 2011). Much of the land is mountainous and forested to the west, extending up to the Rhodope regional unit. It is linked with GR-51 (Alexandroupoli – Orestiada – Edirne in Turkey and Svilengrad in Bulgaria). The town of Lávara sits on a plain. It is located SE of

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 ...

, S of

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

, Turkey and

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 ...

, and 13 km N of

and 78 km N of

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

. The municipality's next largest towns are Agriani, Mega Dereio and Amorio.

History

The municipality was affected by flooding of the Evros river in February and March 2005. 50 houses were damaged. The rail south of Lavara and near the station were also flooded and was closed that time.

Geography

Forests dominate the river banks and parts of the plain. Much of the area are used for farming. The main production are cattle, fruits and vegetables and some flowers. The mountains dominate further west.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Orfeas is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *

* Amorio *

Kyriaki Kyriaki ( el, Κυριάκι) is a village and a community of the Livadeia municipality, Greece. Before the 2011 local government reform Kyriaki was an independent community. The 2011 census recorded 2,298 in the community of Kyriaki and 2,185 in ...

Mandra Mandra ( el, Μάνδρα), is a town and former municipality in West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mandra-Eidyllia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an a ...

* Mavrokklisi (Mavrokklisi, Korymvos) *

Mikro Dereio Mikro Dereio ( el, Μικρό Δέρειο) is a village and a community in the central part of the Evros regional unit in Greece. It is situated on the left bank of the river Erythropotamos, in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. The border with Bul ...

(Mikro Dereio, Geriko, Goniko, Mega Dereio, Petrolofos, Roussa, Sidirochori) *

Protokklisi Protokklisi ( el, Πρωτοκκλήσι meaning the first church, bg, Башклисе) is a village and a community in the central part of the Evros regional unit in Greece. Protoklissi is in the municipal unit of Orfeas. In 2001 its populat ...

(Protokklisi, Agriani)

Historical population

References

External links

*http://thesaurus.duth.gr/english/moredata.asp?Perioxh_ID=42&Subj=255
Evros floods
– pathfinder.gr *https://web.archive.org/web/20060219001458/http://orfeas.evros.gr/lavara.htm (in Greek) {{Orfeas Populated places in Evros (regional unit) bg:Орфей (дем) el:Δήμος Σουφλίου#Ενότητα Ορφέα