Pythio (
Greek: Πύθιο, tr, Kuleliburgaz), sometimes referred to as Pythion, is a village and
community in the eastern part of
Didymoteicho municipality,
Evros regional unit,
Greece. It is 16 km east of the centre of Didymoteicho, on the right bank of the river
Evros, where it forms the border with
Turkey. There is no road border crossing near Pythio.
The community of Pythio consists of the villages of Pythio,
Rigio and Pythio railway station ( gr, Σταθμός Πυθίου, translit=Stathmos Pythiou). The nearest villages are
Petrades to the south and
Asimenio to the northwest.
Railway
Pythio railway station is a junction where the railway to
Ormenio and
Bulgaria branches off the main line from
Thessaloniki to
Istanbul through
Alexandroupoli and
Uzunköprü. The railway was built by the
Chemins de fer Orientaux (CO), managed by
Maurice de Hirsch, as part of the CO's contract to build a line from Istanbul to
Vienna. The railway reached Pythio, known as Kuleliburgaz during Ottoman rule, in 1873, when the line from Istanbul to
Edirne and Bulgaria was opened. A 112 km branch from Pythio to
Alexandroupoli (then known as Dedeağaç) was opened in 1874.
When the railway was built it was all within the
Ottoman Empire. During World War I the railway was an important link as the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were all
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
Allies. On 14 December 1916
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
aeroplanes bombed the bridge over the river Evros near Pythio (''Kuleliburgaz''). Under the
Treaty of Lausanne
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 conflic ...
of 1923, a new border between Greece and Turkey was established at the Evros river, just east of Pythio, which had the result that the railway from Istanbul to Bulgaria entered Greece at Pythio, then re-entered Turkey at Edirne (
Karaağaç railway station
The Karaağaç station ( tr, Karaağaç Garı) or before 1971 Edirne station ( tr, Edirne Garı) was the name of the former railway station in Edirne, located south-west of the city. Currently, it houses Trakya University's Faculty of Fine Arts. ...
), re-entered Greece at
Marasia, and finally entered Bulgaria between Ormenio and
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 ...
. This arrangement continued until 1971, when two new lines were opened. In Turkey the
Edirne Cut-off
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, ...
was opened to allow trains from Istanbul to Bulgaria to run through Edirne entirely on Turkish territory, so that trains such as the
Orient Express no longer had to stop at Pythio. In Greece a line was opened to allow trains from Pythio to Bulgaria to stay on Greek territory and avoid Edirne.
Historical population
The town is populated by
Arvanites.
Sites of interest
*
Castle of Pythion, built in the 14th century
See also
*
List of settlements in the Evros regional unit
*
Alexandroupoli–Svilengrad railway
The Alexandroupoli–Svilengrad railway ( el, Σιδηροδρομική γραμμή Αλεξανδρούπολης - Σβίλενγκραντ, Sidiródromos Alexandroúpolis-Svílen'nkrant) is a long railway connecting the port of Alexandrou ...
*
Istanbul-Pythio railway
References
External links
Castle of Pythion
{{Didymoteicho
Didymoteicho
Populated places in Evros (regional unit)
Rail transport in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Albanian communities of Western Thrace