Thermes ( el, Θέρμες; tr, Ilıca) is a former community in the
Xanthi 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 cou ...
,
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 ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Myki
Myki ( ), stylised as myki, is a reloadable credit card-sized contactless smart card ticketing system used for electronic payment of fares on most public transport services in Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Myki replaced the ...
, of which it is a municipal unit.
The municipal unit has an area of 90.014 km
2.
It consists of the villages Ano Thermes, Thermes (also called ''Kato Thermes''),
Meses Thermes,
Medousa, Kidaris, Diasparto, and
Kottani
Kottani ( el, Κοττάνη) is a village in the municipality Myki in the Xanthi regional unit of Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern ti ...
. The population of Thermes was around 1396 inhabitants in 1991. In 2011, the population decreased to 812 inhabitants.
[ Thermes is popular for its hot spas, which can be found all around the area.
The Turkish name of Thermes is ''ılıca'' which means "spa". In ]Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
, the community is known as ''Lydža'' (Лъджа) or ''Banja'' (Баня), the former a version of the Turkish name and the latter a calque also meaning "spa".
Relief of Mithra
Thermes is also famous for the relief of Mithra (a Persian origin goddess of the sun) end of 2nd - beginning of 3rd century AD. The relief is depicting Mithras sacrificing a bull. Close to Mithras we can see figures of Cautes and Caupates.19.04.2007 Article in ''Ο Χρόνος'' greek newspaper of Komotini: ''Στην ορεινή Ξάνθη: Οι άγνωστες Θέρμες, 90 χιλιόμετρα από Κομοτηνή.''
in Greek.
Gallery
File:20091128_Loutra_Thermes_Xanthi_Thrace_Greece_2.jpg, Spring of hot spa.
File:20091128_Loutra_Thermes_Xanthi_Thrace_Greece_3.jpg, Spring of hot spa.
File:20100207_Thermes_Loutra_Xanthi_2.jpg, Hot spa pool.
File:20100207_Thermes_Loutra_Xanthi_1.jpg, Hot spa.
Image:20100911_Kato_Thermes_Xanthi_Prefecture_Thrace_Greece_Panorama.jpg, Thermes village
File:20100911 Relief of Mithras Kato Thermes Xanthi Prefecture Thrace Greece close up.jpg, Mithras relief close up
References
Sources
*Michail, Domna. ''Migration, tradition and transition among the Pomaks in Xanthi (Western Thrace)''. Department of Balkan Studies Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. LSE PhD Symposium on Social Science Research on Greece Hellenic Observatory, European Institute, LSE. June 21, 2003.
Bulgaria–Greece border crossings
Populated places in Xanthi (regional unit)
{{EMacedoniaThrace-geo-stub