Feres () is a town and a former municipality in the Evros regional unit,

East Macedonia and Thrace Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( ; , ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Western Thr ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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

Alexandroupolis Alexandroupolis (, ) or Alexandroupoli (, ) is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,75 ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 411.160 km². Population 6,500 (2021). Feres is linked with the EO2 road, the A2 motorway towards

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa () is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Main ...

, and the EO51 road towards Alexandroupolis and Ormenio. The Evros river forms the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to the east.

History

Feres grew out of the Theotokos Kosmosoteira monastery, erected in 1152 by the ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' (, ; ; ), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence (Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Empire). The word is a compound ...

'' Isaac Komnenos, a son of the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

as his residence and final resting place. At the time, the site is described as deserted and densely overgrown, and was known as Bera. The monastery, which was surrounded by a double set of walls, became the core of a larger settlement. A church dedicated to St. Prokopios was built outside the monastery walls for the local villagers. In the partition of the Byzantine Empire after the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, the ''pertinentia de Bira'' fell to the individual Crusaders' share, and came under the control of Geoffrey of Villehardouin, who sent his nephew Anseau de Courcelles to take over the monastery and his other fiefs in the region. In 1324, the Bulgarian tsar Michael Shishman invaded Byzantine

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and plundered up to the vicinity of Bera, but the local population fled to the fortified settlements. Bera too had by this time become a fortified town and refuge for the local peasants. In 1329/30, the area was raided by Turks. In 1335–1341, the brothers Manuel and John Asanes were held prisoners in the monastery-fortress, and were only released in 1341, when their brother-in-law

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (; ; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byza ...

was proclaimed emperor at nearby

Didymoteicho Didymoteicho ( ) is a town located on the eastern edge of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town (pop. 8,681 in 2021 ...

, beginning the

Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son ...

. Kantakouzenos camped his army in the area in March 1342, but did not attack the fortress because of the presence of the monks, only for it to be seized by an opposing force under John Vatatzes. During the next winter, the fleet of the Aydınid Turks under Umur Bey anchored there, but many of its crews froze to death. John Asanes captured Bera in 1347. During the Byzantine civil war of 1352–1357, Bera was captured by the forces of

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defea ...

in 1355. Bera was conquered by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

under

Lala Shahin Pasha Lala Shahin Pasha (; 1330 – after 1388), was an Ottoman military commander and first Beylerbey of Rumelia. He was instrumental in the early Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, serving as a key commander under Sultan Murad I. He played a lead ...

in the early 1370s, and by 1433, it is recorded as a town with a mixed Greek and Turkish population. The fortifications had been party destroyed, and the ''

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

'' of the monastery had been converted into a mosque. The area was taken by

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 1913 following

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

of 1912 and 1913. In 1920, as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly and subsequent agreements, the town was given to Greece. The settlements was created with the migration of

Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

from

in 1923. They largely originate from the inhabitants of the villages of Qytezë and Sultanköy. The municipality was created in 1986 and included the settlements of Ardanio, Doriskos, Feres, Kavisos, Monastiraki and Poros. Under the Capodistrian Plan (2539/1997) in 1997, the old communities of Peplos, Pylaia and Tryfilli joined the municipality.

Transport

The settlement is served by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the Alexandroupoli–Svilengrad line.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Feres is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): * Ardanio * Doriskos (Doriskos, Monastiraki) *Feres (Feres, Poros) * Kavisos *

Peplos A peplos () is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by , during the late Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down ab ...

(Peplos, Vrysoula, Gemisti, Kipoi) * Pylaia (Pylaia, Koila, Melia) * Tryfilli (Tryfilli, Itea)

Population

Notable people

* Lefteris Hapsiadis (b. 1953), lyrical person * Giorgos Valavanidis ( b. 1974), basketball player

Gallery

File:Monastery of Panagia Kosmosotira, Ferres, Evros.JPG, Church of the Monastery of Theotokos Kosmosoteira File:Church Interior, Feres, Evros.JPG, Surviving art in the church File:Straight Dome interior view, Feres, Evros.JPG, Interior of the church dome File:Church interior, nave, Feres, Evros.JPG, Church interior File:Tower Feres, Evros.JPG, Tower near the church File:View over houses of Feres, Evros.JPG, View over Feres from the tower File:Waterfall, lake, rock formation Feres, Evros.JPG, Waterfall and pool File:River Feres, Evros.JPG, River leading from the waterfall File:Feres Waterfall, Evros.JPG, Waterfall close to centre of Feres File:Pool in Feres, Evros.JPG, View of waterfall and pool File:Old Bridge Feres Evros.JPG, Old bridge close to the waterfall

References

{{Alexandroupoli div Populated places in Evros (regional unit) Alexandroupolis Albanian communities of Western Thrace