Peplos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Πέπλος) is a town and a community of Feres municipal unit, 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 a part of the municipality

Alexandroupoli 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 ...

. The town's population is around 1,000 people.

History

The Evros region where Peplos is located is in the historical region of

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 ...

. It was ruled by various major empires throughout history, including the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and then the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Along with the rest of the Greek mainland it was conquered by the Ottomans in the 14th and 15th centuries. It remained under Ottoman rule until the

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 ...

, when it was conquered 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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it was ceded to

in the

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (; ) was a treaty between the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand, and Bulgaria, one of the defeated Central Powers in World War I, on the other. The treaty required Bulgaria to cede various territor ...

in 1920.

Balkan Wars

Before the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

Peplos (then known as Merhamli) was in the Ottoman Adrianople Vilayet. In 1912 the

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which still ...

including Bulgaria and Greece went to war with the Ottomans, and Bulgaria invaded Ottoman

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace (, '' ytikíThráki'' ), also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographical and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lie ...

. A battle between Bulgarian and Ottoman forces occurred at Peplos in November 1912, known as the

Battle of Merhamli The Battle of Merhamli was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire which took place on 14/27 November 1912. After a long chase throughout Western Thrace the Bulgarian troops led by General Nikola Genev a ...

. This battle was a decisive victory for the Bulgarians, who would go on to win the war along with the rest of the Balkan League. The next year Bulgaria went to war against the rest of the Balkan League (and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and the Ottomans) in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

. Following the two Balkan Wars Peplos was in Bulgarian hands until the First World War. 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

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 ...

in 1923. They largely originate from the inhabitants of the villages of

Qytezë Qytezë (or Qyteza in its definite form in Albanian) is a community in Korçë County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Devoll. The settlement is known for being the birthplace of Adam Anasta ...

and Sultanköy.

Transport

Peplos is linked with the GR-2 or the A2 motorway (Egnatia Odos,

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

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 ...

Kozani Kozani (, ) is a town in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas, Aliakmonas riv ...

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 GR-51 (Alexandroupoli -

Orestiada Orestiada (, Katharevousa, formerly ), is the northeasternmost, northernmost and newest city of Greece and the second largest town of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit of western Thrace, Thrace. Founded by Greek refugees from Edirne a ...

- Ormenio) The town is served by Peplos railway station, on the Alexandroupoli–Svilengrad Line with services to

References

Terrabook

Populated places in Evros (regional unit) Alexandroupolis Albanian communities of Western Thrace {{EMacedoniaThrace-geo-stub