|
|
GREECE 2006 - Weeks 10~11 |
||
|
From Cape Tenaro at the southern tip of mainland Greece, we have travelled 2,500 miles up through the Peloponnese, Central Greece, Macedonia and finally Thrace, and 7 weeks later, we achieved our goal of reaching the northernmost point at the Bulgarian border crossing of Ormenio.
On an intensely hot morning, we crossed the River Nestos into Thrace, Greece's most recent territorial acquisition dating from the notorious Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 which partitioned Greater Thrace between Greece and Turkey. In the population exchange that followed, 400,000 Greek Muslims were forcibly evacuated to Turkey, and over 1 million displaced Asiatic and Eastern Thracian Greeks were relocated to Northern Greece; the effects of this ethnic cleansing are still to be seen today. Western Thrace Muslims were exempted from the population exchange and continue to live in the region, in return for a continued Greek presence in Istanbul. Out of a total population of 390,000 in Greek Thrace, officially at least 120,000 are Muslim, mostly Turkish but also many Roma and Slavic-speaking Pomaks. Despite Greek governmental claims that this racial mix coexists amicably, Muslims point to marked discrimination. Thrace with its tense ethnic diversity is clearly a political dilemma for modern Greece. We went with an open mind, but as visitors it was difficult to make objective judgement other than the observable reality that contemporary Thracian Greeks appeared as prosperous as elsewhere, but the impoverished down-and-outs we saw were evidently non-Greek.
The main reason for our venture to this largely unvisited corner of Greece was for the wild-life, particularly the unprecedented bird-watching opportunities. The Evros river marks the Greek border with Turkey. The Evros Delta is one of Europe's most important wetlands, and home to a huge range of both resident and migratory birds. We took a Visitor Centre boat trip out into the delta and were able to see Dalmatian Pelicans (Photo 1), Shelduck, Cormorants, Mediterranean Gulls, Terns and White Heron - just a small sample of what was possible, but our bird-watching in Northern Greece had only just begun. Despite a thawing of relations at governmental level between Greece and Turkey, the Evros river border is still a militarily sensitive area, with substantial army presence and signs prohibiting photography. Even so, we drove out as close as possible to the border to the almost disappointingly normal-looking village of Poros with 5 occupied storks' nests on successive power poles. But the area was actively patrolled by military vehicles, and to avoid confrontation with Greek soldiers with nothing better to do than detain curious visitors, we continued our journey northwards.
To complete our journey to Thrace's ultimate point, we passed through the 2 towns of Didymoteicho and Orestiada. The former has a history going back to Byzantine and Ottoman times and does actually contain the Balkans' oldest and largest mosque, now semi-derelict; the latter is an utterly soulless place founded in 1923 to re-house Greek refugees from Edirne (formerly Adrianopoli) at the time of Thrace's partitioning. Beyond here we turned off on minor roads to see Greece's most easterly border settlement of Pythio, and despite the intense military presence, we risked photos looking across the Evros valley into Turkey. Nearby, signs pointed to ancient Thracian Tombs, 1 of which turned out to be a camouflaged military border installation; we beat a hasty retreat, and continued our journey to Ultima Thracia, the border crossing with Bulgaria at Ormenio, Greece's most northerly point. And at that point, we turned to begin the 2,500 mile journey home. From now on, we faced 2 weeks of wild-camping, there being simply no camp-sites in Central and Western Macedonia; the final shower at Alexandroupoli was relished to the full before we departed westwards.
Our journey westwards took us through the dreary market town of Drama and over the hills to visit the remarkable Alistrati Cave system. The winding 1 km walk through the cave is lined with endless huge stalagmites, stalactites and other unique formations such as eccentrites formed where calcite-laden water droplets travel sideways producing the delicate sparkling formations (Photo 4). We have visited many caves during our travels but none as spectacularly decorated as Alistrati. It's certainly worth a visit.
Our homeward journey has begun, but there are still significant areas to visit - the Prespa lakes nestled on the borders of Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and the Vikos Gorge in mountainous Epiros, before catching the ferry from Ioumenitsa for return to Venice. Stay tuned for our final 2 weeks, for perhaps the most thrilling climax of any of our travels. Sheila and Paul Published: Saturday 10 June 2006
|
| |
WEEKS
10~11 NEWS - Thrace, Alexandroupoli,
the Evros Delta, Dadia Forest Reserve, and Central Macedonia:
The
hinterland of Thrace borders onto Bulgaria along the line of
the Rhodope mountains, which
descend
to a broad flat fertile plain along the Aegean coastline. Crossing this
plain along the now completed Egnatia Odos motorway, past the towns of
Xanthi and Komotini, we could see scattered villages along the Rhodope
foothills, each with its slim minaret. Traffic was light, most
slow-moving Bulgarian trucks or excessively speeding Greek cars. In the
whole of Thrace, there is but one campsite, the municipal Camping at
coastal Alexandroupoli. We settled here for a few days, grateful for
their excellent facilities and even more for the shady trees. Earlier in
the trip, we might have described it as featureless and gloomy; in late
May's torrid heat, the shade was a god-send.
As a modern
town founded in the late 19th century and re-named after King Alexander
at the time of Greece's acquisition of Thrace, Alexandroupoli seemed not
to have much going for it, other than ferries to Samothrace
and the emblematic lighthouse on the seafront where locals take their
evening volta. But
close by the trendy town centre shops, we found the
Ethnological Museum of Thrace. This privately-run excellent
collection objectively presented all aspects of the multi-ethnic life
and culture of the Thracian peoples during the 19th and 20th centuries,
particularly the traditional agriculture of the region - sesame seed and
oil, silk-production and tobacco. After such a culturally inspiring
morning, we headed for the tabernas with expectations of a distinctive
fish lunch. But no: menus were unattractively predictable - we'd seen it
all before, a 1,000 times across the whole of Greece over the last 2
months. Having walked out of 2 places (1 of them twice!), we at last
found what we were looking for: the
Our next
birding visit was to the Dadia Forest Reserve, a large protected area of
the Rodopi foothills. The diversity of woodland landscape with clearings
once grazed by livestock, the wealth of fauna as food source and
proximity to migration routes makes Dadia a unique site for raptors
(birds of prey). 36
of Europe's
38 species of diurnal birds of prey can be seen here at different times
of the year. Given the absence of campsites in Thrace, we wild-camped by
the Visitor Centre, reciprocating their hospitality by eating at the taberna. Dadia is 1 of only 2 European homes of the enormous 10 feet
wing-span Black Vulture with numbers increased to 100 since the
protection project began in 1980. Animal carcasses are now put out at a
feeding ground for the raptors, within binocular range of a hide. Early
morning and evening give unbelievable views of raptors feeding (Photo
2). Way-marked paths lead up to the hide through the oak and pine
woodland, with a wealth of flora to photograph. During our 2 visits to
the hide, we were fortunate to see a Sea Eagle, and Black, Egyptian and Griffin Vultures;
watching these magnificent birds strutting around the feeding area with
wings outstretched and head down in an aggressive posture, or soaring
majestically around overhead was breathtaking (Photo 3). The
sight of Storks flying over our camp became almost common-place, and as we
sat at breakfast on our final morning, binoculars to hand, we were
treated to another thrilling aerial display of Black and Griffin
Vultures and a Short-toed Eagle soaring around on the warm morning
thermals.
Moving
further into NE Thrace, we passed through the town of Soufli, once the
centre of Greece's silk industry, still with flourishing mulberry tree groves
and 1 surviving silk-producing factory. The
history of the local silk industry, and the curious method of producing
silk thread was presented in the Soufli Silk Museum. The growing silk
worms (see left) munch their way through enormous quantities of
mulberry leaves before spinning a cocoon around themselves (see right).
The unfortunate chrysalis are then suffocated before they can
metamorphose (a good Greek word) into moths and eat their way out of the
cocoon, which are then laboriously unwound and the threads spun into
silk yarn. It was fascinating stuff and very well presented. There is
just so much unknown history in this remote corner of Greece.
Before
leaving Thrace, a final venture was a rail-ride up the
magnificent gorge carved
out by the River Nestos, from Toxotes to the traditional Thracian
hill-village of Stavroupoli. The Greek Railway Service (OSE) still
manages to offer the standard of public service and staff courtesy
and helpfulness which we in UK used to enjoy 30 years ago, and no longer
have. It's a nostalgic experience travelling by rail in Greece,
especially through such magnificent scenery.
Across the
cherry orchards of the Macedonian Plain through the town of Serres, we
turned off northwards for 1 of the trip's most memorable highlights -
Lake Kerkini. The lake nestles under the towering Mount Kerkini chain which
forms the border with Bulgaria. Fed by the River Strymonas which flows
south from Bulgaria, this man-made lake was formed in the 1930s by
damming the river's former inland silted delta. It's a real undiscovered
gem, attracting an amazing variety of bird-life, and one of Europe's
most impressive opportunities for observing wetland birds. We enjoyed a
superb wild-camp, just by the wetlands at
Megalohori and during our 2
day stay, our record of sightings included:
Dalmatian and White Pelicans, Crested Grebes, Egrets, Storks (several
performing their peculiar bill-clattering display), Grey Herons, Night
Herons, White Herons, Squacco Herons, Purple Herons, Spoonbills, Pygmy
Cormorants and 2 very smart Glossy Ibis. An incredible experience
(unfortunately missed on photograph) was watching a Stork catch, kill
and swallow a 1m long water-snake - you read about such things ... ! A
boat ride across the lake into the in-flowing Strymonas river took us
past nesting sites of vast numbers of Pygmy Cormorants (Photo 5)
along with Grey Herons (Photo 6). And in camp, using our camper
as a hide, we were treated to the sight of hoopoes pecking around the
nearby copse with their crest feathers up high. Whether or not birds are
your interest, Lake Kerkini for its setting alone, should figure on your
programme for a visit to Northern Greece.
Continuing
westwards, we visited the archaeological site and museum of Pella, the
ancient capital of the Macedonian kingdom, and birthplace of Alexander
the Great. The city developed as a major political and artistic
centre at a time when the great Classical city-states were in decline;
Euripides produced his last plays at the court of Pella. The
archaeological site is huge, reflecting the city's scale, and the small
area that has been excavated (Photo 7) has produced some real
treasures, displayed in the museum. The highlights without a doubt are
the
wonderful pebble-mosaics, including a scene showing a lion-hunt (Photo
8), and Dionysus riding a panther (see left). The artistry of these
works displays a subtlety of movement and soft colour-tones just not
achieved in later Roman mosaics. And the staff at Pella were so much
more helpful, even empathising with our policy of 'find the gap in the
fence' at locked sites. Nearby was another fascinating but little known
archaeological site - the excavated remains of ancient Mieza, set among
peach and almond orchards. Little of
Mieza has been excavated, apart from
the Macedonian tombs with their exquisite wall paintings and a small
Hellenistic theatre (see left). The most important discovery however is
the School of Aristotle, where at Philip II's request, the renowned
philosopher established his academy to tutor the 13 year old 
Alexander
the Great and his companions. Here
Aristotle taught political and moral philosophy and natural sciences to
the future conqueror of the ancient world. The remains are
insignificant, but the charming setting in the peaceful grove at Mieza
create an evocative aura of where one of history's greatest intellects
tutored the young Alexander the Great who in his brief life changed the
face of world history.
