The city of Kavala
A modern city, determined by its picturesque seaside, has an interesting architecture combining neoclassical buildings with more modern ones. The location of the city is establishes as the most important tourist destination in Eastern Macedonia - Thrace due to its proximity to major tourist markets in Eastern Europe. A walk in the city will convince you for its beauty.
Kavala, capital of the Kavala County, a modern seaside town, is built at the foot of Mt. Symvolo. The big squares, modern buildings and shopping centers on the west side of town blend in with the traditional houses, the vegetable gardens and the cobbled streets of the old town (Panagia).
The history of the town begins in the 7th B.C. century under the name Neapolis. It served as a seaport for the gold mines in Pageo and Thassian trading with the mainland, the place where St. Paul founded the first Christian church in Europe. In Byzantine times we find Kavala as Christopolis, a busy transport junction passed through by the Egnatia Road. A hundred and fifty years later we find it under the name of Kavala with Ottoman, Greek and Jewish inhabitants, while in the 16th century Suleiman II the Magnificent realized infrastructure works which greatly contributed to its urban development. The most important of these works is the Aqueduct. The golden age of Kavala starts in the 19th century with the booming tobacco industry. At the beginning of the 20th century big tobacco factories, magnificent buildings and luxurious mansions along with banks, European consulates and publication of local daily press turn Kavala into a bustling urban centre. The 20th century also brinks to Kavala 25000 Greek refuges from Asia Minor after the destruction of their homes, who contributed to the development of trade and the arts.
Today, Kavala is the second biggest urban centre in Macedonia in a location of strategic importance and great development potential.
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