Didymoteicho

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Image:Flag of Greece.svg Didymoteicho (Διδυμότειχο)
Coordinates	41°21′ N 26°30′ E
Country	Greece
Periphery	East Macedonia and Thrace
Prefecture	Evros
Population	18,998 source (2001)
Area	335.9 km²
Population density	57 /km²
Elevation	31 m
Postal code	683 00
Area code	25530
Licence plate code	OP
Website	didymoteicho.gr

Didymoteicho (also spelled Didimoteixo, Didimoticho), (Greek, Modern: Διδυμότειχο, Ancient/Katharevousa: Διδυμότειχον, meaning twin walls from didymos twin and teichos wall, Turkish: Dimetoka, Bulgarian: Димотика, Dimotika) is a town located in the eastern part of the prefecture of Evros, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality and the province of the same name. It is located around 12 km from Turkey and the western banks of the Evros. In the west, much of the land is mountainous and forested, while farmlands are located in the central and the northern part. It is linked with GR-51 (Alexandroupoli - Orestiada - Edirne in Turkey and Svilengrad in Bulgaria). The town sits on a plain and located south east of Svilengrad, south of Edirne, Turkey and Orestiada, west of Uzunköprü, about 20 km north of Soufli and about 90 km north of Alexandroupoli.

1 Communities
2 Nearest places
3 Historical population
4 Geography
5 History
6 Sites of interest
7 Other
8 External links
9 See also

[edit] Communities

Pythio

[edit] Nearest places

Pythio, north
Petrades, east

[edit] Historical population

Year	Population	Change	Municipal population
1981	8,571	-	-
1991	8,336	-145/-1.69%	19,540

[edit] Geography

Forests dominate the banks and parts of the plain. Much of the area is used for farming. The main produce is cattle, fruits and vegetables and some flowers. The hills dominate further west.

[edit] History

Didymoteicho was first mentioned in the 9th century. A castle was later built.

The town was sacked by the Romans in 204. In medieval times it was an important market town. Under Turkish rule it was known as Dimetoka or Demotika. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid II was born there. After the Poltava campaign King Charles XII of Sweden lived in the town (1713-1714). During the Ottoman period, the town was a major center for the Bektashi Sufi order.

In Roman times the city was known as "Kale". It was located near the Ancient Roman city of Plotinopoulis founded on the Evros River and named after Plotini the wife of the Emperor Trajan as he marched up the Evros River valley on his way to subjugating the Dacians in what is now Romania. In the 1980's a solid gold bust of the head of Trajan was found on the site of Plotinopoulis and is now in the museum at Komotini.

After the 1920s, it became entirely a part of Greece. The Second World War devastated Didymoteicho. In December 2001, illegal immigrants entered Didymoteicho, they were later arrested by the police. On July 17, 2004, the Olympic flame reached Didymoteicho and was lit in the castle.

The town was considerably affected by the Evros river flooding of February 17 to 22, 2005. Flood warnings were reported at that time. It devastated much of the town on Wednesday March 2, 2005 and continued for several days. On Friday March 4, flood waters began to ebb slowly. It amounted up to 5 m or 5,000 mm of rainfall causing the river to overflow its banks. It flooded buildings, properties and stores, leaving people stranded in their homes and buildings. It was the worst flooding in nearly 50 years. The rail south of Didymoteicho and near the station were also flooded and was closed at that time. Serious flooding was also experienced in March 2006 throughout the city and the general Evros area.

[edit] Sites of interest

A 14th-century Mosque, situated by the city square. It was built in 1395 or 1397 under Sultan Bayezid I, and is the oldest surviving mosque in the Balkans.^{[citation needed]}
Castle, situated in the northwestern part of town
Didymoteicho Folklife Museum
International Centre of Young Artists of Eastern Europe, Website
Central Square Kentriki Plateia, next to the town hall
Military Museum, mouseia/didimoteixou/index_en.html, also in Greek
Municipal Theatre, on Georgios Street

[edit] Other

The ancient city of Plutionpolis is near Didymoteicho.

The song Didymoteicho blues by Giorgos Dalaras was sung in Didymoteicho.

Didymoteicho has a school, a lyceum, a gymnasium, churches, banks, a police station, a water tower, a post office, a library, and a square (plateia).

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Communities of the Evros prefecture

	North: Orestiada
West: Metaxades	Didymoteicho	East: Turkey
Southwest: Lavara		Southeast: Turkey

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Municipalities of the Evros Prefecture
Alexandroupoli • Didymoteicho • Feres • Kyprinos • Metaxades • Orestiada • Orfeas • Samothrace • Soufli • Traianoupoli • Trigono • Tychero • Vyssa