KomotiniKomotini (Κομοτηνή, Gümülcine) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-prefecture until its abolition in 2010, by the Kallikratis Plan. The city is home to the Democritus University of Thrace, founded in 1973. Komotini is home to a sizeable Turkish speaking Muslim minority. They were excluded from the 1923 population exchange. According to the 2021 census, Komotini has population of 65,107 citizens.
AlexandroupolisAlexandroupolis (Αλεξανδρούπολη, aleksanˈðrupoli), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,601, and is an important port and commercial center for northeastern Greece. The city was first settled by the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and grew into a fishing village, Dedeağaç. In 1873, it became a kaza and one year later was promoted to a sanjak.
Western ThraceWestern Thrace or West Thrace ([Δυτική] Θράκη, [Dytikí] Thráki ˈθraci; Batı Trakya; Западна/Беломорска Тракия, Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.
German invasion of GreeceThe German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita (Unternehmen Marita), was the attacks on Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War, was followed by the German invasion in April 1941. German landings on the island of Crete (May 1941) came after Allied forces had been defeated in mainland Greece. These battles were part of the greater Balkans Campaign of the Axis powers and their associates.
Hellenic ArmyThe Hellenic Army (Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term Hellenic is the endogenous synonym for Greek. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, also constituted by the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) and the Hellenic Navy (HN). The army is commanded by the chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff (HAGS), which in turn is under the command of Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS).
DidymoteichoDidymoteicho (Didymóteicho ðiðiˈmotixo) is a town located on the eastern edge of the 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. 9,263 in 2011) sits on a plain and located south east of Svilengrad, south of Edirne, Turkey and Orestiada, west of Uzunköprü, Turkey, about 20 km north of Soufli and about 90 km north of Alexandroupoli. The municipality of Didymóteicho has a land area of 565.4 km2 and a population of 19,493 inhabitants.
Greek refugeesGreek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), as well as remaining Greek Orthodox inhabitants of Turkey who were required to leave their homes for Greece shortly thereafter as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, which formalized the population transfer and barred the return of
Ecumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, ikumeniˈkon patriarˈçion konstandinuˈpoleos; Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constantinopolitanus; Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi, İstanbul Ekümenik Patrikhanesi, "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches (or "jurisdictions") that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
ThessalonikiThessaloniki (ˌθɛsələˈniːki Θεσσαλονίκη, θesaloˈnici), also known as Thessalonica (ˌθɛsələ'naikə,_ˌθɛsəˈlɒnɪkə), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (səˈlɒnɪkə,_ˌsæləˈniːkə ), is the second-largest city in Greece, with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace.
PomaksPomaks (Pomatsi; Pomáki; Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by the government. The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of North Macedonia and Albania. Most Pomaks today live in Turkey where they have settled as muhacirs as a result of escaping previous ethnic cleansing in Bulgaria.