Kavala (Greece)

Kavala is a city in northern Greece, principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and capital of Kavala regional unit. The city of Kavala is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from Thasos and on the Egnatia motorway, one-and-a-half-hour drive to Thessaloniki (99 miles/160 kilometres west) and a 40-minute drive to Drama (23 miles/37 km north) and Xanthi (35 miles/56 km east). Kavala is connected with all islands of Northern Aegean Sea with frequent itineraries of a variety of ferry lines.

In 2011 Kavala had a municipality population of 70,500 inhabitants on a total area of 351.4 km2 (135.7 ml2). In Antiquity the city's name was Neapolis (meaning 'new city', like a lot of Greek colonies). In the Middle Ages it was renamed Christoupolis (translated as 'city of Christ'). Today, Kavala is connected with all Northern Aegean Sea islands via frequent itineraries of different ferry lines.

Kavala was occupied by the Bulgarians during the 1912 first Balkan War, but in 1913 was finally captured by Greece during a landing operation by the Greek Navy, commanded by the renowned admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis (1855-1935).

The rests of IV Army Corps, stationed at the city under Ioannis Hatzopoulos surrendered to advancing Bulgarian Army in August 1916. These sequence of events provoked military revolt in Thessaloniki, leading to the establishment of Provisional Government of National Defence, as well as formal entry of Greece into the World War I.

During World War II and following the fall of Athens, the Bulgarian allies were awarded Kavala by the Nazis in 1941, causing the city to suffer again. In 1944 it was finally liberated. In the late 1950s the city of Kavala expanded toward the sea by reclaiming land from the region west of the port. King Constantine II left for Kavala from Athens in 1967, and made an unsuccessful attempt for counter-coup against military junta.

Nowadays, Kavala hosts various cultural events, most of which taking place during the summer. Top of all is Festival of Philippi. It lasts from July to September and includes theatrical performances and music concerts. Since 1957, this has been the most important cultural event of Kavala, as well as one of the major of Greece.