25/04/2007
Municipality of Philippi

Baira Clio Source: CETI/ Athena R.C. © Prefecture of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

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The Municipality of Philippi covers and area of 239 km2 and has a population of 10,827 inhabitants. The Municipality includes the districts of Amygdaleonas, Zygos, Koryfes, Kryoneri, Limnios, Palea Kavala and Plynero, Krinides, Lydia, Polystylo and Philippi. The Municipality is seated at Krinides. Agriculture and livestock farming are the main occupations of the locals. In addition, many permanent or seasonal employees work in 40 industries or handicrafts enterprises related to cheese making, carpentry, marble production, clothing articles and textiles.
The Municipality has been inhabited since thousands of years ago. A prehistoric settlement of the Middle Neolithic Age (5000 BC) with a rich historic background has been uncovered. The current inhabitants settled in the area mainly in 1922 and come from families of refugees from Pontus in Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor.
On the 16th Km of the route of Kavala - Drama, travellers can make a stop at the archaeological site of Philippi, in the middle of the plain under the same name that extends from the slopes of the ancient Orvelos to "gold bearing" Pangaion, both being celebrated mountains in the Tragedies of the Athenians and connected with legends and cults. Next to the modern village of Krinides, a section of the walls and the acropolis of Philippi are found, which stand is silence to remind the history of the people that lived here. The ancient city of Philippi was founded near the marshes that covered the southeastern part of the plain of Drama. The Thasians were the earliest colonists of the area who founded the colony of Krenides in 360 BC. Very soon, in 356 BC, the newly established colony was threatened by the Thracians; under this eminent threat, the inhabitants asked for help from Philip II, who conquered it when realizing its economic and strategic importance, fortified it and gave it his name. The city experienced a heyday during the Hellenistic times, when a wall, a theatre, public buildings and private houses were constructed. After the battle of Philippi in 42 AD, Octavian turned the city into a Roman colony. The physiognomy of the city changed again at the times of Apostle Paul, who stopped in Philippi and founded the first Christian church on European soil. The prevalence of the new religion and the foundation of Constantinople added lustre to the city. The metropolitan church dedicated to Apostle Paul was erected in the 4th - 6th centuries BC. The city was abandoned in the early 7th centuries because of earthquakes, but the total desertion came with the Turkish occupation. To date, the most important monuments of the archaeological site are the walls and the acropolis, the theatre, the agora, the palaestra, the prison of the Apostle Paul, Basilica A, Basilica B, Basilica C, the Octagon, the Episcopal church of Philippi.
The Municipality organizes cultural activities with the participation of cultural societies from each municipal district.