Kilkis () is one of the

regional units of Greece The 74 regional units of Greece (, ; singular , ) are the country's third-level administrative units (counting decentralized administrations as first-level). They are subdivisions of the country's 13 regions, and are further divided into munici ...

, in the

geographic region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. It is part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( ; , ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting the central part of the Geographic regions of Greece, geographical and historical region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. With a ...

. Its capital is the city of Kilkis.

Geography

The geography of the regional unit of Kilkis is characterized by the wide and flat

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

river valley in the westcentral part, and mountain ranges on its western and northeastern edges. The mountain range in the west, on the border with Pella regional unit, is Mount Paiko (highest peak ). In the north, the Kerkini range straddles the border with

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. At the highest peak in Kilkis regional unit is located here. The border with Serres regional unit to the northeast is formed by the lower Kroussia range (highest peak ). Lake Doirani is situated in the north, shared with North Macedonia. Kilkis borders the Thessaloniki regional unit to the south. The climate of the Kilkis regional unit is humid continental in the north, and humid subtropical in the lower regions.

History

The area of the modern regional unit was part of the

Kingdom of Macedonia Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The History of ...

from the 8th century BC until the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman fe ...

(171 BC - 168 BC), when it became a part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. At the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the area joined the eastern part, later known as the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Between the 7th century and the 11th century, it changed hands between the Byzantine Empire and the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

repeatedly. In the 13th and 14th century Western Europeans and

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

briefly ruled the area. The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

conquered the area in 1371, and ruled it until the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

of 1912. In the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

of 1913, the Greek army captured the area, which became part of Greece. It absorbed many of the Greeks from what is now the Republic of North Macedonia, especially from Gevgeli, Vogdantsa, Polyane and Stromnitsa. n Greek: "Trapped...the Greeks of Skopje", Dimitrios Alexandrou, Erodios, Thessaloniki 2008/ref> In the aftermath of the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) There have been several Greco-Turkish Wars: * Orlov revolt (1770) Greeks' first major, organized Revolt against the Ottoman Empire with the support of Russia *Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), against the Ottoman Empire * First Greco-Turkish ...

most of the Turkish and Bulgarian population of Kilkis emigrated, and many Greeks from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

settled in the area, as prescribed by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). In fact, a very large segment of the population of Kilkis regional unit are in origin Caucasus Greeks (that is, Eastern

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks (; or ; , , ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). They share a common Pontic Greek culture that is di ...

) from the former Russian Imperial province of Kars Oblast in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

. They left their homeland in the

for Kilkis and other parts of Greek Macedonia, as well as southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, between 1919 and 1921, that is, between the main Greece-Turkey population exchange and Russia's cession of the Kars region back to

as part of the

Treaty of Brest Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whic ...

. Until 1939, when created into a separate prefecture, the area was part of the Thessaloniki Prefecture. At the 2011 Kallikratis reform, the Kilkis Prefecture became a regional unit.

Sites of interest

* Archaeological Museum of Kilkis * Saint George's Cave in Kilkis * Folklore Museum of Goumenissa * Giapatzis' Medieval Watermill in Goumenissa * Natural History Museum in Axioupoli * Kilkis War Museum *

museum in Skra, dedicated to the Battle of Skra-di-Legen * Galazia limni (blue lagoon) with waterfalls, near Koupa * Metalliou lake, near Pigi, Kilkis * The picturesque villages of Paiko with Macedonian architecture, Goumenissa, Griva, Kastaneri and Karpi * The mountainous massif of Kroussia * The mountainous massif of Paiko * The mountainous massif of Kerkini (Beles) * Chilia Dentra (A Thousand Trees) in Mouries, a perennial forest of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s and ash trees beside Doirani lake * Doirani village, with fish taverns near lakeshore * The archaeological site of ancient Ioron near Palatiano * The archaeological site of Evropos * The Monastery of Saints Rafael, Nicolaos and Irene, near Griva * The Monastery of Nicodemus the Hagiorite, near Pentalofos *Lake Pikrolimni,

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

protected wetland and location of spa for

balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic effects. While ...

and pelotherapy

Transport

The A1 motorway ( E75, Skopje - Polykastro - Thessaloniki - Athens) runs through the regional unit from north to south. Two railways pass through the regional unit: from Thessaloniki to Skopje via Polykastro and Idomeni, and from Thessaloniki to Sofia, Istanbul and Alexandroupoli via Kilkis and Mouries.

Administration

The regional unit Kilkis is subdivided into 2 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): * Paionia (2) * Kilkis (1)

Prefecture

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the former Kilkis Prefecture () was transformed into a regional unit within the Central Macedonia region, without any change in boundaries. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

Provinces

The former prefecture of Kilkis was subdivided into the following

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

: ''Note:'' Provinces no longer hold any legal status in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

References

External links

Municipality of KilkisPrefecture of Kilkis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilkis (regional Unit) Prefectures of Greece Regional units of Central Macedonia