Ormenio (; ; ) is the northernmost place in all of

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 ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of

Trigono Trígono (, , meaning "triangle") is a former municipality in the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Orestiada, of which it is a muni ...

in the Evros regional unit of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. It is situated near the right bank of the river Evros, which forms the border with

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 ...

here. On the other side of the Evros, 6 km to the north, lies the Bulgarian town

Svilengrad Svilengrad (; ; ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the tripoint of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. Geography Svilengrad is close to the ro ...

. Nearby villages in Greece are

Ptelea ''Ptelea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. The name, of Greek derivation, is the classical name of the elm tree. Carl Linnaeus used that word for this genus because of the resemblance of its fruit to that of the el ...

to its southeast and

Petrota Petrota () is a village at the northernmost point of Greece, part of the municipal unit Trigono. It was created around 1530 by Greeks that moved there from Epirus and Malta. In 1961 its population was 1,510. In the 1970s a lot of people fr ...

to its southwest.

History

In 1371 Ormenio was the site of the

Battle of Maritsa The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (; in tr. ''Second Battle of Maritsa'') took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala S ...

in which the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

army under Ivan Uglesha and his brother Vukashin was decisively defeated by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. It was known as "Çirmen" during Ottoman rule and was a sanjak centre until 1829. In 1878 it was inhabited by 870 Bulgarians and 120 Muslims.Македония и Одринско. Статистика на населението от 1873 г.“ Македонски научен институт, София, 1995, стр. 34-35. After 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 ...

, the village was annexed to Bulgaria as "Chernomen" until 1919, when the village was ceded to Greece in the

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (; ) was a treaty between the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand, and Bulgaria, one of the defeated Central Powers in World War I, on the other. The treaty required Bulgaria to cede various territor ...

. In 1997 under the

Kapodistrias reform Kapodistrias reform (, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman (Ioannis Kapodistrias), passed the Hellenic Parliamen ...

, the community of Ormenio became part of the new municipality of Trigono with 12 other former communities. At the 2011 Kallikratis reform, Trigono became a municipal unit of the municipality

Orestiada Orestiada (, Katharevousa, formerly ), is the northeasternmost, northernmost and newest city of Greece and the second largest town of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit of western Thrace, Thrace. Founded by Greek refugees from Edirne a ...

Population

Transport

Road

Ormenio is bypassed by the

Greek National Road 51 Greek National Road 51 (, abbreviated as EO51) is a predominantly single carriageway road in the Evros regional unit of Greece. The road is a branch of the EO2 from Alexandroupolis and runs almost parallel to the Evros river from Ardani in t ...

European route E85 European route E85 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. The E 85 starts from Klaipėda, Lithuania and ends at Alexandroupolis, Greece. The E 85 is long. The definition of its ro ...

(Feres - Soufli - Orestiada - Ormenio), which continues across the border as the Bulgarian road 80 to Svilengrad.

Rail

The community is served by

Ormenio railway station Ormenio railway station () is a railway station that serves the village of Ormenio, Evros in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Located around north of the centre of Ormenio, the station was opened by the Chemins de fer Orientaux, (now part o ...

, the most northernly railway station in Greece and the terminal for (the Greek portion) the Alexandroupolis–Svilengrad line. There is currently no rail connection to

via Ormenio. Ormenio had a railway station on the line from Didymoteicho to

Harmanli Harmanli ( , ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Harmanli Municipality. Near the site of Hamanli in Late Antiquity, during the early 4th-century Cibalensean War, the Battl ...

in Bulgaria. During the Ottoman era, Ormenio was called ''Çirmen'' in Turkish.http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0002131.pdf Georgios Liakopoulos' Master of Science Thesis in Bilkent University

Notable locals

Flavius Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. B ...

, the famous Roman general, was born in Germen, the Roman precursor of Ormenio.

References

{{Trigono Populated places in Evros (regional unit) Orestiada Bulgaria–Greece border crossings