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 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. 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/ European route E85 (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, 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 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, 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