Orfeas (), named after the mythical musician

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, is a former municipality in the Evros regional unit,

East Macedonia and Thrace Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( ; , ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Western Thr ...

, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Soufli Soufli () is a town in the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit, Greece, notable for the silk industry that flourished there in the 19th century. The town stands on the eastern slope of the twin hill of Prophet Elias, one of the easternmost s ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. Its land area is . It is located in the north-central part of Evros, and borders both southeastern

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 northwestern

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 ...

. The seat of the municipality was in Lavara (pop. 747 in 2021). Much of the land is mountainous and forested to the west, extending up to the Rhodope regional unit. It is linked with GR-51 (Alexandroupoli – Orestiada – Edirne in Turkey and Svilengrad in Bulgaria). The town of Lávara sits on a plain. It is located SE of

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 ...

, S of

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

, Turkey and

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 ...

, and 13 km N of

and 78 km N of

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis (, ) or Alexandroupoli (, ) is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,75 ...

. The municipality's next largest towns are Agriani, Mega Dereio and Amorio.

History

The municipality was affected by flooding of the Evros river in February and March 2005. 50 houses were damaged. The rail south of Lavara and near the station were also flooded and was closed that time.

Geography

Forests dominate the river banks and parts of the plain. Much of the area are used for farming. The main production are cattle, fruits and vegetables and some flowers. The mountains dominate further west.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Orfeas is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): * Lavara * Amorio *

Kyriaki Kyriaki () is a village and a community of the Livadeia municipality, Greece. Before the 2011 local government reform Kyriaki was an independent community. The 2021 census recorded 1,804 inhabitants in the community of Kyriaki. The community of K ...

Mandra Mandra (), is a town and former municipality in West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mandra-Eidyllia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 205.770&n ...

* Mavrokklisi (Mavrokklisi, Korymvos) *

Mikro Dereio Mikro Dereio () is a village and a community in the central part of the Evros regional unit in Greece. It is situated on the left bank of the river Erythropotamos, in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. The border with Bulgaria is 5 km to the no ...

(Mikro Dereio, Geriko, Goniko, Mega Dereio, Petrolofos, Roussa, Sidirochori) *

Protokklisi Protokklisi ( meaning the first church, ) is a village and a community in the central part of the Evros regional unit in Greece. Protoklissi is in the municipal unit of Orfeas. In 2021 its population was 776 for the community, including the villa ...

(Protokklisi, Agriani)

Historical population

References

External links

*http://thesaurus.duth.gr/english/moredata.asp?Perioxh_ID=42&Subj=255
Evros floods
– pathfinder.gr *https://web.archive.org/web/20060219001458/http://orfeas.evros.gr/lavara.htm (in Greek) {{Orfeas Populated places in Evros (regional unit) Soufli bg:Орфей (дем) el:Δήμος Σουφλίου#Ενότητα Ορφέα