Thermes () is a former community in the
Xanthi 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
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 ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Myki, of which it is a municipal unit.
The municipal unit has an area of 90.014 km
2.
It consists of the villages Ano Thermes, Thermes (also called ''Kato Thermes''),
Meses Thermes
Meses Thermes () is a village in the Xanthi regional unit of Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Thermes
Thermes () is a former community in the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2 ...
,
Medousa, Kidaris, Diasparto, and
Kottani
Kottani () is a village in the municipality Myki in the Xanthi regional unit of Greece. It is part of the Thermes
Thermes () is a former community in the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since t ...
. The population of Thermes was around 1396 inhabitants in 1991. In 2021, the population decreased to 646 inhabitants.
[ Thermes is popular for its hot spas, which can be found all around the area.
]
Name
In Bulgarian, the community is known as Лъджа (''Lydža'') or Баня (''Banja''), the former a version of the Turkish name and the latter a calque also meaning "spa". The Turkish name of Thermes is ''Ilıca'' which means "spa".
Relief of Mithra
Thermes is also famous for the relief of Mithra (a Persian origin goddess of the sun) end of 2nd - beginning of 3rd century AD. The relief is depicting Mithras sacrificing a bull. Close to Mithras we can see figures of Cautes and Caupates.19.04.2007 Article in ''Ο Χρόνος'' greek newspaper of Komotini: ''Στην ορεινή Ξάνθη: Οι άγνωστες Θέρμες, 90 χιλιόμετρα από Κομοτηνή.''
in Greek.
Gallery
File:20091128_Loutra_Thermes_Xanthi_Thrace_Greece_2.jpg, Spring of hot spa.
File:20091128_Loutra_Thermes_Xanthi_Thrace_Greece_3.jpg, Spring of hot spa.
File:20100207_Thermes_Loutra_Xanthi_2.jpg, Hot spa pool.
File:20100207_Thermes_Loutra_Xanthi_1.jpg, Hot spa.
Image:20100911_Kato_Thermes_Xanthi_Prefecture_Thrace_Greece_Panorama.jpg, Thermes village
File:20100911 Relief of Mithras Kato Thermes Xanthi Prefecture Thrace Greece close up.jpg, Mithras relief close up
References
Sources
*Michail, Domna. ''Migration, tradition and transition among the Pomaks in Xanthi (Western Thrace)''. Department of Balkan Studies Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. LSE PhD Symposium on Social Science Research on Greece Hellenic Observatory, European Institute, LSE. June 21, 2003.
Populated places in Xanthi (regional unit)
Myki, Greece
Bulgaria–Greece border crossings
{{EMacedoniaThrace-geo-stub