"As if you've known it all your life" – this is the feeling that Kavala leaves you with, whether you’re visiting for the first time or you’re returning. The familiar atmosphere of the city, with its well-preserved buildings, cobbled streets and friendly neighbourhoods, makes you feel like you're in a place you've already loved. It welcomes you with its warmth, as if it’s been waiting for you for a long time, ready to share its stories and secrets with you. I spent many summers in this part of northern Greece, not because we had "blood ties" with the city, but because my dad loved it.
It is a place that effortlessly blends its past with the present and has always had a multicultural side to it. In ancient times, when it was known as Neapolis, it was a centre of trade and coexisting cultures as the port of Philippi (the nearby archaeological site and UNESCO monument).
Over the years we made important friends in Kavala, meeting local shopkeepers who were waiting for us every summer, and the family that owned the hotel where we stayed became our family. And as time passed, Kavala became the protagonist of our lives for that decade.
Growing up, I encountered it many times in my daily life, as many of my classmates were from there, but each visit felt different. I often replayed in my mind the route we took with my dad: breakfast at the hotel in Agios Sillas, a stop at the kiosk for a comic book, endless swimming at our favourite beach, Batis, eating at the fish tavernas on the city’s waterfront, or if we were in the mood, towards Iraklitsa, and rides at the amusement park with corn on the cob to go. They were the best days of my life.
The Old Town
Spread out on the hill of Panagia, dominated by Kavala’s fortress and offering a panoramic view of the modern part of the city and the sea, the Old Town (also known as the district of Panagia) is a magical place. Every house and neighbourhood has a story to tell. The scent of jasmine and lavender fills the air, creating a sense of nostalgia. The traditional houses with their red tiles and flowering courtyards, combined with the Ottoman mansions, retain the charm of another era.

If you start your walk on Poulidou Street, you find yourself in front of the Imaret, a unique Ottoman monument which has been restored and is now a 4,200 square metre luxury hotel. It is a masterpiece of late Ottoman architecture and a rare example of this period in Europe. But the Imaret is not just a beautiful building. It is a symbol of the multiculturalism that characterises Kavala, the harmonious coexistence of different ethnicities and religions that have shaped the city's unique identity.
You can visit the house of Mohammad Ali (or Mehmet Ali), the founder of the Imaret, which is now a museum, while a little further down is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, built in 1957, in an area where Greek Christians lived during Ottoman times.

And at the end of the route you will come to my favourite spot, the Lighthouse. What makes this place so beautiful, in my opinion, is the primary school located there. You see the children playing with such joy, with a look of freedom, as their school window is the sea. I often stopped to talk to them and was touched to see that they fully understand the gift they have been given. What an experience to go to school and every day to have this wonderful view of the bay of Kavala, the island of Thassos, Keramoti on the mainland, and the Mount Athos peninsula.
Dominating the top of the Panagia peninsula is the Acropolis of Kavala, a fortress of strategic importance. Fortified with rough granite stones, bricks and marble, the Acropolis has undergone many reconstructions and additions by the Byzantines, Franks and Ottomans. The energy you feel walking through the inner and outer enclosures of the fortress, combined with the sound of the sea, is unmatched.
But the magic doesn't end there. Descending from the fortress you encounter the Kamares, the city's iconic medieval aqueduct. Built in the 16th century, it was designed to supply water to the Panagia peninsula from a spring at an altitude of 400 metres. It is 270 metres long and has a maximum height of 25 metres, and is thought to have been built on the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct. Even though it no longer carries water to the city, it retains its importance as a symbol of Kavala.

The Old Town of Kavala is not just an area full of monuments and buildings. It is the life of the people who live there. The small tavernas and cafes offer you the opportunity to enjoy traditional Greek coffee or ouzo with meze, accompanied by friendly conversations with the locals.
Museum of Greek Refugees
Leaving the Old Town of Kavala, stop at the Museum of Greek Refugees and believe me, you won’t leave the same person. The people there welcome you not just to a museum, but to a living heritage site that breathes through their stories it tells and the memories of the exhibits. The contribution of the refugees from Greece's historical homelands in the East to the history of Kavala is profound. Due to its strategic position as a port and its flourishing tobacco trade, the number of refugees who settled in the city exceeded that of the local inhabitants. As a result, refugees were a key element of Kavala's identity for many decades.
The refugees who came to the region after the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 brought with them not only their personal tragedies, but also a rich cultural heritage and significant economic and social changes. Every object, every cushion, every piece of jewellery, every diploma, every child's toy, every icon and sacred relic they hid on their person, every household key and everything they considered precious, opens the door to family moments, to customs and traditions, to culture and values, to stories and knowledge whose importance is incalculable.

I had the great pleasure of talking to Mrs Sophia, the President of the Association of Asia Minor of Kavala «Memory of Asia Minor», which created the museum. After treating me to traditional liqueur and halva (a sweet made with semolina, spices and nuts), Mrs Sophia, a third-generation descendant of refugees, gave me a guided tour through the personal stories of her family and other refugee families. I will never forget the moment I could no longer hold back my tears as she told me the story of her grandmother, who always kept many clocks in her house.
When she asked her why, her grandmother told her that when she was a child in the refugee houses, they didn't have a clock to see if the new year had arrived. From that moment, she promised herself that, at the first opportunity, she would buy a clock so that she would never miss another New Year’s in her life. I too felt proud of these people and thought about many things in my own life from a different perspective, as nothing is a given, not even time. Just before I said goodbye to the people of the museum, I had the honour of witnessing the moment when an insurance company document issued in 1922 in Constantinople came into their hands.
Tobacco Museum
The contribution of the refugees was decisive in maintaining the economic prosperity of Kavala as a centre of tobacco trade until the middle of the 20th century. Known as the "Mecca of Tobacco", it was a key centre for tobacco trading and processing in the Balkans, attracting Ottomans, Greeks, Jews and European businessmen, as well as consulates of European countries to ensure the tobacco production.
Even today, the legacy of the tobacco trade is evident in the city's cultural identity, with tobacco warehouses and industrial buildings recalling the era when tobacco and refugees were the cornerstones of local development.

The Tobacco Museum in Kavala is a unique space dedicated to the history of the tobacco industry and trade that shaped the city's identity for more than a century. Its collection is extensive, including cultivation tools, commercial processing machinery, photographs and rare documents, such as those from the Federation of Tobacco Trade in Greece, the Federation of Tobacco Traders of Macedonia-Thrace and various tobacco associations. There are also books on tobacco, publications of the Hellenic Tobacco Organisation, archives of banks and tobacco companies, maps, blueprints and furniture of tobacco merchants.
Walking around the city, you can also see some of the impressive industrial buildings that served as tobacco warehouses, such as the SCHINASI Bros. complex, founded in 1905 by brothers Morris and Solomon Schinasi, with its characteristic two-storey mansion in the Beaux Arts style, as well as the former tobacco warehouses of the HERZOG company and the old mansion of the Hungarian tobacco merchant Pierre Herzog, which today houses the Kavala Town Hall and is another important building of the city.
The food and wine of Kavala
The "cuisine" of Kavala is a culinary adventure that combines local traditions with influences from the culinary heritage of the Muslims, the Pontians (an ethnic Greek community that historically lived on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in what is now Turkey) and the refugees from Asia Minor and Cappadocia. This marriage of flavours and influences, combined with the quality of Kavala's wine that has been famous since ancient times – no coincidence since the god of winemaking, Dionysus, was worshipped on Mount Pangaio - is the epitome of a gastronomic experience.
The sea also plays a key role in Kavala's economy, with an abundance of fresh seafood, and the town's fish market is the third largest in Greece, after those of Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
Now imagine a plentiful table in a fish taverna or restaurant on the Kavala waterfront, or in the picturesque harbour of Sfagia or perhaps in the Karnagio shipbuilding district, serving fresh fish and local specialities such as steamed stingray and excellent blue crab, as well as avgotaraho (cured fish roe) prepared by the Keramoti Fishing Cooperative. This table will definitely include alipasta (salted fish, often mackerel or sardines), a key part of the region's culinary offering (it was the main snack in Kavala's tobacco warehouses), as well as asparagus, famous for its freshness. Fried courgettes, tzatziki, marinated anchovies, squid and kavourmas (a kind of charcuterie made in northern Greece) will complete your culinary journey.

And everything comes together with the right wine pairing, as more than 20 wineries in the prefecture of Kavala produce excellent wines, renowned not only in Greece but also internationally. The sea breeze, combined with the clay and limestone soil of Mount Pangaio, create the ideal microclimate and terrain in the various regions of Kavala, allowing the cultivation of excellent wine varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon, Ugni Blanc (Trebianno), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, as well as local varieties Roditis, Assyrtiko and Limnio. Of course, a visit to a Kavala winery is one of the top experiences in the region. From a winery tour and the presentation of the winemaking process to the aroma of the maturing wines, and from the walk through the green vineyards and hills to tasting all the different varieties, you can't help but connect with the rich wine-making tradition and love for wine that characterises Kavala.
And for dessert, we have Nea Karvali kourabie made with local almonds. The roots of the Nea Karvali kourabie can be found in the refugees who came from Cappadocia after the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922. Bringing with them their traditions and recipes, the Cappadocian refugees settled in the town of Nea Karvali and preserved their culinary heritage. Kourabiedes (as they’re known in the plural) became a symbol of this tradition, made with pure ingredients such as butter and almonds, and has become established as a typical sweet of the region. Rich flavour and one-of-a-kind quality in a crescent shape. All of Kavala in one bite.
The timeless charm of Kavala
Of course, there are countless reasons to visit Kavala, but the most important one is that it mixes the old and the new, ancient heritage with modern life, nature and culture, offering a unique experience that is constantly evolving. If I could describe it in one word, I would call it "charming", because no matter how many lists you read about all the things to do in Kavala, no matter how many tips you are given, Kavala will find a way to surprise you with its charm its and its tradition.