Travel to Asia Minor and back in Kavala

Highlights of Kavala’s Asia Minor-related past 

The Museum of Greek Refugees 

The Museum of Greek Refugees is so much more than a history lesson about the population exchange of Asia Minor Greeks to Kavala (and Turks living in Greece in the opposite direction). Ηaving been set up by the Association of Asia Minor Refugees of Kavala, whose members are second and third-generation descendants of the refugees, it covers the human side of the exchange, where previously middle-class families were uprooted from their lives in Asia Minor and forced to begin from scratch in Kavala. 

Their gradual integration into daily life in Kavala is witnessed through their gruelling (but ultimately rewarding) work in the tobacco industry as well as the customs and traditions they brought with them … embroideries and other heirlooms, costumes, recipes, songs and more. Through photographs, household items and testimonies, it reveals Kavala’s changing urban and demographic profile. You’ll be shown around by one of the members of the association who can tell you the story behind each of the handpicked treasures.

The tobacco warehouses and museum

Whether empty or renovated, the tobacco warehouses add a special atmosphere to Kavala and are a great photo opp on any stroll around the city. The Municipal Tobacco Warehouse has been adapted into a cultural venue and the Régie Tobacco Warehouse has been converted into a three-storey shopping mall. But the most interesting – in terms of learning more about Kavala’s influences from Asia Minor – is the Tobacco Museum, which explores the cultivation and production of tobacco but also honours the dedication and sacrifice of the refugees who worked in the industry and helped Kavala grow into a city with mansions, schools, hospitals, libraries and other public buildings.
 

Akontisma 

Completing your experience is a visit to Akontisma, a folk village built to showcase Kavala’s Cappadocian heritage. You’ll find it around 16km from Kavala, just beyond the settlement of Nea Karvali on a hill with an uninterrupted view of the Aegean. It’s an area that’s been inhabited since the 4th century BC – housing Ancient Thassians, Macedonians and Romans (for whom it was an important stop on the Via Egnatia East-West trading route), followed by Byzantines, Ottomans and finally the Cappadocian refugees who settled here.

The refugees built Nea Karvali using the ruins of a Turkish village that was destroyed during the 1st World War by the Bulgarians, with an architectural style similar to the town of Gelveri (today’s Güzelyurt) in Cappadocia, whilst also incorporating details of traditional mountain settlements of Kavala. 

An initiative of the Nea Karvali Cultural Centre, Akontisma preserves all of that history, with a Garden of Remembrance (that includes moving stories from the original inhabitants) and the Chapel of Agios Mamas, with a shrine to the 3rd-century AD saint born in Cappadocia and the centre point of a festival held each September. Just below the church is the all-white Cappadocian Tower, where refugees engraved the names of their original villages. If you’re lucky, you’ll find Mr Kaplanis (the chairman of the Nea Karvali Cultural Centre, whose family descended from Cappadocia) on-site to fill your visit with colourful stories about the history of the village and the surrounding area. 

* See the Get Planning section below for practical details on the destination and the museums/cultural village, including excerpts from articles of international journalists hosted by Discover Greece to live this experience for themselves.