GREECE’S BORDER WITH TURKEY: From Ormenio to Pythio, Soufli, Samothraki & Lemnos

GREECE’S BORDER WITH TURKEY: From Ormenio to Pythio, Soufli, Samothraki & Lemnos

What timing? 30 seconds after crossing into Greece from Bulgaria. Rain. So, I find myself now in Ormano. Uh, for no reason other than that it is the northernmost village in Greece, right up against the Turkish border. It’s quiet. It’s remote. Over the next two days, I will be driving south along this edge of Greece through old Ottoman towns, border villages, and ultimately fing to the island of Samothraaki. It’s a part of the country that’s often overlooked, but full of stories, I’m sure. Byzantine castles and silk trade routes, mosques that became churches, and food that blends it all together. All right, then let’s see what we find on Greece’s eastern border. just entered the village of Pio. And right behind that fortress there, that’s Turkey. And the fortress is totally locked. So right here in the village of Pio, we’re just 2 miles west of the Everos River. which marks the border between Greece and Turkey in this region. And these are the remains of one of the most strategic medieval fortresses in northern Greece. This was a Byzantine stronghold built in the 14th century to control the crossing over the Everos River and to guard the routes between Constantinople and the interior Balkans. Its towers once looked out in all directions, including toward what’s now Turkey. Later, during the Ottoman period, it was repurposed and reinforced. But the bones of the place are pure Byzantine. Even in ruins, you can feel its role as a lookout, as a border post, and as a symbol of how empires tried to control this volatile edge of Europe. Farewell, Pio. Next stop is about a 15-minute drive away to one of the most significant Ottoman cities in Europe during the 14th to 17th centuries. And it’s a lot of fun to say its name now, too. Diho. The Greek border police just stopped me and asked me for my papers. Want to make sure I was allowed to be here. They said I was in a closed border area and that I shouldn’t pick up any immigrants and I’m not to cross the train tracks, whatever that means. I told them I was going to Diddi Miko and uh they said to carry on. Dido sits on the banks of the Ever River. It’s a Turkish border town and its name means twin walls. It refers to its double fortification, a nod to its longstanding strategic importance. Stopping the FJ to give you a nice view of this Byzantine fortress. This fortress has guarded the borderlands for over a thousand years. Was first built by the Byzantines, then expanded by the Ottomans. It’s seen sieges, royal weddings, and imperial collapses. Let’s see if we can get to the top of the fortress. The roads are tight and steep. Good enough. Wow. This small town didn’t look like much from the outside coming in, but check it out from up here. This town once stood at the center of an empire and for a brief moment it was even the Ottoman capital of Europe. You see that building there with all the scaffolding? That’s a mosque. This mosque was built by Sultan Memed I known as Chelbe. It went up in 1420 after Memed reunited the Ottoman Empire following a civil war. This was one of the first major Ottoman mosques in Europe built right here in Viv Miho as a symbol of restored unity and power. I was going to go down there and show it to you, but you could see it’s under restoration. Real quick, let’s check out some of the other elements of this fortress. Okay, time to head home for the night to Zi. It’s about a half an hour drive from here. And goodbye. Part Ottoman ghost town, part quiet Greek border village. Wherever you may be driving in Greece, you’re going to see these roadside shrines. Um, I was actually filming one when the cops stopped me back in Pio and he told me they’re death boxes. We don’t need to mark dangerous places in the road because the shrines do it for us. So, every time you see one of these shrines, someone has died in that spot. That’s what the cop said. That red line, that’s where we’ve driven so far. Here’s my hotel in Sufi. €50 a night. Is that real? Real silk. This hotel’s name Kuli means cocoon as in cocoon related to silk production. Under the Ottomans, Sufi became famous for its silk production and this hotel was somehow involved in the industry and that’s why uh it is called the Cocoon House. So, one of the museums in town is still open. I’m going to learn how to make silk. You’re not going to learn how to make silk so I’m not going to show you. So, welcome to Rainy Sufi. Small town, big history thanks to its position right on the Greek Turkish border. Nestled beside the Everos River, Sufi was once a key Ottoman outpost along the route from Adinople to Thessalaniki. Its strategic location made it both a military stop and a center of trade. As I mentioned, Sufi became famous for its silk production under the Ottomans thanks to its access to mulberries and trade routes deep into the empire. Grand silk mansions still line its streets, a reminder of 19th century prosperity. This building, it houses the silk museum I’m headed to. They’re claiming that this is uh 2,000 km of fiber wrapped around here. The cocoon makes 2,000 km of thread. No, it’s a fiber. So I think it’s the same thing, you know. Okay. If we had warm water, it will be much more easier. Of course, it was very fast. Thank you very much. You’re welcome. Have a nice afternoon. Thank you. Have a good life. A silk museum girl recommended a restaurant called Oniro. The dream. So, heading there now. And she said that the town’s beautiful silk mansions from the 1800s, they’re up the hill this way. So, tomorrow morning. And here it is. Onier. The menu is in Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish only. Are you today’s best friend? and Greek salad. Okie. Look, the food’s almost gone. See, it’s almost gone. But he’s still here. See, he wants love. Calime, good night. Good morning. Let’s check out a little bit more of Sufi after breakfast and uh continue along. So now a quick walk around Sufi looking for the town’s Ottoman era mansions from back in its silk heyday like my hotel here. Here’s some Ottoman architecture. It’s a museum now. Google Maps labels it the Brias Mansion. Try the door. It’s locked. From up on the hill, we’re looking out over the main road, which is only 500 m from Turkey. That’s Turkey. But border life hasn’t always meant wealth. Of course, in the 20th century, Sufi became a frontline town, witnessing wars, population exchanges, cold war tension. The Ever River, once a link, became a dividing line. The Everos, by the way, you know it by a different name, Marita. Showed you that river a few times in the past in Bulgarian videos. The Marita River is the Everos River. And I can’t get you close to it here in Greece. It’s closed off. Too many tensions, especially since the migrant crisis. They built the so-called Everos fence along the river. I don’t know if you can see it. I can see it. It’s a militarized border barrier, a border wall. It’s one of the, if not the most fortified land border in all of European Union. You may remember Everos Fence from the news back in 2020. Turkish authorities transported thousands of migrants right up to the border with Greece and encouraged them to break through. And I think Turkey even helped them break down parts of the wall. Greece called it a hybrid attack and suspended asylum as a result. Found the life of the town. Main Street. Lots of old people though. The girl at the museum yesterday told me there’s no reason to be in Sufi if you’re young. There’s nothing fun to do. She has to go to Alexandropoli where she hopes to move someday. Something like that. No fun in Sufi. By the way, I’m seeing a lot of the old Greek men twirl their keys around. You know how the the Turks like to twirl their prayer beads around? Same same action. After I saw the twirling of the keys, I tried to look up the ethnic breakdown of the population here and I discovered that Greek census does not record language, ethnicity or religion. And the reason for that is they’re afraid of making that data public that it might fuel separatism or allow them to be exploited by Turkey or Macedonia, the one in the north. I think I’m walking around an old silk factory right now. Look at the chimney. Anyway, let’s get going. I have a ferry to catch in a few hours and a few more stops along the way. Look at that. You can see the border fence a lot more clearly now, right? Complete with a watchtowwer. It’s only a halfhour drive to our next stop, which is a building, a building that captures the tugof war between two empires, Orthodox Byzantium and Islamic Ottoman rule. Gas station brakes don’t count. By the way, hot tip, try not to fill up your tank in Greece. It’s one of the most expensive places in Europe. It’s uh €1.8 per liter. That comes out to around $7.50 per gallon. Contrast that with Bulgaria, where I filled up my tank. 40% cheaper. The cheapest actually, Bulgaria in the EU. Welcome to the quiet border town of Ferris. And at its heart, rising near the banks of the Evos River is the Panaga Cosmos Monastery, which means Virgin Mary, Savior of the World, founded 1152. This was built by Isaac, son of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I. And he built it as his personal mosoleum as well as a place of worship. This is one of the few standing Byzantine churches in Everos and one of the rare survivors of continuous religious use from the 1100s right till present time. But it has been a mosque longer than it has been a church. After the Ottoman conquest in the 14th century, the church was converted into a mosque known locally as Beazid Jami, Beaazid Mosque. And this conversion of course brought Islamic features. A miab was added and Christian imagery was covered or removed. The building today reveals this Byzantine Ottoman fusion. The original Christian structure remains largely intact, but traces of its period as a mosque can still be read in its altered features and spatial use. Onward hoe to Alexandropolley. It’s another half hour drive and welcome to Alexandropi. With a population of around 70,000 people, we’re looking at the largest city in the Everos region. Last year, I made a video about Alexandropolis. So, I’m not going to show you much or say much this visit. The link to that video is in the description section should you be so interested. But I will summarize it for you here. So this city was founded was settled in 1875 by the Ottoman Empire. Began as a small fishing village called Daaj, which means grandfather tree in Turkish. It grew rapidly after the railway from Istanbul to Thessalaniki was built, making it a key rail and sea transit point in Ottoman Thrace and it was multicultural. Greeks, Turks, Jews, Armenians, Homach, it’s the Muslim Bulgarians lived here under Ottoman administration. It became a military and logistics hub during the late Ottoman period and in World War I, especially with its proximity to the Everos, the Marita River, which you know marks the Greek Turkish border. This the city was founded on the Everos Delta where the river spills into the Aian Sea. And here’s the iconic symbol of the city. This lighthouse was completed in 1880 under the Ottomans. The town was renamed Alexandropoli in 1920 after a visit by the boy king, King Alexander of Greece, just before western Thrace was incorporated into Greece. But yeah, a lot of Greeks assumed this city was named after Alexander the Great, the famous Macedonian. I’ve shown you where he was crowned, by the way. Different video, Vginina, link to it in the description section. But no, the city was named after the boy king. They called him the king without a country because he was installed by the allies during World War I to replace his father. But he had no political power. The prime minister had all the power. Tragically, a few weeks after Alexander visited Deach, he was killed by a monkey. In 1923, the Treaty of Loausanne cemented Alexandropy’s role as a border city. a key role in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The US military is here. By the way, the US upgraded the port and surrounding infrastructure, improving its capacity to handle largecale military cargo. Yep. The United States is using Alexandrioli in order to bypass the Turkish controlled Bosphorous Strait, which has become geopolitically sensitive ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Time to catch the ferry to Sami. Goodbye Alexanding to this island in the distance here, Samothraaki. And I’ll be hanging out there two or 3 weeks. And hello Samatrai. I have to say it feels really good to be back again. This is how we do it in Greece. The mainland roads have fallen away behind me. And my journey along Greece’s Turkish border finds itself not in a town or at a checkpoint, but on this island of Samothrai. An island where semi- wild goats rule the land outnumbering people something like 20 to1. Though separated by water, Samothrai still belongs to the borderlands. Can you see it? That’s all Turkey. Facing the Turkish coast across the Aian, it stood for centuries within reach of the Ottoman Empire. This island was under Ottoman rule from the mid400s until the Balkan Wars of 1912. And though the physical remnants of that era have faded, its imprint remains, etched into the island’s history. This is Kipo’s beach, by the way. It’s my favorite beach on this island. I’ve been to Samothraaki before and uh I already did a video on it last year focusing on the the salty hippies that make this island their home in the summer. Link to that video is in the description. Phonas means killer. Local beer and goat. It’s goat. Now for a quick walk around the capital of Seamothrai called Samothrai or Hora. In 1821, at the outset of the Greek War of Independence, Samothrai paid a heavy price. Ottoman troops landed and sacked the villages, enslaved much of the population, left the island in ruins. Few structures from that time survived. But the pain of the event lingers in memory, passed down in local stories. This 1999 monument was erected in memory of 700 local inhabitants of this island who were slaughtered by the Turks in 1821. It’s called Efas in local dialect, which means 700. Let me interrupt the history lesson for a public service announcement. Thea Cafe no longer is serving their famous goat crepe, which is why I came. So, cheese omelet instead. They do have mastic coffee though. That’s Turkish coffee, Greek coffee infused with mastic. That’s resin harvested from the mastic tree from kios, not from Samothrai. Much before 1821, the islanders built Genoies towers and a castle. Fortified watch points designed to defend against Ottoman expansion. These medieval structures still standing mark a time before empire reached the island. Let’s walk toward the castle. Best ice cream in the world served here. Lefos Purgos. Handmade by Yorgos. Let’s stop at this Church of the Assumption of Mary, the primary pilgrimage site here on Samothraaki, consecrated 1875 during the Ottoman massacre of September 1st, 1821. Many survivors were taken captive, including five boys who would later become known as the five new martyrs. These boys were forced to convert to Islam under duress. It’s a common Ottoman practice with young captives. However, a few years later, around 13 years later, in 1835, the young men reconverted to Christianity and returned to this island. Upon their return home, Ottoman authorities arrested them. They were tortured and executed in Makri near Alexandropi. April 6th, 1835. which coincided with St. Thomas Sunday that year. Inside this church, preserved in a gold gilded reoquary are the five skulls of these young men, the five new martyrs. And every St. Thomas Sunday, the skulls are paraded about the town. The church is locked up. Usually is, except for early morning Sunday masses and special religious events. I was here for the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary last year and I was inside the church. Next to the church is this monument erected in 1930 dedicated to the local fallen of 1917 and 1922 that covers the Balkan Wars, World War I, and the Greco Turkish War. It was 1919 when Greece launched a military campaign in Asia Minor, Turkey. That resulted in catastrophic defeat in 1922. Thousands of soldiers died. 1.5 million Orthodox Christians were expelled from Turkey. In Greece, this is known as the Asia Minor catastrophe. In Turkey, it’s called War of Independence victory. This war gave Turkey Adaturk. You know Adatururk, founder of modern Turkey. All right. And now approaching the castle. Finally, a Genoies family, the Gataluci family took control of Samothraaki in 1355 through a marriage granted by Byzantine Emperor John the 5. in exchange for political support. The Gataluci family ruled this island until mid- 15th century and in order to protect against Ottoman attack and frequent pirate raids. They fortified key locations across the island, they completed this castle 1433, 250 m above the village. In recent history, this castle was used to house the police department of Seamothrai until the beginning of the 2000s that was demolished in 2015. Up here, I’m reminded of another story related to this church. After the 1821 massacre, the Ottoman soldiers discovered and desecrated many church artifacts. And in 1906, in the ruins of the Horda church, they discovered a bayoneted Bible. Bayonetted Greek Bible. You can see it now in the museum in Athens. Let me show you this abandoned traditional house. And first can we note this is where the bathroom is. Was see the pipe running down. Fireplace sink. bathroom. A later edition. Ooh, and it looks like a trap door. And here’s the first floor. Locked, but we saw down the trap door. Ah, and a more original bathroom. Behind the abandoned house is this old fountain. And look at this symbol here. A symbol of an ancient religion that disappeared end of the 300s AD. And above it, a two-headed eagle flanked by two fish. Double-headed eagle symbol from the Byzantine times. Also found up here in Kora is a marble Ottoman tombstone which you can see at the museum of the sanctuary of the great gods. So that’s it. There’s your little tour of the capital of Samothraaki. Now I got to walk all the way back down to the bottom. Chapel dated 1874. This was an ancient harbor and right above it, three towers built by the Gataluci family. One is still preserved. Yep. The thing. The thing. The other thing. The other thing. Heading up Christ Gorge. I want to show you something in the mountains here. This is the Holy Monastery of Christ. And it’s considered to be the most important standing medieval monument on Samathi. This small late Byzantine church was built in the first half of the 1300s made of stone from nearby ancient structures and it survived into the Ottoman times. This is one of the few medieval monastic ruins on the island and it shows structural continuity into Ottoman rule. Was finally abandoned 19th century. Now continuing up this way, Christ gorge are popular bares. That’s plural of Vathara. Nva is a a rock pool or a plunge pool often beneath a waterfall. And Samatharaki is famous for them. Not going to take you to one today. And if I were, it wouldn’t be Christ Gorge. It’s one of my least favorite collection of bathas. But uh that first video I posted on Samothaki, lots of Baas. You know, it is said there are 999 churches and chapels on this island. I never got past 50. Today’s August 6th, feast of the Transfiguration, and I just heard a rumor that the church I took you to yesterday that was locked, it’s open today. So, even though I only slept three hours last night, let’s take the drive back up to the capital just for you. And here’s that gold gilded relegary containing the skulls of the five new martyrs that were executed by the Ottomans in 1836 for reconverting to Christianity. The celebration of the transfiguration will take place here at the square, the square of the thousand-year-old tree. I was born. Bitter almond. All right, I’m going to show you a va if I could find one that’s not filled with naked salty hippies. Got one. Now I’ll show you my favorite place to get fish on Samothraaki. Deitris, nice guy. They call him the fish Nazi. If his first impression of you is a little off, no fish for you. Seriously. There’s one gas station on Samothaki and they don’t advertise any prices. So, let’s see what we get. It was €2.09 per liter, which translates to $8.62 per gallon. If you’re not looking for it, you’ll never find it. World War II defense line cutting through these amber fields of grain. This is number 61. I showed you a different one last time I was here. You’ll see that in the video from last year. Let’s drive up this defense line a bit more. Wow, it’s windy out there. I’ll do much of the talking in the car. Um, the northern Nian Islands, including Samothraki, were under Axis control during the war and Thrace and nearby islands were administered by the Bulgarians. So, I’m thinking this line of defense was constructed by the Bulgarians for the purpose of coastal defense. Thrace, by the way. Seamothraki in English. Seamothrace. Ah, here we go. Other bunker. And a tank. See why I didn’t really talk. You see the dugout line a lot more clearly here. So that tank appears to be post World War II. And the fact that it was placed next to this line of defense, the World War II bunkers, indicates that the site was maintained or remilitarized decades later during the Cold War when Greece fortified the Aian Islands due to tensions with Turkey. Here’s another bunker. All right, you get the idea. Okay, done with that chapter. See this campsite, this free campsite called natural living? That’s where most of the dirty h the salty hippies on this island live. Another one of those 999 chapels. I got one more Got to Lucy family structure to show you on this island and then I’m done with Samothraki as far as its story. related to the Turkish border goes. Here you go. At the FAS river mouth stands a solitary fortress tower with thick walls 2 m built of riverstones. Its name is Fonas Tower. The river is named Fonas because during flash floods, it kills goats. It’s a killer of goats. And now it’s back to my regularly scheduled island life. I’m going to a beach and I’ll eat some fish. I’ll go to a a full moon retro party that lasts till sunrise and I’ll eat some more fish and I’ll go to another beach and another vara and goes on and on and on and I don’t know I want you. breakfast. Do you remember Placato? She taught you how to play Placato. I’m getting a refresher course. So the Greeks do three versions of back and you only know one of them. Uh they call it pores. We Turks call it tavla. But uh she just won in plato. That’s game number two. And now what? Now what? And now we have uh the third game run which is called like in Greek fra. You drinking on the job? In order to teach you well in Febra, at first you need to have big numbers. If I lose, we know she’s not a good teacher. By the way, these are camel bone dye. Camel bone dye from uh Cibel’s grandma in Turkey. Thanks, Kungim. Tonight, goat from the oven marinated in orange and honey. By the way, there’s a replica of what Samaraki is famous for. It’s winged victory statue 2 century BC of the goddess Niko. I was going to end this video right now here on Samothraaki. And then I got to thinking, what if I took you further south in the Aian borderlands to another island, Lemnos? I know you’re not ready to say goodbye to me just yet. Now, I got to go to mainland first and pick up Natasha, but then let’s have a little reunion on Limnos. My 12th Greek island, Halogria, right off the Taporos, off of the Zania finger of the Heliki Peninsula, you know. fores. Okay, thanks for your patience. Onward to resume exploring the Aian borderlands. Heading to Limnos. This is Thasos, by the way. Shot a video here last year. Link to it in the description section. It’s a 4 and 1/2 hour ferry ride to Limnos from Kavala. Made a video about Kavala. Link to it in the description section. Continuing to sail south, the frontier takes on a different faith. This is Mount Aos rising from the sea. A republic of monks where time has stood still for thousand years. Though not a battlefield, Aos has always stood close to the border. a spiritual outpost facing the same waters where empires once clashed. It’s a self-governing monastic republic of around 20 Greek Orthodox monasteries and Natasha can never visit. No. Unless you carry me. I can never touch the ground. Say that again. Unless you carry me. Yeah. Only men allowed. Women cannot touch the ground of Mount Aos. Finally, the fair’s bow cuts toward Lemnos. It’s larger and flatter than Samothraki, but bound by the same duty for centuries, guarding Greece’s maritime frontier with Turkey. On the other side, we can still see the Holy Mountain. We should remain in the lounge landed. The borderland journey continues on Lemnos and the first thing we see the fortress of Mutina which is the largest castle in all of the Ajian. The Gataluci family, the Genoies family that you know and love from Samothraaki, when they arrived to this island, they took the existing Venetian castle and further fortified it. This is the Holy Trinity Bridge. In July 1770, Lemnos was occupied by the Russ, freed by the Russians, but then the Ottomans returned and the island was enslaved. And the Ottomans in reprisal raised out the Holy Trinity Church. They killed around 300 of the elders of Lemnos and two of them were hanged from this bridge, the Holy Trinity bridge. And you can see the busts of these two here at the entrance of the Metropolitan Church of Limos. This 1956 monument is dedicated to the fallen soldiers of Lemnos who died fighting a number of wars and among them the Asia Minor campaign. That’s when Greece sent its soldiers into Anatolia, into Turkey to capture Ismir and other lands after World War I. And Adaturk, the founder of modern day Turkey, became famous thanks to this campaign. He defeated the Greeks. And they use I don’t know like I don’t know. Do you know what Tana is? For the last half hour, I’ve been listening to Natasha talk about the various local food specialties of this island. So, uh I’ll show you some of it because now we have a lot of eating to do. In the meantime, let’s drive you around for a quick little tour of Greece’s eighth largest island. Google map says that’s an old quarry up ahead. Let’s check it out. Between 27 and 33 million years ago. Million years ago. Yeah. Natasha is my researcher for everything not borderlands related. She said this is natural erosion after 20 30 million years. Here’s what’s labeled as the old quarry. And look, you’re looking at a World War II era Soviet built turret tank bunker. I think we can call it a turret tank bunker. Look, this gun is attached to a bunker. I don’t know if you can see the uh I’ll show you down the opening here. There’s two entrances. You can pop down the hole here or you can enter through the bunker down there. I’ll show you I’ll show you the uh I’ll show you the entrance on the other side of it. So, this Soviet military equipment was passed around the NATO allies after World War II. Greece got a lot of them and Greece used the Cold War as an excuse to fortify its Aian islands against Turkish amphibious assault. You know, a fellow NATO member, NATO versus NATO. But the excuse was we must be Cold War ready. All right. This is the entrance to the uh to the bunker, right? I mean, they’re not they’re attached by one screw. I think only one screw. So, Natasha’s going to be my weight. She’s got a lot of it. I’m safe. I hope so. Right. I hope you have enough. Ain’t no thing. Hand it over. And here’s the gun. Looks like more than just rust damage to me. This is burned out. The elimination of steel from the heat is separated. Yeah. So there there was a fire here. A bomb from or or a bomb. I don’t think there was a bomb. Did Lenlos see Lenlos didn’t see battle? Did it just stopped here, whatever that says, at this small church. A bell. You know what I have to do? Natasha got really scared when I did this in Stone, Croatia. I knew it was you. Are you scared? You’re going to throw you right off the island. Me? If not, if not this balcony. They’ll toss you right over this balcony. Look at that. What are we looking at? Do you see the pattern in the stones? Tell me about it. It’s naturally occurring from the wind and the water. Tell me more. I don’t know more. And what is this? Was there once another uh turret bunker here? What do you think? We’re gonna go to the Cold War era coastal defense bunker. It’s facing the dinels. That’s that narrow straight northwestern Turkey that separates Europe from Asia. Extremely strategic bit of water. And this position could have been Italian or German from back in World War II times. The Greeks did reuse formed just by combination of minerals in the soil, wind, and and sea sea. Yes. In the sea erosion. There’s a little a little harbor here by the church. And we’re going to take a closer look at these uh geological formations because that’s what Natasha wants. It doesn’t look natural. But it is. Wow. Look at these big ones. And I love it. You see some of them are like forming this. Yeah. Uhhuh. That circle. Yeah. Extruded. And this is like driving 15 minutes to Pigelli Beach, which means little well beach. Guess there’s a well there. Anyway, it’s volcanic rock beach. We deserve it. We deserve it. This cove is one of the least visited on the island. The reddish brown soil is a nice contrast with this sea. Right next to our uh brown red volcanic beach is Faraklu Geological Park. More rocks. You’re looking at spheroidal weathering emerging in sandstone layers. I think it feels like another planet. Look at this one. 2 hours before the sun sets. Uh 40-minute drive to Gamati Beach. I hear there’s a tank on the beach. You can see the tank up there. That’s an American M24 and it looks like it requires some climbing. We’re not going to climb. Stopped for some sand dunes. Very popular sand dunes. Way too many. No, we expected to see, you know, sand windswept and and how do you describe this? Like frescas. Like the frescos in the churches done by the Ottomans. Just Yes. the chip chip chip chip away by the Ottomans of the Byzantine Greek fresco. That’s that’s what that’s exactly what these sand dunes resemble. Not a a piece of land that has an actual dune quality. Every square meter has been trampled repeatedly. And down there, that’s where the abandoned American tank is. Goati beach. Okay, let’s go find food. This is limnos kashkavalo cheese saganaki with local fruit jam. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Okay. Lamb is mine with the lemnos pasta. And there are rabbits everywhere. I haven’t shown them to you yet. Natasha’s eating one of them. Local rabbit. And I will do it with my finger. Yeah, that’s that’s lamb sitting in the Lemnos pasta. There is lamb everywhere on this island. Lenos is famous for its highly fertile volcanic soil and so it’s got really high quality grains and you get lenos pasta back home sweet home meina with our castle. Not a bad view. As we exit our hotel, you get to see a little bit of Mirina, capital of Limnos, as we hunt for breakfast. Don’t let the mundane appearance fool you. Local cheese, local eggs, sausage, local sausage. Yesterday, our drive ended up being around the western part of the island. Today, the eastern part, approaching an ancient theater built in the 400s BC. What’s the name of this ancient city? Heestia. Hephestia together with Mirina were the two most important ancient cities on this island of Limnos, which for this reason was also known as having two cities. Meestia was continuously inhabited from prehistoric times to the Byzantine era. Did I ever tell you about the god who was trying to make love to Zeus’s wife? Can’t believe that. Zeus’s wife. I’m gonna tap that. Anyway, uh what happened? Oh, he was cast here. From where? From from Olympus. So Zeus threw him out of Olympos and he landed here on Olympos. Yeah. What was his name? Wow. What’s the name of the city? What was Ephesus the god of? Meet mythology and fire. What are they known for here? Meety. And fire. There’s a volcano. They called There was a volcano. know they called it Hesus Forge, right? Yeah. Yeah. He was supposed to be that was his workshop. Yeah. I just want to say don’t hit up on advice. This theater, this monument is ranked among the oldest in the Hellenistic world. I don’t know if you remember the sanctuary of the great gods on Samothrai previous video. We’re headed to an initiation hall of that same cult. It’s believed to be the oldest or one of the oldest initiation halls in Greece. The ancient sanctuary of the Cavari was founded in the 700s BC. The sanctuary was dedicated to demons associated with metallurgy and fire, fertility, wine, and the sea. And they were the children of Ephesus, obviously. Right below the sanctuary is a cave. And again, how these rocks are shaped. Natasha swam in, but I’m walking into this narrow slit. This cave has something to do with how the Trojan War ended up. The carrier of the weapons of Heracles was abandoned here after being bitten by a snake and his wounds festering wounds stank so bad no one wanted to have him on the ship. Something like that. There’s Natasha. See these flowers? Pancratium? They’re growing all over the sandy areas here. Limnos has a couple salt lakes. She’s afraid. She’s afraid she’s going to sink all the way into the black. Sinking. Sinking. for our third swim at Gatis Beach. Leave me alone. 200 plus year old stone windmills in the stonebuilt village of Contias. And windmills have been built in this island starting from 1204 by the Franks. Used to grind grain. These are restored heritage buildings. Now hunting for a tivera in this traditional stone town. Well, and or a parking or parking. Look, I don’t know if I should go much further up. any mort mortar or plaster or whatever any kind of glue and fitting them this way like perfectly one into another. It’s amazing. What? Found tonight’s restaurant. Face me when I’m filming you. It’s some kind of salad with bread, hard bread that becomes soggy. I would like to say breadcrumbs, but the waiter says, “No, no, no. I love it.” Mhm. Love it. That’s a strong word. Yeah, it is. Cuz I really love it. And local squid. Local shrimp. What do you want? What do you want? You suck it on the head. How does that taste? You want to try? No. No. No. Then you will never know. We’ve only really walked around Mirina at night time. Yes. That’s how it’s going to be. And I’ve been I’ve been avoiding showing you the the evidence of Ottomans because it’s night time. But you know who from now on when I see something Turkish I’m going to show you mayandros. Excellent. Okay, I will look it up. Thank you so much. I was just talking to uh the Greek shopkeeper here and she’s pretty sure that Greeks invented this evil eye charm, but I don’t think anybody can really be credited with it because we’re talking about 2,000 3,000 BC. Some people say Egypt or Mesopotamia. No one’s saying ancient Greece, I don’t think, except the Greeks. But um for sure this this kind of blue and white glass bead version that originated in Ismir and then from Isizmir in Turkey spread to Greece and the Balkans, Levvent, North Africa. There used to be a mosque here on the site of the now chapel, the birth of Holy Mary. The wooden mosque of the market was here and it was abandoned following the exchange of populations and it was converted into a cinema. And on its opening night, September 9th, 1939, it was completely destroyed by a fire. and 63 people who were inside the cinema, mainly representatives of the rich families of Mirina, most of them Egypt born Lendians, physicians, entrepreneurs, they were trapped in the building and died. And a chapel devoted to the Holy Mary, mother of Jesus Christ was built in memory of the victims in 1988. Another Ottoman balcony. Yeah, lots of this in Mirina. Another Ottoman era building. 1892. You in the mood for another church with Ottoman history? Of course. Good. The church is about a 25minute climb up these stairs. I’ve read no ottoman. No one in their right mind would come up here, right? It’s pretty safe. Pretty safe if you’re up here. Do you know where we’re headed to a church that we cannot pronounce? Paragia Kakavisa, I think. I don’t know if I’m saying it right. Kakavotaa. Paraja Kakovisa. Yeah, look at this. It’s a roofless Greek Orthodox cave chapel still in use today. Uniquely built inside the mouth of this natural cave. There are a number of dates being thrown around about when this church was built, but the signboard at the bottom of the trail said 1305. that this church was founded by monks fleeing a Turkish invasion of an island, Agios Estraatios, and that when this monastic refuge was no longer needed, the very last monk who left for Mount Aos, some say, left an icon of the Virgin Mary to a family in Kias where we had dinner last night, the stone traditional houses, the windmills. And every Tuesday after Easter, that family brings the icon of the Virgin Mary up to here, and a great party ensues. Some also say that up here in this cave is a bathroom. So specific. The monks had a nice view, of course. Okay, let’s head for another swim. It’s a Parthonon something beach. Natasha, what was your favorite beach out of the four so far? here on the this island. Yeah. The pig one. The pig beach. Excellent. Mine, too. That was the clearest waters. Yes. Crystal waters. The red brown volcanic soil. We’re headed to Marieta’s mother’s favorite restaurant in Agas Yonas. Aason. Aas. I like how they built these rocks here. It’s the same. Mhm. Do you like your table? I love my table. I think Maretta’s mom did us a solid. Yeah. Thank you. Smoked cod. Pork plant and smoked neck roll we ordered. That’s fried feta with sesame. And this is I think saganaki with watermelon jam. Saganaki. It’s me chloro with watermelon jam. Oh unboxing fried feta. This is this is a local specialty. Yes. Octopus and fava. Local fava and sardines. Octopus with the fava. Just right. Back home in the capital, Mirina, for a nightly stroll. Here’s an Ottoman fountain. There’s a marble slab on top. It says, “From water, all that is in life. It was done by the benevolent Kuyukran Muhammad Pasha in the year 1770. May his victories be immortalized. No sugar added. Mastic water. Mastic. Look it up from Kios. Calime spanopita for our last full day on lemnos. Limnos for the Greeks. By the way, you may have heard I say Lim knows them knows what’s going on. Now you know a beach and then climbing the fortress finally. I know you’ve been waiting for that. As if to prepare us for Samothrai, there are three goats watching us on this beach. Yes, you heard correctly, Samothraki. We’re headed there tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’m not going to take you there. That part of your tour is already over. Or maybe I’ll end the video with a montage of it. This is what $120 a night gets you in Midina on Lenos. Let me show you our view. Hot tip, always use clothes spins out here. Natasha lost her uh $140 bikini to this courtyard over here. Courtyard of an uninhabited house. You can’t get access to it. Gone forever. Time to climb the fortress. This building right here on October 8th, 1912 is precisely where the island of Lemnos was handed over to the Greeks by the Ottomans. The fortress of Mirina rises above the harbor like a crown of stone. The Byzantines first fortified this rocky headland. But it was the Venetians in the early 1200s who built the stronghold we know and love today. When the Ottomans took Lemnos in 1479, they held this castle for more than four centuries. And inside these walls, built mosques, sistns, barracks. From here, soldiers once scanned the horizon for pirates, fleets, foreign armies. And today only wild deer move quietly inside these gates among the ruins. As we climb these steps at sunset, it’s easy to believe this is the largest fortress in the Aian. Steps. I’m stepping. I wouldn’t call these steps. The view stretches from the town of Murina below to the endless sea beyond. An outlook that has made this castle a sentinel of Lemnos for nearly a thousand years. This is an Ottoman gunpowder storehouse. Amazing. And And I can’t believe that this mountain is getting prettier. Here’s what’s left of an Ottoman mosque. Standing high above the Aian on the walls of Mirina’s fortress, I can look back on a road trip that began at the northernmost edge of Greece at Ormeno, where the Everos River divides nations. I followed that frontier south through the old Ottoman strongholds of Python and Diddi Multiho to Sufi town once defined by silk and border trade. From there, the journey carried me all the way to the sea, across the water to Samatharaki, the island of mystery and ancient gods, and finally here to Lemnos, the watchtowwer of the northern Ajian. This borderland is more than a line between Greece and Turkey. It is a crossroads of empires, a place where Europe leans eastward, where history has been written and rewritten. On stone walls, battlefields, and shrines. From medieval castles to cold war bunkers, from rivers to islands, the frontier tells its story to anyone willing to travel it. And now, as the sun falls over the fortress of Mirina, my road along Greece’s border with Turkey comes to its end, not with a finish line, but with a horizon that stretches on, like the history of this land. I can I keep singing I know I suspect Jesus for you. We’re only as strong as the weakest puking goat. I just want to remember that. It’s a lesson learned. There she is. How was that last puke? and a champion champion goat and the superior ram.

Join me as I explore the landscapes, ruins, and forgotten stories that define where Greece meets Turkey, from the Evros River to the Aegean Sea. This journey follows Greece’s frontier with Turkey, a borderland where Europe meets the East.

I begin at Ormenio (Ορμένιο / Turkish: Çirmen), the northernmost village of Greece (Ελλάδα), tracing the Evros River south through Pythio (Πύθιο / Turkish: Kuleliburgaz) and its medieval tower, a remnant of Byzantine and Ottoman power. In Didymoteicho (Διδυμότειχο / Dimetoka), I climb the ancient fortress where emperors once ruled and Ottoman minarets still mark the skyline.

Farther along the frontier lies Soufli (Σουφλί / Sofulu), the silk town of Thrace, a border settlement built on trade, craftsmanship, and resilience. Then comes Feres (Φέρες / Ferecik), home to a remarkable Ottoman-era mosque that stands as a reminder of centuries of cultural overlap and shifting borders.

From there, the road reaches Alexandroupoli (Αλεξανδρούπολη / Turkish: Dedeağaç), gateway to the Aegean, before I cross the sea to Samothraki (Σαμοθράκη / Semadirek), an island of waterfalls, pagan sanctuaries, and raw, untouched beauty. Finally, the journey ends on Lemnos (Λήμνος / Limni), at the fortress of Myrina (Μύρινα / Kastro), where the sun sets over the Aegean and the Turkish coast glows faintly on the horizon.

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Referenced videos:
Previous video (Bulgaria’s border with Turkey): https://youtu.be/d9pbRYdSQa0?si=29GJ4LzbLLuUyboQ
Alexandroupoli, Thasos, & More: https://youtu.be/wbeH2YbLN90?si=sIv0F53-gjU3HvVJ
Thessaloniki: https://youtu.be/INsw2HoCBaM?si=Y5t5LmISrd3jCzxA
Vergina (where Alexander the Great was crowned): https://youtu.be/rEAEXtP7Mik?si=Llj5fgzFzBrkF6sl
Samothraki: https://youtu.be/eYPPPOoFJYw?si=6fT_NipIo1MlPlBJ
More Thessaloniki: https://youtu.be/Kx4KlPQq-uc?si=L7wQmU2_MlJ-6QeQ
Kavala: https://youtu.be/a04jo78mltQ?si=doaSDX9wc829pG3q
Video where I introduced the Evros River AKA Maritsa: https://youtu.be/fc6jRJkfetY?si=7386HQODozOv_jKF

Greece video playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnrWepwzwiRFJCR2fPc52vJ5ubDGorr_V&si=zNNZi1PIfAd8Sabx