Guide of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace

The Municipality of Feres comes under the Prefecture of Evros and includes the municipal districts of Feres, Ardanio, Doriskos, Kavissos, Peplo, Pylaia, Trifyli, Poros and Monastiraki. It is seated in the town of Feres, which is situated 18 km north of Alexandroupoli. Visitors are struck by the diversity and rich society of this place, which is an amalgam of traditions and customs from all the people that coexist here.
At the semi-mountainous site of Kila, a few kilometers north of Feres, finds bear witness to the existence of human life from the Paleolithic Age. The rock paintings, settlement foundations, etc. date from the early Iron Age. Byzantine and post-Byzantine chronographers mention Vira and its majestic temple in their texts. 200 years after the foundation of the Monastery that was built by the Byzantine prince Isaac Comnenus in 1151 AD, Vira was deserted and its population was decimated. In 1357 the area was subjugated by the Ottoman Turks. Vira was degraded, the church of Panaghia Kosmosoteira became a mosque and the town was renamed Feres. The modern town of Feres is the heir of the Byzantine town Vira, whose church of the Virgin Mary was a symbol of Constantinople’s art and culture. In 1868 during the Kallipoli administration, the town was an important commercial centre. In 1871 the construction of the port at Dedeagatch (Alexandroupoli) led to a decrease in the town’s economic activity. In 1871 the town was temporarily liberated, along with the entire western Thrace.
The carnival that is organised by the Municipality of Feres on Shrove Monday is an important cultural event for the whole of Thrace. In addition, the Panthracian Agricultural Exhibition of Feres is held at Feres in the middle of September, with the participation of companies and organisations that produce goods and provide services to the agricultural sector.
On 15 August every year the World Institute of Thracians organises the Annual Panthracian Pilgrimage to the Yperaghia Theotokos, the guardian of Thrace.
Visitors may admire the folklore collection of Nikos Gotsis, which is kept at the house of Nikos Gotsis, and comprises a wealth of objects, women’s traditional costumes, furniture and appliances, documentary evidence, such as photographs, public documents and schoolbooks that refer to the inhabitants of Feres who came from Eastern Thrace.