The History

Its geographical location, its natural port and its adjacency with gold-bearing Mt Pangaion make Kavala one of the oldest coastal towns, with its traces being lost in the mists of prehistory. It was to this town that the Apostle Paul came to teach the message of Christianity for the first time in Europe in 49 AD, and baptised Lydia, the first European Christian woman, on the banks of the River Zygaktis.

Until 1864, the Old Town was confined to the triangular peninsula on Kavala hill, which was itself a continuation of ancient Neapolis and Byzantine Christoupolis. During the Ottoman period, the town was razed to the ground, to be reborn from its ashes and, from the 18th century, once again became an important commercial port, acquiring its current, modern appearance.