The city and prefecture of Drama

The peaks of Falakro, running water, tall trees covering springs and brooks, the quiet way of life in the neighbourhoods and the parks together with hospitable and pleasant people, all go to make up the image of the city which lies at the heart of the prefecture, which is the starting point for most of our explorations of the surrounding countryside.
Drama has greatly developed during the 20th century and the changes in its layout and architecture have been rapid in order to meet the needs of its many citizens.
Many neighbourhoods in the old centre acquired a new colour while new neighbourhoods were developed around the edge of the city.
Within this modern city the visitor can discover, with a pleasant sense of surprise, that certain parts of Drama have withstood time, giving us an idea of how the city must have been in olden times when the community consisted of peoples from a variety of backgrounds and many religions living in a human mosaic which has left its mark on the city's cohabiting monuments.
For these reasons our tour around Drama will start off from the archaeological museum which lies close to the Public Park, an area full of greenery and running water. There, the visitor can find information on the history of Drama from prehistoric times up to the period of Turkish occupation and the inter-war years all gathered in one place, and this information offers an insight into the long tradition and the variety of culture in the prefecture.
Our tour continues through the Agia Barbara park which covers approximately 60,000 m2 and which throughout time has been an identifying feature of the city and a magnet for tourists. Here one can clearly see the city's wealth in running water as well as much of the more recent history of Drama. Water springs up from various points forming small lakes and waterfalls under the shade of ancient trees. In some places the water creates impressive sounds, in others it flows calmly and quietly as it flows and covers the whole park. This is an idyllic location with exceptional colours in all seasons and it is a place that has always impressed both travellers and visitors to the city as well as its residents.
One can see traditional watermills here and multi-storey tobacco storehouses from the inter-war years reflected in the calm waters and in the depths of the lake where there are the remains of an Orthodox church. The Mill of Zonke stands out from all the other mills, which are located on the south side of the park, it being an old Muslim mill with the grinding area above the underground movement mechanism and the storage area on the ground floor being well preserved. Next to the mill, too, stands the two-floor miller's residence that has survived in relatively good condition.
On the northern side of the park lies a multi-storey tobacco storehouse once owned by the Swiss-Jewish tobacco merchant Herman Spirer which dates from 1925 and which recalls the golden age of the city when hundreds of workers filled the halls of the tobacco factories and produced tobacco of the highest quality. Exactly in front of it are the ruins of the Joseph Faratzis tobacco storehouse where the Jews from Drama were imprisoned in 1943 before their tragic end in the Polish concentration camps. A monument in their honour stands in the centre of the park.
Around this monument are houses which have been declared national monuments, the most important of these being the mansion of the tobacco merchant Anastasiadis, dating from 1876, which is decorated on the outside with local marble.
Today many visitors come to the area from spring to autumn and in order to relax, to enjoy themselves, to have a drink or dine in one of the taverns. There is even entertainment to be had in the open air theatre and the "Melina" art gallery located in the Municipal Cultural Centre. A special day in the park is the eve of the feast day of the city's patron saint, Agia Barbara, held on 3rd December, when hundreds of children leave small boats lit up on the calm waters of the lake, in front of the church bearing the saint's name, providing those present with a wonderful sight in the twilight.
Behind the church of Agia Barbara, ascending the steps that lead us past old two-floor houses and the ruins of tobacco storehouses, one reaches Perdika st.
From there one heads towards Venizelou St. which until recently was the most important road in the city and which has many notable monuments either located directly on it or a short distance from it. At the junction of Perdika st. and Venizelou st. one comes across the Drama Educational Institute built between 1907-1908 by the Greek community under the guidance of the National Hero and Bishop of Drama and later of Smyrni, Christostomos, while part of the money was offered by the family of the Macedonian freedom fighter, Pavlos Melas. Climbing up Venizelou st. one can visit the ecclesiastical museum located next to the Bishop's palace that contains valuable treasures of the Orthodox faith.

Continued on: http://www.drama.gr/indexen.php?do=today