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Serres

Serres, the capital, is a modern, bustling city, with broad streets and open squares. The new town blends pleasantly with the old. In its northern sector, on the piney hill of Koula, the ruins of the ancient acropolis and the Byzantine castle bear witness to a history stretching from the depths of time. There is also a 14th century church here, dedicated to St. Nicholas with beautiful mosaics. At a distance of twelve kilometers, in a canyon, stands the monastery of Timios Prodromos (1270 A.D.) with frescoes of various eras. More antiquities are to be found at Amfipolis, 62 kilometres from Serres, one of them is an Athenian colony, founded in 437 B.C.. Outside the village, near the bridge over the Strimon river, the famous Lion of Amfipolis was discovered, a 4th century B.C. funerary sculpture. The pieces were reassembled and now the Lion guards the bridge.

Sidirokastro, near the Bulgarian border, is a pretty town built on the banks of the Kroussovitis river. It took its name (Iron Castle) from the stronghold on the imposing rock, 155 m. above it, that once offered sure protection. The town and the surrounding area are almost overwhelmed by greenery and richly endowed with streams, waterfalls, bridges, churches and monasteries.

The city of Serres, almost entirely rebuilt since the Bulgarian incendiarism, is best seen from the ruined 14th century Kastro that crowns the round wooded hill to the north. To the north-east there is a pretty cypress-planted cemetery. Immediately below, lies the Christian quarter (Varoch), where two Byzantine churches have been completely restored since 1951. The Old Metropolis, dedicated to St. Theodore, is a large aisled basilica of the 11th century, rather too high for its length, with a pretty domed chapel at one corner. In the apse is a huge mosaic of the Last Supper, still splendid in its decay. The neighbouring Agios Nikolaos, an attractive cross-in-square, has an exonarthex wider than the building. Its orthogonal drumand smalldomes are ornamented with brick decoration. Two decayed Mosques, picturesque if unimportant, show where the former Turkish quarter lay. In the central square, opposite the City Hall (Demarchion), is a huge structure, with six domes which has seen Moslem and Christian worship in turn and is now an archaeological store.

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