Destinations Guide

MAKRI (MKA), Small town, ALEXANDROUPOLI

Information on the area

Information about the place (1)

Local government WebPages

Makre

Twelve kilometers to the west from Alexandroupolis you can find Makre with its graphic little harbor that is located in an area called Platanos. Close to the beach is a natural wodge with a hillock on its top. Inside the rock is a cave that is known to the local people as the cave of the cyclope, which is presenting tracks and findings from the prehistoric until the Byzantine ages. Around the cave you can see chiseled stairs and other manufacturing. The excavation that is performed the last few years on the hillock, have brought to the light a very unique Neolithic settlement (4500- 3000 BC) which is considered as one of the most important in the Balkans. It is a marvelous resort, where every visitor can experience

This extract is cited Sept 2003 from the Development Company of Alexandroupolis URL below, which contains images.

http://www.aneta.gr/cfdocs/uk/evros_1diadromi_uk.h... (2 img.)

Archaeological sites (1)

Neolithic settlements

Archaeological Site of Makre

Tel: +30 25510 71219
  The first habitation of the site dates from the Neolithic period (5000 B.C.) and is attested in the area of the cave. The accumulated debris of the successive clay buildings of the prehistoric periods, gradually created a low mound (Toumba). In ca. 1000 B.C. a small settlement was established on the site by the Thracians and later, Greek colonists of the 7th century B.C. founded a small trading post of which the refuse pits are preserved, full of amphoras. In the Roman period, a strong retaining wall was constructed and during the Byzantine era, the site was used as a cemetery.
  The site was discovered during the First World War. George Bakalakis was the first archaeologist to visit the place and he identified it as the ancient city of Zone and cape Serreion. Excavations on the site were first carried out in 1988 by the 19th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and are still in progress. The Neolithic settlement which has come to light is one of the most important in the Balkans. The excavation results also prooved that the ancient settlement was simply a trading post and not the city of Zone, while cape Serreion can now be securely placed at the end of Ismaros.

  The most important monuments on the site are:
• Neolithic settlement.
  It consisted of post-hole structures of which the floors, pise walls, ovens, hearths etc. are preserved.
• Trading post of the Classical and Roman periods.
  Two pits, the fortification wall and houses are preserved.
• The "Cyclops cave".
  Small cave with two chambers.
• Rock-cut structures.
  Still visible today are stairways, niches, cisterns and an observation post.

Places of worship (1)

Monasteries

Monastery of the Virgin at Evros

Tel: +30 25510 71263

Various locations (1)

Ancient place-names

Serrhium (Cape Makri)

After Maroneis one comes to the city Orthagoria and to the region about Serrhium (a rough coastingvoyage) (Strabo fr.47). All the ships had now arrived at Doriscus, and the captains at Xerxes' command brought them to the beach near Doriscus, where stands the Samothracian city of Sane, and Zone; at the end is Serreum, a well-known headland. This country was in former days possessed by the Cicones. (Herodt. 7.59.1)

Perseus: Strabo, Geography