View of Thásos, from N
The history of eastern Macedonia was shaped by the dynamic interaction between land and sea, and nowhere is this more clearly expressed than in the relationship between Philippi and Thasos. One city was inland, fortified, and strategic; the other insular, maritime, and outward-looking. Together, they formed a complementary historical system that determined the political, economic, and cultural development of the northern Aegean.
Antiquity: Gold, Colonisation, and Power
Thasos: an island of wealth and the sea
In antiquity, Thasos emerged as one of the earliest and most powerful maritime centres of the northern Aegean. Settled by colonists from Paros in the 7th century BC, the island quickly developed into a thalassocratic power, controlling sea routes and exploiting its rich natural resources. Of particular importance were the gold and silver deposits, located both on the island itself and on the opposite mainland coast.
Thasos established an extensive network of mainland possessions, known as the Thasian Peraia, along the shores of eastern Macedonia. Through these territories, the island exercised economic and political influence far beyond its own coastline, linking the maritime Aegean world with the interior of Macedonia and Thrace.
Philippi: from Krenides to a Macedonian stronghold
On today’s map, the ancient city of Philippi lies in eastern Macedonia in northern Greece, just north of modern Kavala, near the present-day settlement of Krinides. The archaeological site occupies a fertile plain at a point where natural passages converge between mountains, wetlands, and the sea, along a corridor that broadly follows the line of the ancient Via Egnatia. This position fully explains the role of Philippi as a key control point between the harbour of Neapolis (Kavala) and the Macedonian hinterland.
The city began as Krenides, a settlement founded by colonists from Thasos in order to secure control over mineral resources and inland routes. In 356 BC, it was seized and reorganised by Philip II of Macedon, who immediately recognised its strategic value. Renamed Philippi, the city was heavily fortified and integrated into the administrative and military system of the Macedonian kingdom.
Its proximity to fertile land and gold-bearing regions made Philippi both economically valuable and militarily critical, functioning as a hinge between the coast and the heartland of Macedonia.
Roman period: empire, roads, and the Battle of Philippi
The Roman conquest of Macedonia radically altered the role of both Philippi and Thasos. In 42 BC, Philippi gained lasting historical prominence as the site of the Battle of Philippi, where the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius, an event that marked the end of the Roman Republic.
After the battle, the city was refounded as a Roman colony, veterans were settled there, and Roman institutions, urban planning, and administration were introduced. The Via Egnatia passed directly through Philippi, consolidating its role as a major administrative and military centre of Roman Macedonia.
Thasos, for its part, retained its maritime character, functioning as a commercial and naval station within the Roman provincial system, complementing the inland authority of Philippi with seaborne connectivity.
Early Christianity: a spiritual axis
Philippi holds a unique place in the history of Christianity. In AD 49, the Apostle Paul visited the city and founded here the first Christian community in Europe. His Epistle to the Philippians is among the earliest Christian texts addressed to a European audience, granting the city enduring spiritual significance.
Thasos, although less prominent in written sources, also developed early Christian communities and basilicas, reflecting the spread of the new faith through the maritime networks of the Aegean.
Byzantine period: decline and continuity
During the Byzantine era, Philippi experienced gradual decline. Shifts in trade routes, repeated incursions, and environmental degradation weakened its economic foundations. By the late Byzantine period, the city had been largely abandoned, leaving behind monumental ruins that testify to its former power.
Thasos, by contrast, displayed greater continuity of life. Despite piracy and political instability, the island remained inhabited and economically active, relying on agriculture, marble quarrying, and maritime activity. Fortified settlements and monasteries bear witness to a defensive island society adapted to the uncertainties of the medieval Aegean.
Keramoti and the Nestos Delta: the mainland gateway to Thasos
Keramoti lies on a low promontory at the edge of the Nestos Delta, one of Greece’s most important wetland systems. This landscape, shaped over centuries by the deposition of river sediments, has long functioned as a natural threshold between land routes and sea lanes in the northern Aegean.
During the Roman and early Byzantine periods, the Nestos corridor gained particular importance due to the river crossing and its connection with the Via Egnatia network. In the wider area developed the city of Topeiros, later an episcopal centre, with Early Christian basilicas and fortifications that reveal a densely organised historical landscape behind today’s tranquil coastline.
Within this long geography of crossings and shores, the modern role of Keramoti as the principal ferry gateway to Thasos is not a coincidence, but a natural continuation of a historical function in which the Greek mainland meets the island world.
Ottoman and modern periods: divergent paths
During the Ottoman period, Philippi survived only as a memory preserved in its ruins, while Thasos followed a distinctive path. The island experienced periods of relative autonomy and economic privilege, based primarily on olive oil production, forestry, and maritime activity.
In the modern era, archaeological excavations restored Philippi to prominence as one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, while Thasos evolved into a living island economy, balancing primary production, quarrying, and tourism.
