Το Σιδηρόκαστρο και η Σέρρες το 1806

Το Σιδηρόκαστρο και η Σέρρες το 1806 στο βιβλίο "Travels in Northern Greece, vol. III" του William Martin Leake που  εκδόθηκε το 1835.

Ολο το βιβλίο σε μορφη PDF ΕΔΩ

«Travels in Northern Greece, vol. III» του βρετανού στρατιωτικού Ουίλιαμ Μάρτιν Λικ (William Martin Leake), ο οποίος επισκέφτηκε τις Σέρρες στα πλαίσια ενός αρκετά μεγάλου ταξιδιού το φθινόπωρο του 1806, ενώ το βιβλίο του εκδόθηκε μόλις το 1835 (σελ.182 επ.). 

Υπάρχουν πολλές αναφορές στο Σιδηρόκαστρο και στην Σέρρες.

Μας μιλάει για το Σιδηρόκαστρο και το που βρήσκετε σε σχέση με τις άλλες περιοχές, γενικά αναφέρει το Σιδηρόκαστρο 15 φορές,ως Demirissar (iron castle).

Ήταν 8 Νοεμβρίου 1806. Στις 4.15΄ το πρωί, τουρκική ώρα, ο στρατιωτικός βρέθηκε έξω από το μικρό τουρκικό χωριό Αλιμπασά(Alybassá) ή Αλιμπασιάτης (Alibassiátes), όπου -κατά την περιγραφή του- «το έδαφος είναι καλυμμένο από σπασμένα κεραμικά και κομμάτια κτιρίων, που σηματοδοτούν την αρχή της Αμφίπολης.

Στην άκρη του δρόμου, όπως και σ’ ένα παρακείμενο χωράφι, υπάρχουν αρκετέςπέτρες, όμως δεν έχουν ορατές επιγραφές πάνω τους, τουλάχιστον σε όσες εξέτασα. Το έδαφος μοιάζει να είναι γεμάτο τάφους. Ορισμένα απομεινάρια από τους τοίχους της Αμφίπολης

είναι ορατά στην αριστερή άκρη του λόφου».

Εκείνη την εποχή η Αμφίπολη ήταν γνωστή ως Μάρμαρα, ενώ στη περιοχή δέσποζε το Νεοχώρι, στο οποίο κατοικούσαν σαράντα ελληνικές οικογένειες. Το Νεοχώρι στηριζόταν οικονομικά «στην κερδοφόρα αλιεία των χελιών του Στρυμόνα, που θαυμάζονταν από τους αρχαίους για το μέγεθος και το λίπος τους και θεωρούνταν

ισάξια με τα χέλια της λίμνης Κωπαΐδας»· αλιεύονταν «σ’ ένα φράγμα, που διαπερνάει τη ροή του ποταμού μισό μίλι κάτω από τη γέφυρα του Νεοχωρίου και χρησιμοποιείται τόσο γι’ αυτόν το σκοπό όσο και ως μύλος. Αν δεν υπήρχε αυτή η τεχνητή κατασκευή, το ποτάμι-παρότι ορμητικό- θα ήταν πλεύσιμο προς το Νεοχώρι και τη λίμνη [σ.σ. του Αχινού]». Ο μύλος ανήκε στη μονή Παντοκράτορος του Αγίου Όρους, όμως τα πολύτιμα αλιεύματα βρίσκονταν στην κυριότητα του Σουλτάνου. Το απόγευμα της 9ης Νοεμβρίου ύστερα από ταξίδι 3 ωρών και 20 λεπτών υπό διαρκή βροχόπτωση, ο Λικ έφτασε στο χωριό Ταχινός (ή Αχινός), όπου συνάντησε «έναν πολιτισμένο ηλικιωμένο αγά, το ακριβώς αντίθετο εκείνου στο Νεοχώρι, παρότι και οι δύο είναι Αλβανοί». Σύμφωνα με το βρετανό στρατιωτικό, «Μεγάλο μέρος της επιτυχίας και των ανέσεων ενός ταξιδιώτη σε κάθε μέρος της Τουρκίας εξαρτάται από το χαρακτήρα των τοπικών αρχόντων που συναντά, όπως και από τυχαίες συνθήκες. Δεν θα είχα συναντήσει καμιά δυσκολία στην Αμφίπολη, αν είχα φτάσει εκεί ερχόμενος από τις Σέρρες έχοντας μαζί μου ένα γράμμα του Ιμπραήμ μπέη, η εξουσία του οποίου δεν αμφισβητείται ούτε στη Ζίχνη ούτε στη Δράμα και κρατάει σε τάξη τους αγροίκους άρχοντες των γύρω περιοχών, οι οποίοι δεν χάνουν την ευκαιρία να καταπιέσουν με το σκληρότερο τρόπο τους Χριστιανούς υπηκόους τους».

Στην πόλη των Σερρών ο Ουίλιαμ Μάρτιν Λικ έφτασε την επομένη, πρώτη μέρα του Ραμαζανιού, η έναρξη του οποίου συνοδευόταν από πυροβολισμούς κατά τη δύση του ηλίου και από φωταγώγηση των μιναρέδων. Πώς όμως οι Σέρρες έμοιαζαν στα μάτια του; Στη σελίδα 200 του βιβλίου διαβάζουμε:

«[...] Από απόσταση η πόλη έχει μια πολύ επιβλητική εμφάνιση. Οι ασπρισμένοι τοίχοι της, συνοδευόμενοι από πύργους σε μακρινές μεταξύ τους αποστάσεις με περιφέρεια άνω των τριών μιλίων, πέρα από την πόλη εγκλείουν ένα μεγάλο χώρο καταλαμβανόμενο από κήπους, ακόμη και από βοσκοτόπια στα οποία βόσκουν βοοειδή. [...] Τα σπίτια είναι τυπικής τουρκικής κατασκευής, δηλαδή το κάτω μέρος των τοίχων είναι κατασκευασμένο από τούβλα και το πάνω μέρος από ξύλο. Οι δρόμοι, κατά το σύνηθες, είναι βρώμικοι και κακοστρωμένοι, όμως έχουν το πλεονέκτημα ότι ποτίζονται από ρυάκια προερχόμενα από το γειτονικό βουνό κι έτσι οι κήποι, που υπάρχουν σχεδόν σε κάθε σπίτι, είναι συνέχεια πράσινοι».

Ο Λικ δεν παρέλειψε να κάνει αναφορές στον πανίσχυρο Ισμαήλ μπέη, «έναν από τους πλουσιότερους και πιο ισχυρούς υπηκόους του Σουλτάνου... [ο οποίος] υπακούει στις εντολές της Πύλης κατά το δοκούν, προσποιούμενος πάντα μεγάλη υποταγή».

Η εξουσία του εκτεινόταν σε μια μεγάλη γεωγραφική έκταση, που έφτανε μέχρι τη Φιλιππούπολη και τη Σόφια στα βόρεια, το Ιστίμπ (σήμερα Στιπ) στα δυτικά και την Γκιουμουρτζίνα (Κομοτηνή) στα ανατολικά, ώστε ο Λικ τον συνέκρινε με τον Αλή πασά της Ηπείρου -με τη διαφορά ότι ο Ισμαήλ μπέης δεν διέθετε «τη σκληρότητα, την μπαμπεσιά και την ανικανοποίητη πλεονεξία» του Αλή.

Δυο αντιφατικές παρατηρήσεις του συγγραφέα ως προς το πρόσωπο του Ισμαήλ μπέη ήταν ότι ενώ αυτός αντιμετώπιζε τους Χριστιανούς «περιφρονητικά και με τη συνηθισμένη σκληρότητα του πλέον υπερόπτη Μουσουλμάνου», εκείνοι φέρονταν να τον θεωρούν «δίκαιο [και] περιποιητικό διοικητή, οι εκβιασμοί του οποίου είναι συγκριτικά μετριοπαθείς»!

Το παλάτι του βρισκόταν στο δυτικό τμήμα της πόλης των Σερρών, ωστόσο το 1806 ο Ισμαήλ μπέης είχε αποσυρθεί στα κτήματά του στο Αντά τσιφλίκι (ιδιοκτησίας του). Την πραγματική εξουσία ασκούσε ο μεγαλύτερος από τους τέσσερις γιούς του, ο Γιουσούφ πασάς. Βέβαια τη διοίκηση της ελληνικής κοινότητας των Σερρών ασκούσαν κατά βάση ο μητροπολίτης και οι Έλληνες πρόκριτοι, επικεφαλής των οποίων ήταν ο έμπορος Ματάκος Δημητρίου.

Δύο από τους κατοίκους της πόλης ήταν ο γαλλικής καταγωγής έμπορος Σπόντη, ο οποίος ήταν και πρόξενος διαφόρων χωρών, καθώς επίσης κι ένας γιατρός από τα Ιωάννινα, που αναφέρεται απλά ως «δρ. Π». Αυτός ο τελευταίος «είχε υπηρετήσει για κάποιο διάστημα ως χειρουργός στο γαλλικό στρατό της Ιταλίας υπό τον

Βοναπάρτη, την τελευταία στιγμή γλίτωσε τη θανατική ποινή από τον Αλή [πασά] στην Πρέβεζα κατά την επιστροφή του, ήταν παρών στην πολιορκία του Σουλίου από τον Βελή πασά, ενώ υπήρξε αυτόπτης μάρτυρας του ηρωισμού της Χάιδως και οκτώ Σουλιωτών, οι οποίοι μπήκαν μεταμφιεσμένοι στο αλβανικό στρατόπεδο μέσα στη νύχτα και, όταν τους ανακάλυψαν το επόμενο πρωί, υποχώρησαν με τέτοια γενναιότητα και τάξη, ώστε σκότωσαν ή τραυμάτισαν 20 Αλβανούς χωρίς να τραυματιστούν».

"Travels in Northern Greece, vol. III" του William Martin Leake

ΑΠΟΣΠΑΣΜΑΤΑ ΑΠΌ ΤΟ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ

PAGE Mount Cynthus , Olympium - Rheneia - Mýkono , Myconus- Skyro , Scyrus - Port Achilleium - Skánghero - Scopelus , Scia- thus , Halonesus , Icus - Aistráti 69 CHAPTER XXIV . MACEDONIA . Monasteries near the southern extremity of Athos - Arrival at Xeropotámi - Other monasteries on the southern side of the Peninsula Town of Karyés - Ivíron - Filótheo - Mylopótamo - -Lavra - Karakálo - Stavronikíta - Pandokrátora - Vatopédhi -Ancient Inscriptions - Siménu — Khilandári — Próvlaka— Isthmus of Acte - Sane - Canal of Xerxes - Erissó , Acanthus— Ancient cities of Acte , Sithonia , and Pallene ..... 114 CHAPTER XXV . MACEDONIA . Stratóni , Stratoniceia - Nízvoro - Mines of lead and silver- Lybjádha - Kafkaná - Caprus - Stavros , Stageirus - Gulf of Posidium , plain Syleus , lake Bolbe , Aulon , Arethusa , Bromis- cus - Argilus - Ferry of Strymon - Eion - Orfaná , Phagres- Neokhóri - Amphipolis - Lake Cercinitis - Inscription - Battle of Amphipolis - Capture of Amphipolis by Brasidas - Takhynó -Serres , Sirrhæ ― Inhabitants of the Strymonic plain , & c . .. 158 

CHAPTER XXV. 

MACEDONIA. 

Stratoni, Strafoniceia — ‘Nizvoro — Mines of lead and silver — 

Lybjadha — Kafkaiia — Caprus — Sta^ros, Stageirus — Gulf of 

Posldium, plain Syleus, lake Bolhe, Aulon^ Atclhusa^ Brimiis- 

cus — Argilus — Ferry of Strymon — Eioji — Orfana, Phogres — 

Neokhori, Amphipolis — Lake Ccrcinilis — Inscription — Baltic 

of AmjMpolis — Capture of Amphipolis by Brasidas — Takhyno 

— Serres, Sirrhee — Inhabitants of the Strymonic plain, &c. 

at the head of whom is the bishop of Erissos, one of the suffragans of the metropolitan of Thessalonica, and styled also bishop of 'Aghion Oros ; the other by Turks, and the residence of Rustem Aga, who,

as Madem 'Agasi, has the direction of the neighbouring silver mines, together with the governmentof twelve eleftherokhoria in the Chalcidic peninsula, which from this union of the Mukata are named the Sidherokapsika, or Mademokhoria. Notlong since Rustem was nearly expelled from his post by the united complaints of all the villages under his government, but having, by the powerful support of Ibrahim Bey of Serres, his patron, overcome all difficulties, as well at Saloniki as at Constantinople, he revenged himself upon the

Greek Proestds of Nizvoro, who was instigator of the combination against him, by putting himinto a well, and keeping him there till he hadgradually extorted all his property, when he cut

about the same distance from the sea, the hills 

which border the plain on the eastern side, termi- 

nate in a point higher than the part of the ridge 

behind it, divided into terraces, and having a flat 

summit, with some appearances of art, but I search 

in vain for any unequivocal remains of antiquity 

on it. Along the side of the mountain, of which 

this height is the termination, stand several Turkish 

villages, forming a district called Orfana, belong- 

ino; to the Serres kiizasi. The Turks of Orfana 

are descendants of those Osmanhs who came into 

this country with the predecessors of Mahomet II. 

and who, like those of Thessaly, are called by the 

Greeks KoviaptSec. or Iconians, a name which re- 

calls to memory the most ancient capital of the 

Turkish power in Asia Minor. They occupy a 

large portion of the cultivated mountains of Mace- 

donia, and some parts of the plains distant from 

the large towns. Around the latter the lands are 

generally tjiftliks belonging to Turkish inhabitants 

of the towns, which are farmed by Christians. The 

Koniaridhes, on the contrary, cultivate their own 

lands, and seem to be the only Turks in Europe 

who do not consider agricultural labour a degrada- 

tion. As at Orfana, they generally occupy dis- 

tricts of small villages, each of which has its sepa- 

rate appellation besides that of the district. These 

people, though all armed, are peaceably disposed, 

attached to their landed property, and seldom 

seek their fortune at court or obey the summons 

of the Porte for foreign wars. Hence it is rare to 

hear of any of them attaining to high station, 

though Mehmet Ab, the present Pasha of Egypt,

who belonged to an agricultural family of the 

neighbourhood of-Kavala, is an illustrious excep- 

tion. His uncle, who was governor of that town, 

having fallen a victim to the arts of his enemies, 

Mehmet All, deprived of this support, was induced 

to seek his fortune in Egypt, at the head of a 

small number of followers. The Yuruks, who in 

Asia live a wanihering life, like the Kurds and 

Turkomans, as their name implies ', have become 

more sedentarv in Macedonia and Thrace, where 

they have villages, and have become cultivators. 

Those in the Pashalik of Salonlki have a chief 

called the Yuruk Bey, who resides in that city. 

Their principal abodes are in the districts of 

Gurnertzlna, Drama, Nevrokopo, Serres, Stru- 

mitza, Radhovitzi, Tikfis, Karadagh. 

From the height above-mentioned, which lies 

to the left of the direct road, I proceed, over open 

downs covered with corn-fields, to one of the vil- 

lages of Orfana, situated at an hour and a half 

fi’om the ferry, in a hollow betw^een two heights 

watered by a small stream, which flows directly 

to the sea. The village contains fifty or sixty 

houses, all Turkish except those of five or six 

Greek shopkeepers. Although not the largest of 

the makhalas of Orfana, it is more especially 

known by that name as being a post station on the 

great road from Greece to Constantinople. Above 

maritime plain, and at 4 mount the heights which 

advance from Mount Pangteum to form the strait. 

At 4.15, below the little Turkish village of Aly- 

bassa, or, as the Greeks call it, Alibassiates, the 

ground is covered with broken pottery and frag- 

ments of buildings, which mark the beginning of 

the site of AmphipoUs. On the road side, as well 

as in an adjacent field, are several sori of stone, 

but without any inscriptions now visible on them, 

at least on any of those which 1 examined. The 

ground appears to be full of sepulchres. Here 

some remains of the walls of Amphipolis are visible 

on the crest of the hill to the left. 

Before us, at the same time, opens a fine view 

of the Strymonic lake mentioned by Thucydides, 

and by Arrian named Ccrcinitis', together with 

the extensive plains of Serres and Zikhna extend- 

ing thirty miles from west to east, along the foot 

of a range of lofty mountains. To the southward 

this great valley is inclosed by the parallel ridge 

of Pirnari, or Pangamm, and by the mountain of 

'Orsova and Vrasta, which is separated only from 

Pirnari by the pass of Amphipolis, and of which 

we followed the southern foot from the site of Bro- 

miscus, along the shore of the Strymonic gulf. To 

the westward this great ridge is prolonged nearly 

to Saloniki, but at one third of the distance thither 

sends forth a branch of equal height to the north- 

west, which incloses the western side of the Stry- 

monic valley,— so that fhese extensive plains are en- 

tirely surrounded by mountains, with the exception 

and there was formerly a village of that name'. 

Neokhdri, as the word implies, is of recent con- 

struction. It is inhabited by forty Greek families, 

and is included in the district of Zikhna, a town 

situated between Dhriima and Serres, at the foot 

of the great mountain which borders the Strymonic 

plains to the northward. Neokhdri seems chiefly 

to owe its existence to the profitable fishery of those 

Sti'ymoniaii eels^ which were celebrated among the 

ancients for their size and fatness, and were con- 

sidered not inferior to the eels of the lake Copais. 

They are caught at a dam which crosses the stream 

half a mile below the bridge of Neokhdri, and which 

serves as well for this purpose as for a mill-head. 

Were it not for this artificial impediment, the river, 

although rapid, would be navigable to Neokhdri 

and into the lake. The mill belongs .to the con- 

vent of Pandokratora on Mount Athos, but the 

fishery, since it has become valuable, has been 

claimed by the Sultan, and is now farmed by Feta 

Bey of Zikhna, whose deputy I find at the mill, 

counting the fish as they are caught. Some thou- 

sands of eels had just been taken, many of which 

Amphipolis was probably in this state when Philip 

besieged and tooh it. 

The only remains of antiquity in Neokhori be- 

sides the inscription at the fountain, are many 

scattered blocks of ancient workmanship, and 

some mnemata, of which one is adorned with 

figures in low relief, and two others have names 

only upon them ; there is also a plain Doric 

triglyph between metopes, which is said to have 

been brought from the Bezestein, a place so called 

on the summit of the hill, and where arc some frag- 

ments similar to those in the village. If the 

tiiglyph belonged to the temple of Minerva, it 

was probably of small dimensions. 

In the afternoon of November 9, I proceed in 

3 hours and 20 minutes to Takhynos ', the rain 

falling continually. At (J.IO, Turkish time, we 

cross the bridge of the Strymon, which is 300 

yards long ; then leaving the lake at some distance 

on the right, pass over downs which are connected 

with the mountains on the left, pass at 7.20 

through a large Greek village called Kutzos ^ ; 

at 8.25 leave Pulutro ^ a quarter of a mile on the 

right, and half an hour before arriving atTakhyno 

turn out of the direct road to the right. Takhyno, 

which is in the district of Serres, stands on the 

edge of the lake, opposite to the last falls of the 

northern range of mountains, upon the lower de- 

clivity of which is situated the town of Zikhna : 

there are several boats upon the lake engaged in 

fishing for carp, tench, and eels. A mile or two 

higher up it terminates in marshy ground, through 

which the river flows to join it ; Thucydides has ac- 

curately described this lake by the words ro XifivwSec 

Tov Erpvjuovog \ as being in fact nothing more than 

an enlargement of the river, varying in size ac- 

cording to the season of the year, but never 

reduced to that of the river only, according to 

its dimensions above and below the lake. Besides 

the Strymon, the Angitas contributes to the inun- 

dation as well as some other smaller streams from 

the mountains on either side. I find a civil old 

Aga at Takhyno, the reverse of him of Neokhori, 

though both are Albanians, but they take their 

tone from their chiefs ; so much do the traveller’s 

success and comforts in every part of Turkey 

depend upon the individual character of the chief- 

tains whom he encounters, and upon accidental 

circumstances. I should have found no difficulty 

at Amphipolis, if I had proceeded thither from 

Serres with a letter from Ibrahim Bey, whose 

authority is not disputed either in Zikhna or 

Dhrama, and serves to keep in some order the 

savage chieftains around him, who lose no oppor- 

tunity of exercising the cruelest oppression on 

their Christian fellow subjects. The kaza of Zikhna, 

which is here separated by the lake from that 

of Serres, contains 70 or 80 villages ; the largest 

are Ziliakhova, already mentioned, and Lukovikia 

on the side of Mount Pirnari, above Alibassates. 

Nov. 10. — From Takhyno to Serres. Setting 

out at 2.40 Turkish, we coast the marshy ground 

at the head of the lake, then follow the right bank 

of the Stnjmon along the center of the plain, for 

2j- hours, until having arrived nearly abreast of 

Serres we turn eastward towards the town, cross 

the river at 5.55, over a new wooden bridge a 

mile below a large tjiftlik of Ismail Bey, called 

the Adda tjiftlik, where he has lately built a 

Serai, and at 7 enter the gate of Serres. Our 

})ace, though with Menzil horses, has been slow', 

on account of the mudd}'^ state of the roads after 

the late rains. The Ramazan begins this even- 

ing, and is introduced, as usual, with firing of 

musquets at sunset, follow'ed by an illumination 

of all the minarets. 

Nov. 11. — Serres stands in the widest part of 

the great Stnjmonic plain, on the last slope of the 

range of mountains which bounds it tc the north- 

east. At a distance the town has a very imposing 

appearance ; its whitened walls, flanked by towers 

at distant intervals, being not less than three miles 

in circumference ; but they enclose, besides the 

tow'n, a large space occupied by gardens, and even 

by meadow's, in which cattle are now grazing ; 

and the walls themselves are nothing better than 

a thin fabric of unburnt bricks. The houses are 

of the ordinary Turkish construction, that is to 

say, the lower part of the walls is of masonry, 

and the upper of wood : the streets, as usual, are 

crooked and ill-paved, but they have the advantage 

of being watered by streams originating in the ad- 

jacent mountain, and serving to maintain in con- 

stant verdure the gardens which are attached to 

almost every house. The population is estimated 

at 15,000 Turks, 5000 Greeks and Bulgarians, 

and a few families of Jews. 

The surrounding plain is very fertile, and besides 

yielding abundant harvests of cotton, wheat, barley 

and maize, contains extensive pastures now peopled 

with oxen, horses and sheep. No part of the land 

is neglected, and the district, in its general ap- 

pearance, is not inferior to any part of Europe ; 

though probably neither the agricultural economy 

nor the condition of the people, would bear a close 

inspection. To the north-westward, the plain ex- 

tends about 4 hours to Demirissar (iron castle), 

which occupies a position similar to that of Serres, 

but nearer to the left bank of the Strymon, just 

where it issues from the mountains. A little above 

the ravines of Demirissar the Strymon receives its 

principal tributary, from Strumitza to the right, 

and a smaller contribution on the opposite bank 

from Meleniko, a large Greek town, 6 hours from 

Demirissar to the north. The sources of the river 

are in the highest ridges of Rhodope around Dup- 

nitza and Ghiustendil. To the Greeks and Bul- 

garians the river is known by the name of Struma, 

to the Turks by the very common appellation of 

Karasu, or Black River. 

The lower Strymonic valley, which extends from 

Demirissar to 'Anghista and the site of Amphipolis, 

is the greatest of the Macedonian plains, next to 

that which borders the head of the Thermaic Gulf, 

and if we add to it the levels watered by the tribu- 

taries of the Strymon, anciently constituting the 

Angitas, the entire extent is not inferior in magni- 

tude and fertility to those plains of Lower Macedonia. 

A large portion of that part which is in the district 

of Serres, is the private property of Ismail Bey and 

his family, one of the richest and most powerful 

subjects of the Sultan, if he can be called a subject 

who is absolute here, and obeys only such of the 

orders of the Porte as he thinks fit, always, however, 

with a great show of submission. Besides his 

landed property he is engaged in commerce, and 

derives great profits from his farm of the imperial 

revenues. He has been rapidly increasing in 

power during the last ten years, and his authority 

now extends northward to the borders of Sofia and 

Felibe \ to the westward to Istib inclusive, and to 

the eastward as far as Gumurdjhia inclusive. His 

troops are now fighting with Emin Aga of Ilas- 

kiuy beyond Gumurdjina, whom he will probably 

soon reduce. To the southward and w'estward the 

summits of the mountains which border the plain, 

separate his dominions from the district of Saloniki. 

His forces do not amount to more than 2000 in 

constant pay, who are chiefly Albanians, but upon 

occasion he might easily raise 10,000. When he 

builds a new palace, or repairs a road, or builds a 

bridge, the villages furnish the materials and 

labour, so that his household and troops are his 

principal expences. Deficient in the extraordinary 

talents of Aly Pasha, lie is said to be free from his 

cruelty, perfidy, and insatiable rapacity. Though 

he never conceals his contempt of Christians, and 

treats them with the usual harshness of the most 

haughty Mussulman, he is spoken of by the 

Christians themselves as a just, attentive governor, 

and whose extortions are comparatively moderate. 

Hence his territory presents a more prosperous 

appearance than any part of Aly Pasha’s. The 

culture of cotton being very advantageous to him, 

he is anxious to encourage its exportation, in which 

he is himself engaged, and hence the Greek mer- 

chants of Serres, who carry on an extensive trade 

with Vienna, enjoy sufficient protection, though 

personally they are often ignominiously treated 

by him. 

As to the rayahs in general, it is sufficient to 

mention one of the labours and exactions imposed 

upon them, to show their condition even under a 

governor who has the reputation of being indulgent. 

Every village is bound to deliver the Bey’s tithe of 

the cotton in a state fit for immediate exportation, 

that is to say, cleared of the seeds and husks, 

instead of supplying it as it comes from the field ; 

and even to make good the loss of weight caused by 

the abstraction of the seeds, by the addition of an 

equal weight of cleared cotton. The Turks justify 

this oppression, by alleging that it is customary in 

all cotton districts ; the only kind of answer they 

ever deign to give, when they are the strongest. 

The Bey has four sons, of whom the eldest, 

Yussuf, carries on all the active business of the 

government *, while his father enjoys a rather in- 

dolent retirement at the Adda tjiftlik. The Greek 

’ This is the same Yussuf afterwards surrendered Varna, 

Pasha who distinguished him- in the year 1828, to the Rus- 

self in the Greek insurrection sians. 

as Governor of 'Epakto, and 

community is governed with very little interference 

from the Bey, by the Greek metropolitan bishop, 

and the archons, of whom the chief is a Greek 

merchant, Matako Dhimitrlu, whose brother is 

established at Saloniki. Another merchant, named 

Sponty, who acts as consul for several nations, is 

of a French family long settled in Candia, and here 

I again meet a Dr. P. of loiinnina, who after having 

served for some time as surgeon in the French 

army of Italy under Bonaparte, narrowly escaped 

being put to death by Aly at Prevyza on his return : 

he attended Vcly Pasha in the siege of Suli, and 

was eye-witness to the heroism of the woman 

Khaidho, and eight Suliotes, who came disguised 

into the middle of the Albanian camp in the night, 

and when discovered the next morning, retreated 

with such bravery and conduct as to k’ll or wound 

20 Albanians in the retreat, without receiving a 

hurt. 

The bishop is denominated o "EtppMv, and the 

modern name Serres is the Romaic third case of 

the same word’ ; but though Scrrse was already 

the form about the fifth century, as appears from 

Hierocles, Sirrha or Sirrhae was the more ancient 

orthography, and that which obtained at least until 

the division of the empire, as we learn from an 

inscription now placed at the door of the metro- 

politan church, where it is said to have been 

found. It is a memorial in honour of one Tiberius 

Claudius Diogenes, of the Roman tribe Quirina. 

The forms of some of the letters, and the siglae by 

exchange their agricultural produce for manufac- 

tures both foreign and domestic, but that to which 

the natives of a great part of European Turkey 

resort to obtain raw cotton, for internal consump- 

tion, as well as for the manufacture of yarn, which 

they sell in Hungary and Poland. In favourable 

years, the Frank and Greek merchants settled here 

send not less than 30 or 40,000 bales of cotton 

to Germany by the caravans, and in return supply 

the Turks with cloths, stuffs, and other European 

manufactures, but cloth and raw cotton are the 

basis of the trade. 

The principal roads leading from Serres, besides 

that of Orfana, by which I came, are, 1. To 

Kavala, by Ziklma and Dhrama. 2. To Nevro- 

kopo, directly across the great range of the moun- 

tains, which extend northward from Serres to 

Meleniko and Nevrokopo, and eastward towards 

Dhrama ; the circuitous route to Nevrokopo, how- 

ever, is often preferred, especially in the winter, 

passing through Zikhna, and falling into the route 

from Dhrama to Nevrokopo. 3. The northern 

road. This leads to Demirissar along the foot 

of the mountain of Serres, and near Demirissar 

enters the derveni, through which that river 

issues from the mountains. Beyond the pass, 

the road branches to Meleniko to the right, and 

to Strumitza to the left. 4. To Doghiran ; this 

road crosses the mountain which rises from the 

western side of the plain of Serres, by a pass 

which is seen from the city, bearing by compass 

N. 63 W. 5, 6. There are two routes to Salonlki, 

the more direct crossing the range of mountains 

MACEDONIA. 

Ancient Geography of the Strymonic Plain and surrounding 

Mountains — Battle of Philippi — Nigrita — Sokho — Klisali — 

Lakes — Langaza — Khaivat — Saloniki — Antiquities, Popula- 

tion, &c. 

Although Stephanus distinguishes the Siris which 

gave name to the Siro-paeones, from Sirrha, they 

were assuredly one and the same place, for that 

the Siro-paeones inhabited the banks of the Stry- 

inon is clear from Herodotus’, and that they did 

not dwell above the derveni of Demirissar may 

also be inferred from the historian, when he states, 

that Xerxes left a part of his sick at Siris in his 

retreat to the Hellespont* ; for it is not conceivable 

that a place could have been chosen for that pur- 

pose, so far and inconveniently removed from the 

direct route of the army, as any position above 

the Straits of Demirissar would have been. The 

same inference may be drawn from Livy, who 

relates that P. .^milius Paullus, after his victory 

at Pydna, received at Sirae a deputation from Per- 

seus who had retired to Samothrace®. As Sirae is 

‘ Herodot. 1. 5, c. 13, 15, 98. * L. 8, c. 115. 

here described by Livy as a city of the Odoman- 

tice, it seems evident iliat the Odomanti bordered 

on the Siro-Paeones, and that in the reign of 

Perseus they were in possession of this city 

The Odomanti, therefore, probably occupied the 

great mountain which extends along the north- 

eastern side of the lower Strymonic plain from 

about Meleiiiko and Demirissar nearly to Panymim, 

their vicinity to which latter mountain is rendered 

probable by their having been ooe of the throe 

tribes who worked its mines, the two others hav- 

ing been the Pieres and Satrse the former of 

whom dwelt on the southern side of the moun- 

tain, the latter to the eastward of it. It was 

very natural that Megabyzus should have subdued 

the Siropjcones, who possessed the most fertile and 

exposed part of the Strymonic plain while the 

Odomanti, who were secure in a higher situation, 

and still more the Agrianes, who dwelt at the sources 

of the Strymon, were able to avoid or resist him, 

as well as the Doberes, and the other Pa3ones of 

Mount Pangaeum, and the amphibious inhabitants 

of the lake Prasias 

From the same authority we may be justified in 

concluding, that the lake Prasias was the same 

afterwards called Circinitis, or the Strymonic lake, 

though it be contrary to the opinion of D’Anville, 

who identified the Prasias with the Bolhe, now the 

‘ Ptolemy (1. 3, c. 13.) places ’ Herodot. 1. 7, c. 1 12. 

Scotussa, which was at no great “ L. 5, c. IG. 

distance from Serres to the 

southward, in the Odomantice. 

Vravnitza, or river of Istib, which, next to the 

Mrigon, is the greatest of the tributaries of the 

Axius. 

Of the tribes on the Thracian frontier of Paeonia 

which were subject to Macedonia, as early at 

least as the reign of Philip, son of Ainyntas, 

I have already shown reasons for believing that 

the Odomanti occupied the whole of Mount Orbe- 

lus from above the Ste7ia of the Strymon near the 

modern Demirissar to Zikhna inclusive, where 

they confined on Mount Pangmmi. Thus their 

north-western portion lay to the right of Sitalces as 

he crossed Mount Cereine : and their general situ- 

ation accords with the description of Thucydides, 

according to whom they dwelt beyond the Strymon 

to the north ' ; that is to say, to the northward of the 

Lower Strymon, where alone the river has such an 

easterly course as can justify the historian's expres- 

sion. It is obsei'vable, that the PaiiEei, whom Thu- 

cydides couples with the Odomanti, are stated by 

Stephanus to have been a tribe of the Edones '^ 

These authorities agree, therefore, in confirming 

the situation of the Odomanti just indicated. 

Between Meleniko and Petritzi, above Demiris- 

sar and the Strymonic straits, the main branch of 

the Struma, or Strymon, is joined by a large tri- 

butary named Strumitza, npon which stands a town 

of the same name, situated a day's journey beyond 

Petritzi, in the road from Serres to Velesa. Stru- 

' Thucyd. 1.2, c. 101 ; 1. ■ Steplinn. in IJiii'tuoi.

on a mission to the Krai of Servia from the Em- 

peror Andronicus the elder : he relates, that after 

having travelled half a night and one day from a 

ferry of the Strymon, he arrived at Strumitza, a 

fortress so lofty that the men on the walls looked 

from the plain like birds *. 

Ptolemy, in assigning to the .ffistraei Doberus as 

well as Aistrajum, shows those two places to have 

been at no great distance from one another; which 

is true, on the supposition that Mstrceum or As- 

troeum, was at Strumitza, and Dobei'us near Dog- 

liiran Strymon, Struma, Astrseus, and Stru- 

mitza, seem to be all dialectic modifications of 

' Nicephor. Greg. 1. 8, c. 

11. Gregoras had been pre- 

ceptor of the children of Meto- 

chita, for which reason he was 

chosen by the Emperor for a 

mission, one of the objects of 

whicli was to persuade the 

widow of John Paleeologus, 

who was the Krai’s mother- in- 

law and the daughter of Meto- 

cliita, to return to Constanti- 

nople. Gregoras was accom- 

panied by one of the lady’s 

brothers. Of his journey as 

far as the Strymon he relates 

only that the country was at 

that moment deserted in con- 

sequence of an expected inva- 

sion of Scythians. And it 

seems in general to have been 

nearly in its present state. At 

Iho Strvmon, for instance, he 

found only a single ferry-boat, 

which required the greater part 

of the day to carry over his 

150 beasts of burthen. His 

place of crossing was probably 

near Demirissar, for had it 

been lower he could not have 

reached Strumitza at the end 

of the next day. The timidity 

and inexperience of the peda- 

gogue magnified the alarms 

and difficulties which he met 

with in prosecuting his journey 

during the greater part of the 

night through the forest beyond 

the Strymon, and which afford- 

ed him an opportunity of 

showing his learning by com- 

paring the darkness to the 

caverns of Taenarus and Tro- 

phonius. 

* Stephanus in