The “seaside” of Xanthi

Although the city of Xanthi is built about 30 km to the north of the Thracian sea, it has a… ‘paralia’ (seaside in Greek)! The so-called ‘paralia’ of Xanthi (on today’s Vasilissis Sofias street) was actually the secondary riverbed of Kosynthos, the river of Xanthi, until 1914. “The flow of the Kosynthos along the city has changed after 1913. Until then, the Kosynthos also created a second riverbed… The second riverbed has now been embanked creating the bazaar area…”. In the photo of 1920, the ‘paralia’ area can be seen in the front and behind buildings of the city, some of which are preserved to this day in the old Xanthi. The ruins of a Byzantine castle can be seen in the background.