Later, when the Byzantine State was divided into departments, the prefecture of Serres constituted the so-called department of Strymonas. As early as the 5th century the town of Serres is mentioned as the seat of the Diocese, from the 8th century it begins to play a leading role in the Greek history and it is considered the most official town from the river Nestos to the river Strymonas. The Byzantine writers call it "The great and admirable town", "powerful", "beautiful", "rich", "largest, "metropolis", etc. Around 1014 AD the emperor Vasilios II, known as the Killer of the Bulgarians, is the head of the Byzantine military campaign corps, which is moving towards the present-day Petritsi in order to traverse the Key passage and invade into the Bulgarian territory. The Bulgarian leader had managed to fortify the passage to prevent the further advance of the Byzantine army. The Killer of the Bulgarians, however, having crossed the Belles Mountain (on July 29th), thanks to an ingenious plan, managed to get to the rear of the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian army was then panic-stricken, abandoned their positions and took to disorderly flight, while the Byzantine army was chasing them. Tsar Samuel managed to escape galloping on his horse towards Stromnitsa. Among the 15000 Bulgarian officers and soldiers that were taken as prisoners were Nikolitsas, Draxan, Dravomir, Nestoritsis, generals and many other important persons of Bulgaria. All the captives were taken to Serres, where a harsh punishment awaited them. According to the information provided by the Historians Krokimbaher, Ephremus of Syros and others, all these Bulgarians were blinded in Serres. Only one out of a hundred soldiers was left with one eye, so that he could lead the others to Stromnitsa. When the Tsar was faced with this sad sight of his army he fell unconscious and passed away. During the Middle Ages the towns of the region, including the present-day capital of the prefecture, were destroyed many times, some of which completely; the town of Serres, too, was captured many times, yet it finally managed to survive. It was one of the first towns of Macedonia occupied by the Franks at the end of 1204. In the village Dimitritsi in the prefecture of Serres a famous battle between the Byzantines under the command of the general Alexios Vranas and the Normans under the leadership of Count Baldwin took place on the 7th of November 1185 AD. The Norman Knights were defeated in that battle and many of them were captured, including their leaders. During the centuries that followed the prefecture of Serres becomes the field of the struggle between the Byzantines, the Bulgarians and the Serbs. Until finally in 1345 AD the town is at the mercy of the Serbian invaders, who, having devastated the countryside, besieged and then occupied the town of Serres. The fortification of the town of Serres during the Byzantine Period. The Byzantine wall had many gateways that led out of town. One of them, situated near the present-day temple of Timios Prodromos, was called "The Royal Gate", because the royal family to climb up the Acropolis used it. Another gate in the eastern part of the wall was called "paraportion" (side-door). In the southeastern part, near the present-day temple of Agios Antonios, was "The Central Gate" which the Turks called "Orta Kapou". At the western side of the wall some vestiges of a gate can be discerned called in Turkish "koun-louk kapou" (the gate of the station) because there once was a police station there. The entrance into town was locked with chains at nights and that is why the temple of Agios Athanassios situated nearby was called in Turkish "zintzirli-klise", which means the church of the chains. Moses, the son of Shishman was killed at the walls of the town when the Bulgarian army was besieging the town of Serres. Vasilios the Killer of the Bulgarians passed through Serres twice. During his first passage in 990 AD he improved the fortification of the town and then moved on to Thessaloniki. During his second visit Serres was used as the third station on his march from Byzantium to Ahrida. It was here that The Emperor received the commandant of a fortress, Krakra of Pernik together with 35 other commandants, who declared submission and gave up their fortresses and the countries, which they ruled. In 1204 D.C. Serres surrendered without fighting to the Frank king Boniface of Momferatico. Two years later the Bulgarians under the command of Ioannitsi, who looted and destroyed the town walls, occupied the town. The town remained under the Bulgarian domination until 1208 AD, when it came under the Frank occupation once again, since after the defeat of Boris in Phililppoupoli, the Bulgarian leader Svetoslav, who was in charge of the town, in turn submitted to the emperor of Venice, Eric. Thus, the town of Serres had the Latin knights' garrison for the second time under the leadership of Eustathios and Count Berthold. In 1221 D.C. the Sovereign of Epirus, Theodore Aggelos Komninos became the proprietor of Thessalonica, which was under the Frankish domination. Starting from there, he occupied the whole country up to Andrianople and Christople. Serres fell into Theodore Komnino’s power after Thessaloniki did. However, the Franks of Constantinople, after the abolition of Thessalonica’s Latin Kingdom, attempted an expedition against Serres in 1224 D.C., but they were crushed by Theodore just outside the city and hounded until Constantinople. In 1230 D.C., after the defeat of Theodore Komninos in the battle of Klocotinitsa, Serres was occupied by the Bulgarians of Asan and remained under their domination until 1245 D.C., when it was took back by the Emperor of Nice, Duka John Vatatzis and so it returned back to Byzantine power. The contemporary Byzantine writer George Acropolitis, who had been a minister of Nice’s emperors, extensively describes the taking back of Serres by Vatatzis. From 1282 D.C.,
Serres remained under the power of Palaeologi. The Emperors, Andronikos
the senior and his grandson, showed real paternal interest for Serres.
In 1341 D.C., Andronikos junior had the walls of Amfipolis and Sidirokastro
built. Most probably the walls of Serres were rebuilt at the same time,
too, after they had been demolished several times in the past because of
the constant Bulgarian invasions.
A remain of the Serbian conquest is the big tower of Acropolis, well known as Orestis’ tower. Sidirokastro,
Meleniko, Petritsi, Neurokopi, Stromnitsa and
other towns of Northern Macedonia fell into the Serbian occupation at the
same time as Serres did.
During the Byzantine period the Issue of Serres and Strymon was divided in smaller administrative subdivisions, called «katepanikia». The province of Phyllida included the subdivision or «katepanikio» of Zihni having the castle of Zihni as a centre and the subdivision of Zavaltia with Rodolivos as a center. The province of Visaltia constituted the subdivision of Strymon, which administratively belonged to Thessaloniki’s issue. Mediki constituted the issue of Zagoria and its capital was Meleniko. While Vasilios II was in power, this area was under Samuel’s away. However, after the defeat of the Bulgarians in Kledi in 1014, Vasilios II surrendered Meleniko. At the time, in particular, it was the same issue of Zagoria, which can be found in a golden bull of Alex III to the Venetians in 1198. After the fall of Constantinople in 1204 it returned to the Bulgarians. In 1246, however, Duka John Vatatzis, who brought it together with the issue of Serres, in which Sintiki belonged, too, took it back. The Turkish Domination In 19th September 1383 D.C., the Turks occupied Serres. The Turkish historian Seatentin Mohamed, who wrote the «Crown of Histories», described in detail the events of the city’s occupation. After Serres’ conquest the Sultan Murat I passed the city of founded Eski-Tzami, which was preserved until the first decades of this century. Also, the Turks demolished the wall and the castle of Serres, so they wouldn’t become pockets of resistance, in case of revolutionary movement of the enslaved Greeks. Around the end of the 18 century, the Byzantine wall was completely destroyed and the city was surrounded by a new wall, half of which was built by the people of Serres for free and the other half with the money of Ismail Bey, the governor of Serres at the time, who was afraid of an attack by Ali Pasa from Ioannina. Ali Pasha was a terrible enemy, who, at that time had invaded Macedonia. However, Ismail Bey’s wall was quickly destroyed because of the improvisation that was built. The new carriageway which started from Ahmet Pasha’s temple and ended in the northern cafes in kiosk (Exohon Rd) and had been traced around the end of the 19th century, contributed to the destruction of the wall. The Turks treated the Greek people very badly. The conquest of Macedonia was followed by captivity, enslavement, exile, change of faith, looting, disgrace, murders and anything that a human mind can think off. The Strong Turkish yoke forced the Greeks (bondsmen) to immigrate to countries of central Europe in order to be able to taste the «air of freedom». Looking back at the Hungarian census list of 1769, we can see that the first emigrants were people from Meleniko, starting from 1629 and the people from Kozani followed. Even though the Hellenism of this northern Greek part of the country suffered more than could be described, it kept its national conscience pure and its main vision was a pan Hellenic rebellion for national reinstatement. During the Turkish domination, Serres enjoyed great trade prosperity and became a big international trade center, where you could find traders of all different nationalities, dealing with goods such as silk but mainly cotton. There was also a central position in the new city, where the «bargains» were taking place. In Serres, there were representatives from European and bordering on the Danube countries, who had established many companies and stores. Among, them, there was the Commercial Venetian enterprise «Rotto, Vianello & Cia», which was operating under the protection of the Venetian consul of Thessaloniki. A host of Turkish Emirs warmed the city, which was buying large quantities of cotton, in order to export it to Poland and to the countries of the Black Sea. In the beginning of the 19th century trade reached its peak, a real period of «revival». The person who contributed a great deal to this «Revival» was the visionary Governor of Serres, Ismail Bey, who managed to strengthen the conditions of basic security in trade. That was also the time that the annual trade fair of Serres, called «Kervani», started taking place. Finally, native industry was really thriving and that’s why all the corporations were very profitable. It is mentioned that around the middle of the 19th century, about 30.000 cotton packets, and also «maroquin» made in the country were exported. On the other hand, the imported goods from Germany were jewels, fabrics and particularly felt, essential for the villagers’ clothing, which were parceled out all over Macedonia. The people of Serres, however, used to keep large quantities of cotton for their industries. As a result of that, they were producing industrial products, mainly fabrics. The suggestion made by the French Consul in Thessaloniki, is very well documented, concerning the process of gunpowder in the provinces of Serres. That information shows us the level of industrialization of raw materials in the province of Serres. This huge development of trade contributed to the establishment of agencies and branches in the large trade centers abroad, covering the needs of the traders in Serres. As a result, the people of Serres were steadily increasing in the Macedonian colonies in Austria - Hungary and Vlachia and especially in Vienna. The records of Vienna’s commune for the Greek Orthodox show that in the second ballot for St. George church’s churchwardens on 20th November 1815 only 6 people from Serres voted, while this number went up to 32 people in the general meeting on 17th March 1816. During this time of trade bliss, Emmanuel Papas, great businessmen, who later become the leader of the Macedonian revolution, came to Serres. His intelligence and business acumen found a suitable place here. Soon, he became the only wholesale merchant and banker of the area, to such a degree that blocked the lending policy with all the Beys in Serres. The end of the 19th century is the time when trade in Serres gradual and later total declined, which then moved to Thessaloniki. The development of quicker transportation by steamboats brought the end of commercial bliss in Serres. Moreover, the big development of European industry was the cause of Serre’s excellent corporations elimination. During the «dark» centuries of Turkish domination the city of Serres had made the most pioneer move, compared to the rest of the Macedonian cities, in the systematic development of the Greek language, under the leadership of very well educated teachers, who «enlightened» many generation of Greek children. Serres had become a real cultural center in Eastern Macedonia. That’s why the Turkish geographer Hatzi Calfa called Serres «the city of wise». According to the professor Gustav Weigand «the role Serres has played for Hellenism was the same as the one of Ahrida’s for Bulgarianism, as a political, national and ecclesiastical center. Great teachers of that period, such as Anastasios Papavasilopoulos (1699-1702), Anastasios Popas (1730), Constantine Economou (1808-1815), Minas Minoidis (1815-1819) and many more, taught in the famous School of Serres. The «Macedonian Educational Club» was founded in Serres in 1870. The chairman of the club was the doctor John Theodoridis, who, with his own initiative, founded the famous Male College of Education (1871). Headmaster of the College of Education was Dimitrios Maroulis, a very well educated man. The College of Education of Serres was the first one that was founded in a Turkish dominated area and showed national zeal while it was operating. However, from 1880 all the schools started being reorganized and the city not only had Primary Schools but also Higher Girl’s School and High School. As a result of that, Maroulis’ College of Education started loosing a lot of ground until 1885 when it closed down for good. Because the College closed down, Maroulis left Serres and moved to Athens, where he died in 1892. Many other remarkable teachers, such as John Dellios and Anna Triantaphyllidou, taught in Serres, after Maroulis. The Revolution of 1821
Meanwhile, a revolutionary movement broke out in Serres under the direction of the Metropolitan, which was soon quelled. The city had narrowly escaped devastation and slaughter. That happened on 8th May 1821, the feast-day of John Theologos the Evangelist, who is considered to be the protector and savior of Serres, So, 14 years later, in 1835, the inhabitants of Serres built the homonymous church in the area of Ano Kamenikia, in order to honor him. But although the city’s devastation was avoided, the avenging fury of the Turks broke out in Emmanuel Papas’ family. His wife and children were sent to prison. His property was confiscated and his house was burnt to the ground. Papas was soon initiated in the «Society of Friends» by John Pharmakis and he didn’t have any trouble introducing his 4 brothers into the Holy war of Independance and the most skilful notables of Dovista, who took good care of the armament of the nearby villages. However, he had to leave Serres, because of a severe dispute he had with Serres’ Bey, and move to Constantinople, where he had the chance to cooperate better with the members of the Society of Friends. Meanwhile, his fame concerning his patriotic actions was spread throughout every part of Greece. He had also planned an attempt on the Sultan’s life, which finally failed because of betrayal. When the Revolution was proclaimed, Emmanuel Papas left Constantinople and went to Holy Mount, where he was welcomed with enthusiasm, by the monks and he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Macedonia. As soon as he set up his Headquarters in Holy Mount, he took action with his 2.500 men. Meanwhile, a revolutionary movement broke out in Serres under the direction of the Metropolitan, which was soon quelled. The city had narrowly escaped devastation and slaughter. That happened on 8th May 1821, the feast-day of John Theologos the Evangelist, who is considered to be the protector and savior of Serres, So, 14 years later, in 1835, the inhabitants of Serres built the homonymous church in the area of Ano Kamenikia, in order to honor him. But although the city’s devastation was avoided, the avenging fury of the Turks broke out in Emmanuel Papas’ family. His wife and children were sent to prison. His property was confiscated and his house was burnt to the ground. But Papas himself continued the tough struggle without any help in Halkidiki. While the Turks had started a general attack against the Greeks, Papas kept on appealing to Ypsilanti, but nothing happened in the end. His achievements in Cassandra and the disposal of his property didn’t save the revolutionary movement. So, after the expedition of Abdul Aboud, the destruction of Cassandra and the subordination of the monks of Holy Mount forced Papas to leave Holy Mount while the Turks were hounding him. He sailed for Hydra, but because he was exhausted by the severities and the emotions of his tragic adventure, he died after a heart attack on the boat at exactly the moment that it was sailing round Kafirea. The hero’s body was taken to Hydra where he was buried with the trimmings of a general. In 1843, his name was hung up in the Greek Parliament as one of the protagonists in the Revolution of 1821. |
When the Revolution
was proclaimed, Emmanuel Papas left Constantinople and went to Holy
Mount, where he was welcomed with enthusiasm, by the monks and he was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of Macedonia. As soon as he set up his Headquarters
in Holy Mount, he took action with his 2.500 men.