We travelled to remote, yet cosmopolitan, Soufli which was recently named Best Tourism Village by the World Tourism Organization, to get to know this silk town and its secrets better.

We went bird-watching and saw rare birds at the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli forest national park, we walked in the fossil forest of Lefkimi-Fylakto with the impressive findings, we travelled back in time to the unique Bread and Wheat museum in Lefkimi, and we enjoyed the calm and the sounds of birds at the Tiheros artificial lake.

Our trip to the borders was truly worth the 856 km (8-hours-and-52-minutes-drive from Athens) we had to travel, and it was completed with a visit to the mountainous areas and the unknown-to-most Pomak villages of Evros, with the hospitable Alevite Muslims, the traditional architecture, the special, mystic, atmosphere of the dolmen-megalithic tombs, the prehistoric rock paintings, and the unique Bektashi tekke of Kizil Deli, an important place of pilgrimage for Alevites everywhere.

The Alevites are a religious Muslim minority with elements in their belief that significantly differentiate them from the Sunnites and the Shiites. Women are equal to men, they are monogamous, alcohol is permitted, and music is an important part of their worship, the same way psalms are for Christians.

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Starting at Soufli, we headed northwest, towards the Pomak villages of East Rodopi, with the best-known among them Megalo Derio, Geriko, Goniko, Petrologos, Roussa, and Sidirochori whose residents, known as Kizilbash, are a Bektashi Alevite sect, mainly farmers and livestock farmers. Due to their mountainous location, most villages are secluded, something that, to a great extent, has allowed them to preserve their traditional architecture and their special cultural character. The villages nowadays are much more easily accessible, due to the reconstruction of the road network that used to resemble – as the locals told us – a warzone.

photos by Panagiotis Savvidis

by Panagiotis Savvidis

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