Still known by its Turkish name, meaning “big forest”, Kotza Orman, the riverside forest impressively stretched by the Nestor river banks in Greece’s northeast continues to fascinate, as it has done over the ages.

Kotza Orman has been described as Europe’s last-surviving jungle by numerous visitors who have made it to the location, in the Xanthi region’s west. This impression reflects ancient-era accounts of the riverside forest. According to Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian and geographer, the forest had lions during the Persian Wars (480 BC), while, later on, the philosopher Aristotle expressed fascination over the location.

Of course, the well-watered forest owes its existence to the Nestos river, one of Greece’s five biggest rivers that was worshipped as a river god during antiquity. This river’s waters serve as the foundation of the entire region’s ecosystem, which has repeatedly impressed the international scientific community, both for its flora and fauna.

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