Near the mouth of the Vistonida lake, the imposing ruins of a fortified city are preserved, which were known to the travelers of the Ottoman Empire by the name "Bourou Kale". From very early on, these ruins were identified with the city known in the early Christian and Byzantine years, which successively bore the names Anastasioupolis and Peritheorion.
The city is located in the center of the fertile region, where in Homeric times the horses of Diomedes grazed. In the Roman itineraries of late antiquity, a station on the Egnatia road is mentioned under the name Stabulo Diomedis. In the 6th century the city is described by the historian Procopius and is called Anastasiopolis, a name which according to Kantakouzenos is due to the emperor Anastasios I (491-518), who fortified it for the first time. According to Procopius, Justinian I built a coastal wall, as well as a 4 km long wall that started from the northwest corner of the precinct and reached the foothills of the Rhodopes, thus controlling traffic on the Egnatia road. At the same time it functioned as an aqueduct transporting water to the city.
The bishopric of Anastassioupolis appears as a subordinate of the metropolis of Traianoupolis from post-Justinian times until the 9th century, when its new name Peritheorion appears for the first time. Peritheorion became a strategically important castle for the control of the area. During the 11th century in the city and around it rich stocks of the Vatopedi Monastery of Mount Athos and the Petritzionitissa Monastery (today's Batskovu Monastery in Bulgaria) are witnessed. In 1203 Anastasioupoli was destroyed by the ruler of the Bulgarians Ioannis Asen whom the Byzantine authors also called Skylogiannis. There followed a period of decline about which the sources are silent. In 1341 the emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos repaired its dilapidated walls. At the same time, Anastasia was promoted to a metropolis. In later centuries the city appears quite often in the sources and especially in relation to events of the civil wars of the 14th century. The city withstood the siege of 1342/43 by Kantakouzenos. Peritheorion was one of the last urban centers of Thrace to surrender to the Ottomans, after experiencing a period of self-government. Few Christian inhabitants lived inside the castle until the end of the 17th century, while the ruins of two old churches with remnants of their once brilliant decoration impressed the traveler Robert De Dreux who visited the city in 1668. Today the embankment and the rich vegetation they covered everything except its high walls which impress with their greatness. The city withstood the siege of 1342/43 by Kantakouzenos. Peritheorion was one of the last urban centers of Thrace to surrender to the Ottomans, after experiencing a period of self-government. Few Christian inhabitants lived inside the castle until the end of the 17th century, while the ruins of two old churches with remnants of their once brilliant decoration impressed the traveler Robert De Dreux who visited the city in 1668. Today the embankment and the rich vegetation they covered everything except its high walls which impress with their greatness. The city withstood the siege of 1342/43 by Kantakouzenos. Peritheorion was one of the last urban centers of Thrace to surrender to the Ottomans, after experiencing a period of self-government. Few Christian inhabitants lived inside the castle until the end of the 17th century, while the ruins of two old churches with remnants of their once brilliant decoration impressed the traveler Robert De Dreux who visited the city in 1668. Today the embankment and the rich vegetation they covered everything except its high walls which impress with their greatness.
Editor: Niki Kalopaidis