The city of Serres is one of the few ancient cities of the long-suffering Greek area that managed to maintain uninterrupted life from the dawn of historical times until today. It appears for the first time in history at the beginning of the 5th century BC. Herodotus mentions her under the name "Siris". After Herodotus, Theopeptos mentions it as Sirra, the national Sirraeus. Later, the Roman Titus Livius calls it Siras (= Σιραι, in the plural) and locates it in Odomantica. Finally, Stefanos Byzantios writes: "Siris en Paionia" and "Siriopaeones".

Archaeological findings from the first historical era of Serres were barely preserved: some ink-painted sherds of the 6th or 7th century BC. at the Acropolis.
During the 5th century, Serres is mentioned as the seat of an Episcopate and in the 6th century it is one of the most important cities of the 7th Province of the Byzantine state. From the 8th century, the role of Serres in Greek history becomes a leading one and the city is considered the most official between Nestos and Strymonas. The Byzantine authors call it: "great and wonderful city", "strong", "necessary", "good", "rich", "greatest", "excellent", "metropolitan", "theofrouriton", etc.

Source: Army General Staff http://www.army.gr/files/file/enimerotikoi/10MP_taks_pz_20130717.pdf

The city of Serres is one of the few ancient cities of the long-suffering Greek area that managed to maintain uninterrupted life from the dawn of historical times until today. It appears for the first time in history at the beginning of the 5th century BC. Herodotus mentions her under the name "Siris". After Herodotus, Theopeptos mentions it as Sirra, the national Sirraeus. Later, the Roman Titus Livius calls it Siras (= Σιραι, in the plural) and locates it in Odomantica. Finally, Stefanos Byzantios writes: "Siris en Paionia" and "Siriopaeones".
Archaeological findings from the first historical era of Serres were barely preserved: some ink-painted sherds of the 6th or 7th century BC. at the Acropolis.
During the 5th century, Serres is mentioned as the seat of an Episcopate and in the 6th century it is one of the most important cities of the 7th Province of the Byzantine state. From the 8th century, the role of Serres in Greek history becomes a leading one and the city is considered the most official between Nestos and Strymonas. The Byzantine authors call it: "great and wonderful city", "strong", "necessary", "good", "rich", "greatest", "excellent", "metropolitan", "theofrouriton", etc.
During the Middle Ages it suffered many disasters, some total and was enslaved several times, but finally survived. In the fall of 1204, it was handed over to the Frankish crusaders, who set out to liberate the Holy Land and enslave a Christian state. In 1205, the tsar of the Bulgarians, John I, conquered Serres, captured the Frankish garrison, beheaded its officials and completely destroyed the city. In 1221 it came to Theodoros, the Despot of Epirus, but in 1230, the Bulgarian Tsar John II captured and blinded Theodoros in the battle of Klokotinitsa and captured Serres. The city was forced to surrender by the Bulgarian guard Dragotas after a sudden attack in 1245 to the Emperor of Nicaea John Vatatzis. From the Greeks, who in the meantime managed to retake Constantinople, captured Serres in 1345, after a long siege, by the king of Serbia, Stefanos Dusian. Remnants of the Serbian occupation are part of the walls of the Acropolis and the great tower, which according to the inscription "built by Orestes", possibly the Greek "catholic judge" and "the one in charge of the army" known from documents.
The Serbian state of Serres, after the defeat of the Serbs by the Turks at Jernomiano (Evrou) in 1371, was dissolved and the capital of Serres was handed over to the King of Thessaloniki, Manuel II. But it did not stay in Greek hands for long. It was occupied by the Turks temporarily in 1373 and definitively in 1383, seventy years before the fall of Constantinople.
The oldest works of sculpture found in Serres are from the Roman era. We do not have samples of paintings from antiquity. Painting flourished in Serres during the late Byzantine period. A great center of an uninterrupted painting movement was the famous monastery of Prodromos Serres, founded in 1276. In the monastery there are icon paintings from the 14th century, among the most interesting in our country.
The oldest and most valuable building in Serres is the restored church of Agioi Theodoros (Old Cathedral), a large rectangular Hellenistic basilica with three aisles. Its original construction dates back to early Christian times and from time to time it received various additions and repairs. A noteworthy building is also Agios Nikolaos on the Acropolis, a cemetery church with a crypt, probably from the 11th century. Characteristic architectural monuments of perhaps the beginning of the 14th century are the churches of Agios Georgios Krionerites and Agios Ioannis Prodromos (Prodromoudi).
Old mansions and private buildings were not saved in Serres due to the many disasters and especially the last arson in 1913. A typical example of folk architecture in the Macedonian style is the house of Zapara, which is preserved in Apano Kamenikia.
During the Turkish occupation, Serres grew urbanistically. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Turkish writer Hatzikalfas calls them the "city of the wise" and in 1668 the Turkish traveler Elviyya Celebi mentions them as third in size and importance among the ten largest cities of European Turkey. Many Turkish buildings are remarkable, showing the mixture of Eastern and Byzantine art. One of the most characteristic and beautiful mosques of European Turkey, once famous for its grace and elegance is the Ahmet Pasha Mosque, from 1492. Another monument, the Gingerli Mosque, also presents important architectural gifts. Of the older secular Turkish buildings, Bezesteni was saved, which was used for a closed luxury goods market and today is an Archaeological Museum.
The Serrai took part in all the pre-revolutionary movements of the enslaved Greeks during the incredibly long period of slavery and paid dearly for their insatiable love of freedom. Heroic serraic figures of the Revolution of 1821, Emmanuel Papas, with the tragic fate of his entire family, and the author of the Struggle, Nikolaos Kasomoulis, emerged. During the last centuries of the Turkish rule, when there was no railway, piracy dominated the sea and transport was carried out by caravans, the golden plain of Serres and its immense wealth in grain and livestock products contributed to the city experiencing great commercial prosperity .
It became a great trading center bringing together merchants and buyers from all over the world. The textiles of Serres, the cotton, the horses, the buffaloes and the excellent art of its clay vessels were famous.
In Serres, mainly from the 17th century of the Enlightenment, education was raised and letters were intensively cultivated. Famous were the Schools of Serres, which contributed to the development of an important intellectual movement. They taught many bright personalities from time to time. The first teaching school in the whole of European Turkey and Greece was founded here, in 1872. From it, a large number of teachers graduated, who, spreading to all parts of Hellenism, became decisive national instruments of enlightenment and awakening of the Genus. For the establishment and maintenance of the schools, many benefactors from Serra helped financially.
During the period of the Macedonian struggle (1904 - 1908), the city was, together with Thessaloniki and the Monastery, the main center of its organization and guidance. At the end of the Second Balkan War, a large part of Serres was set on fire and destroyed by the retreating Bulgarians. But, the bells of freedom had rung after 530 years of slavery. The greatest hour of Serres has arrived. The VII Greek division entered the tyrannized state. In a proclamation he issued on June 28, 1913, the General Napoleon Sotilis announced that he "liberates and occupies the Serras and invites the inhabitants, regardless of race, language and religion, to return to their peaceful pursuits".
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Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou