Orfeas

For the Judge Smith album, see Orfeas (Judge Smith album). For the Cypriot association football club, see Orfeas Nicosia.
Orfeas
Ορφέας
Orfeas

Coordinates: 41°16′N 26°01′E / 41.267°N 26.017°ECoordinates: 41°16′N 26°01′E / 41.267°N 26.017°E
Country Greece
Administrative region East Macedonia and Thrace
Regional unit Evros
Municipality Soufli
Districts 7
 • Municipal unit 643.266 km2 (248.366 sq mi)
Elevation 20 m (70 ft)
Population (2001)[1]
 • Municipal unit 6,146
 • Municipal unit density 9.6/km2 (25/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 680 04
Area code(s) 25530
Vehicle registration OP

Orfeas (Greek: Ορφέας), named after the mythical musician Orpheus, is a former municipality in the Evros regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Soufli, of which it is a municipal unit.[2] Its land area is 643.266 km² (248.366 sq mi) and its 2001 census population 6,146 inhabitants. It is located in the north-central part of Evros, and borders both southeastern Bulgaria and northwestern Turkey. The seat of the municipality was in Lavara (pop. 1,580 in 2001). Much of the land is mountainous and forested to the west, extending up to the Rhodope regional unit. It is linked with GR-51 (Alexandroupoli - Orestiada - Edirne in Turkey and Svilengrad in Bulgaria). The town of Lávara sits on a plain. It is located SE of Svilengrad, S of Edirne, Turkey and Orestiada, and 13 km N of Soufli and 78 km N of Alexandroupoli. The municipality's next largest towns are Protokklísi (pop. 669), Amório (552), Méga Déreio (545), and Agriáni (451).

History

The town were rare affected by the Evros river flooding of February 17 to 22, 2005. Flood warnings were reported that time. It devastated much of the town on Wednesday March 2, 2005 and continued for several days. On Friday March 4, flood waters plummeted slowly. It amounted up to 5 m or 5,000 mm of rainfall causing the rover to overflow its banks. It flooded buildings, properties and stores. It also left people stranded in their homes and buildings. 50 houses were damaged. It was the worst flooding in nearly 50 years. The rail south of Lavara and near the station were also flooded and was closed that time.

Geography

Forests dominate the river banks and parts of the plain. Much of the area are used for farming. The main production are cattle, fruits and vegetables and some flowers. The mountains dominate further west.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Orfeas is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):

Historical population

Year Population Lavara Population municipality
1981 2,117 -
1991 2,173 6,905
2001 1,580 6,146

References

  1. ↑ De Facto Population of Greece Population and Housing Census of March 18th, 2001 (PDF 39 MB). National Statistical Service of Greece. 2003.
  2. ↑ Kallikratis law Greece Ministry of Interior (Greek)

External links

 Ivaylovgrad (Bulgaria) Metaxades Didymoteicho
Kechros Meriç (Turkey)
   Orfeas  
Sapes, Arriana, Alexandroupoli Soufli