Kavala - The modern town & Seven important buildings
Kavala boasts a unique character reflecting its recent past: neoclassical mansions and big tobacco warehouses evoke the memory of a distant past when a wealthy bourgeoisie was dominating the city. In the “Mecca of tobacco” as Kavala was named in the past, thousands of tobacco workers, male and female, earned their living. Their faces will remain alive for all eternity thanks to the black and white photos adorning the walls of the city’s Tobacco Museum. At the cobblestoned, lined with palm trees port, stand one next to another modern buildings and fish tavernas, while fish boats cast their reflection on azure waters.
The city’s most popular meeting point is Eleftherias Square while the most buzzing point is Megalou Alexandrou Pedestrian Street featuring chic shops, cafes, bars as well as a tobacco warehouse that has been transformed into a shopping center. Close to Eleftherias square lies the old scenic neighborhood of Agios Nikolaos, where also the homonymous church – a former mosque- is situated. On the relics of an ancient pillar one can see what, according to tradition, is supposed to be Apostle Paul’s footprint, left there from the time that he first visited Macedonia.
Seven important buildings
- Tokos Hall (1879). The residence of tobacco farmer D. Tokos which had hosted the consulate of Italy for two years (1879-80) and features Ottoman, Neoclassical and Baroque elements. Today it is the seat of the 12th Department of Byzantine Antiquities.
- The old Girls’ School, a neoclassical building, which today houses the 10th Primary School.
- Megali Lesxi (Big Club), (1910). A neoclassical mansion that now houses the Municipal Library.
- The City Hall (1890), the former residence of the Hungarian tobacco trader Pierre Herzog.
- Wix Hall (1898-1900), which used to be the residence of the German Baron Adolf Wix von Zsolna until 1925. From 1989 on it houses the municipal authorities.
- The Catholic Mission (1888-92), a building that housed the French consulate as well as a school of French language.
The Municipal Tobacco Warehouse (built around 1900) featuring Ottoman, Neoclassical and Baroque elements.
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