The varied landscape of Thrace continues into Rhodopi district with the capital Komotini , a happy combination of valleys filled with sweetsmelling broom, pine-clad mountains, forests, antiquities and sea.
Komotini,
the prefectural capital, is built in a lush area and has a strong
Anatolian atmosphere. Situated along the via Egna-tia, it was founded in
the early Christian era and traces of the Byzantine fortress walls can
still be seen at the entrance to the modern city.
Among the sights worth seeing here are the Archaeological Museum with finds from Abdera, Maroneia, Mesembria and Dikaia, the Folk Art Museum and the Byzantine Church of the Virgin with its carved iconostasis. On the old road between Xanthi and Komotini, just before the latter, stand the ruined walls of the Roman city of Maximia-noupolis. North of Komotini worth visiting is Mt. Papikio with its Byzantine monasteries, which flourished during the 10th century, as well as the pine forest of Nymphaia.
