Kastanies

The village of Kastanies in Evros has been marked as the northeastern border of Greece. It is built on the banks of the Ardas River, a tributary of the Evros River, surrounded by a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.

In Kastanies there is one of the two customs crossing border between Greece and Turkey. The second and newer is located 100 kilometers to the south, at Kipoi, with much more traffic. From Kastanies you can reach by car Adrianoupolis (Edirne) of Turkey, which is just 10 kilometers away.

The village of Kastanies is today known for the festival of Ardas, which, since 1995, has been organized ​​every summer, from late July to early August, by the river, and has been bringing together hundreds of young people from Greece and the Balkans, at this acritic place. The village has many cafes, taverns and restaurants.

The village was named Kastanies, because in the area there was the town Kastanousa or Kastanatsos. In the years of Ottoman rule it was named Tsourek – kioi (çeyrek-keui), because in the village appeared cholera epidemic and a large portion of the population perished from the disease (çeyrek in Turkish). Kastanies has always been a purely Greek village with indigenous population.

Fifteen years ago, Kastanies was known for their brooms! The “sorghum broom” or skoupochorto (brrom grass), is a plant cultivated and with its proper processing were made the old handmade sweepers. The skoupochorto played a very important role in the economy of Kastanies. Sources mention that during the first years of the 1930s there were 10 processing industries of skoupochorto, with annual export of 400,000 brooms. Today, in the village still exist few broom craftsmen.