Avdella

Next to Metaxades in Evros is located the settlement of Avdella, in which 30 people live today. Some lodges in Avdella are distinguished for their particular architecture, built with local beige stone also found at the homes of Metaxades.

According to the legend, the village of Avdella was created during the 1760s by the Turk cattleman Abdullah, who escaped the slaughter of the inhabitants of a Turkish village in the region, since the Sultan burnt it because its residents were acting violently against the Greeks.

Abdullah, as the village’s cattleman, (that is shepherd of animals belonging to other people), was out on pasture when the Janissaries circled the village and set it on fire. When he saw the disaster, he ran with the animals and they stopped by themselves at one point. At this exact point Abdullah chose to build his house and have a family, which created ​​the settlement of Avdella as it was growing up.

In 1922, at the village settled about 20 families that came from the villages of Livadi and Tsikardikli of Bulgaria and Kosti of Eastern Thrace, creating the current settlement named Avdella.