Neo Cheimonio

Neo Cheimonio is located on the national road connecting Didymoteicho with Orestiada, 5 kilometers before Orestiada.

The residents of Neo Cheimonio are mostly coming from Megalo Zaloufi of Eastern Thrace. They are Arvanites in origin, found in Zaloufi as builders, from the area of ​​ Korçë to build the mosque of Adrianoupolis, in the mid 16th century.

With the population exchange after the Treaty of Lausanne, they were forced to leave their homes and settle on the west side of the Evros River. Most Arvanites –  Zaloufianoi settled in the villages of Sakkos, Rigio and Cheimonio. Cheimonio was originally located on the bank of Evros, but after the floods of 1928-29, the residents emigrated for a second time and build the village at its current location on a hill, next to the village of Thourio and they named it Neo Cheimonio.

In 1933, was built the church in Neo Cheimonio that is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The bell, multiple icons, the chalice and other sacred relics are now in the church of Neo Cheimonio, as the refugees had carried them from their village