3. Avas.
Cave of Aghioi Theodoroi.
THRACE
82
at the same period it suffered raids by independent Turkish
warriors and thus ceased to be the metropolitan see. Very few
parts of the fortifications survive above ground level; they are
of low height and date from Justinian’s time or earlier. Remains
survive of a 12th or 13th c. cross-in-square church, contracted
type, with narthex. Architectural components and inscriptions
of the Roman, early Christian, Byzantine and Ottoman periods
have been assembled in the Hana collection, which, next to the
16th c. Ottoman bath building, was a staging post on the Via
Egnatia, built circa 1400.
5. Cave of Aghioi Theodoroi, mural paintings (Σπήλαιο Αγίων
Θεοδώρων, τοιχογραφίες)
4. Potamos, fortress (Ποταμός, φρούριο)
2. Loutra Feron, Hana (Λουτρά Φερρών, Χάνα)
3.
Avas.
The fort, very close to Avas, was established on an inclined hill-
ock, next to a shallow stream, on a passage leading from the
Evros delta plains to the mountainous inland area. Fortification
all around the hill was unnecessary due to steep cliffs, so only
its accessible side was fortified, with an almost linear wall. At
the end of the wall there is a gate with two quadrilateral towers,
and almost midway along the wall there is another gate on the
side of a third tower.
4.
Potamos.
Near the remains of Potamos village, next to the road to Avas,
a fort survives on a low hill with precipitous slopes. There is an
outer enclosure with one surviving tower and an inner enclo-
sure with three quadrilateral towers. The fortress controls not
only the plain on the west bank of the river Evros estuary, but
also the passages inland. It served both as military settlement
and shelter for the population in an emergency situation. It pos-
sibly dates from the second half of the 13th or the first half of
the 14th c.
5.
Cave of Aghioi Theodoroi.
Byzantine hermitage located in a cave, perhaps dedicated to
Panagia. Two layers of mural paintings of the 11th and 13th c.
are preserved. It is possible that there was a third layer too.
