Location information

  The Kilkis Prefecture is located in central Makedonia, between the Prefectures of Pella, Thessaloniki and Serres. A large part of Kilkis lies around the verdant valley of the Axios river, the ancient Amfaxitida. Its western and northern regions include the sublime and forested mountains of Paiko and Belles, while Kroussia on its north eastern side, and the Doirani lake in the north and west, constitute a natural border as well as a splendid aquatic habitat with rare bird and plant species. The region throughout appears to have been an area of human activity since the Copper and Iron Ages. Prehistoric settlements and interspersed tombs have provided significant findings dating back to the second millennium BC.
  A significant area of the Prefecture is the ancient Crestonia , located east of the Axios river, near the spring of todays Gallikos river, the ancient Ehedoros, i.e. the river that brought giftsgold through its sources.
  On the west lies Peonia, a site Homer referred to by naming Axios the earths widest and most beautiful river.
  At the end of the archaic era, the region of the Kilkis prefecture came into the hands of the Macedonian state into the boundaries of the present Hellenic state.
  The regions development during those years passed through the great Macedonian prosperity which hosted in its royal courts of the era renowned philosophers, poets and artists. However, Kilkis region had the same fate of the remaining Macedonian and in 148 BC it succumbed to roman sovereignty. After over 250 years of the so-called Pax Romana, the region, along with all of Central Macedonian, was pillaged by the Goths, Huns, Avars and Slavs, who settled in the Balkan region in the 6th, 7th centuries and beyond.
  The French rule period constituted the continuation of the Byzantine Empire, a part of which was the region of Kilkis.
  In spite of the civil conflict, the rulers of Paleologos dynasty provided the wider region with significant projects and a great degree of development. With the conquest of Thessaloniki in 1430 AD by the Turks, the region throughout falls under the Turkish yoke. As a matter of fact, from1699 and on, the Turkish yoke. As a matter of fact, from 1699 and on, the Turks attempt to replace the region's Greek residents with Turkish men and women.
  Following the revolution of 1821, the region of Kilkis remained captive. The Macedonian Struggle began later, followed by the two Balkan wars.
  During the 1st Balkan War (1912-1913) vast regions of Macedonia are freed from the Turkish rule, among them Thessaloniki . The Second Balkan War that followed, included significant battles, which took place in large part in the region of Kilkis and Lahanas. The war involved the former allies Greeks and Serbs on one side, and the Bulgarians impassioned by the Panslavic idea on the other.
  This battle of Kilkis determined the consummation of the overall liberation of today's Macedonia and Thrace.
  The fury of Word War I (1914 -1918) followed. The wider region of Kilkis became a scene of intense allies activity and battle as well. The victories of the Greeks and their allies in Skra and Doirani have remained among the most significant ones. The catastrophe of Asia Minor which marked the history of Greece and the Lausanne Convention (1922), which uprooted Hellenism from its homes Minor Asia, bore a definitive impact on the population composition in the region of Kilkis.
  The war of 1940 also determined the further course of Greece, a course followed by Kilkis as well. Some of the Greek army's most significant battles were fought in the region of Kilkis.
  Today, the region is restructured economically and culturally, and gladly embraces its visitor in its splendid areas, marked with natural beauty.

This text is cited January 2004 from the Prefecture of Kilkis URL below

• http://www.kilkis.gr/history.htm