Serres

Sérres (Greek: Σέρρες) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The city is situated in a fertile plain at an elevation of about 70 metres (230 feet), some 24 kilometres (15 miles) northeast of the Strymon river and 69 km (43 mi) north-east of Thessaloniki, respectively. Serres' official municipal population was 76,817 in 2011 with the total number of people living in the city and its immediate surroundings estimated at around 100,000. The city is home to the Technological Educational Institute of Central Macedonia (Greek: ΤΕΙ Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας), composed of the School of Technological Applications, the School of Management and Finance and the School of Graphic Arts and Design, with at least 10,000 Greek and international students.

Names

The Greek historian Herodotus mentions the city as Siris (Σίρις) in the 5th century BC. Theopompus refers to the city as Sirra (Σίρρα). Later, it is mentioned as Sirae, in the plural, by the Roman historian Livy. Since then the name of the city has remained plural and by the 5th century AD it was already in the contemporary form as Serrae (Σέρραι). The Katharevousa form for the name of the city was Sérrai (Σέρραι). In the local Greek dialect, the city is known as "Ta Serras" (Tα Σέρρας), which is actually a corruption of the plural Accusative "Tas Serras" (Τάς Σέρρας) of the archaic form "Ai Serrai" (Αι Σέρραι). Τhe oldest mention of this form is attested in a document of the Monastery of Docheiarion in Mount Athos from 1383, while there are many other such references in documents from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It was known as Serez or Siroz in Turkish. In the Slavic languages, the city is known as Ser in both Macedonian and Serbian, while in Bulgarian it is known as Syar (Сяр) or Ser.

Serres (regional unit)

Serres (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Σερρών) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Serres. The total population reaches just over 175,000.

Geography

The mountains are Orvelos to the north, Menoikio to the east, Pangaio to the southeast, Kerdylio to the southwest, Vertiskos to the west, parts of Krousi to the west and portions of the Kerkini lies to the northwest. The regional unit borders on Thessaloniki to the southwest, Kilkis to the west, the Republic of Macedonia with the Novo Selo Municipality to the northwest, the Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria to the north, Drama to the northeast and Kavala to the east. The Strymonian Gulf lies to the south along with the Strymonas delta. Lake Kerkini was a lake located in the southern portion which is now drained. 41% of the regional unit are arable and most of the lands are near the Strymonas river which flows from Bulgaria and empties into the Strymonian Gulf. Another river is the Angitis in the eastern part of the regional unit, with the ravine and caves near Alistrati.

Serres (disambiguation)

Serres (Greek: Σέρρες) is a city in Greece, seat of the Serres regional unit.

Serres may also refer to:

Places

In Germany:

In Greece:

In France:

People

See also