Kavala

Kavala, or Cavalla, a walled town and seaport of European Turkey in the vilayet of Salonica, on the Bay of Kavala, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. Pop. (1905), about 5000. Kavala is built on a promontory stretching south into the bay, and opposite the island of Thasos. There is a harbour on each side of the promontory. The resident population is increased in summer by an influx of peasantry, of whom during the season 5000 to 6000 are employed in curing tobacco and preparing it for export. The finest Turkish tobacco is grown in the district, and shipped to all parts of Europe and America, to the annual value of about £1,250,000. Mehemet Ali was born here in 1769, and founded a Turkish school which still exists. His birthplace, an unpretentious little house in one of the tortuous older streets, can be distinguished by the tablet which the municipal authorities have affixed to its front wall. Numerous Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood, of which the chief is the large aqueduct on two tiers of arches which still serves to supply the town and dilapidated citadel with water from Mount Pangeus.

Kavala has been identified with Neapolis, at which St Paul landed on his way from Samothrace to Philippi (Acts xvi. 11). Neapolis was the port of Philippi, as Kavala now is of Seres; in the bay on which it stands the fleet of Brutus and Cassius was stationed during the battle of Philippi. Some authorities identify Neapolis with Datum (Δάτον), mentioned by Herodotus as famous for its gold mines.