Drama Prefecture ...more on Drama

To begin with, Drama has been known to the world as the organizing city for the International Short Film Festival; and moreover, because of its “Artistic May,” an Arts Festival for the entertainment and artistic education of local people and visitors alike. So, characterizing Drama as the Land of Letters, Arts and Culture, a place of Beauty and Harmony, would not be an overstatement; land of sports, history, tradition, worship and gastronomy. Land of earthly colors and bright green, of Labor, Anguish but, also, of Hope. Land that Nature has created at its best moment, where hospitality is the natural way of expression. Forest, lake, river, spring, cave, city, gorge, river falls and mountain environments succeed one another: the Nestos river, the caves by the springs of river Aggitis, the maze of the Greek defense line against the Nazis (housing a small museum), olive groves and vineyards, the artificial Lake of Lefkoghion, which has fast become a precious bird habitat, the Petroussa-Pyrgos Gorge, ideal for trekking but also for summer art events in the open-air stone-made theater in Petroussa, the list could become a vey long one. 

Tourism prospers and develops in beautiful areas inhabited by proud peoples. The people of Drama are determined to make their region known to the international visitors, for the mutual benefit of both sides. This was not an easy decision to make; objections, skepticism and reservations, based on fears that tourism can be a base of prosperity only if certain conditions are met, had to be overcome. Mainly these involved the potential danger to the unmolested natural environment; as an example, in Drama a number of wild horse herds are protected and free to go as they like, ornamenting the mountain slopes with their proud and gracious galloping. The communities see to that the herds are fed during harsh winters. The animals themselves, feeling that there is little to fear from humans, have grown all the more friendly with people. No wonder then why people, grown and earning a hard living in a place untouched by the vulgarity of concrete and asphalt, with secret corners that still remain unexplored treasures, spots where one can pay homage to Nature, have been reluctant to offer what has always been the essence of their existence to the international tourism to “consume”…