Avas, Greece

Avas or Avantas (Greek, modern: Άβαντας, katharevousa: Άβας, Bulgarian: Дервент, Turkish: Dervent) is a village in the southern part of the Evros regional unit, Greece. Avantas is located 10 km north of Alexandroupoli. It is on the Greek National Road 53 (Alexandroupoli - Mikro Dereio - Ormenio), between Alexandroupoli to the south and Aisymi to the north. In 2021 its population was 486.

History
The village was founded by the Ottoman Turks. Its inhabitants were 3/4 Bulgarian and 1/4 Turkish before the Balkan Wars and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). According to professor Lyubomir Miletich, the 1912 population contained 320 Bulgarian families. Refugees from east of the Evros river and from Asia Minor arrived into the village. Its name was changed from the Turkish Dervent to the current Avas.

People

 * Mitro Karabeljata, Revolutionary leader and strategist of Tane Nikolov