Kavála

Kavala occupies a peninsula on the Macedonian coast, where a harbor meets the old route of the Via Egnatia. Its castle overlooks the sea and the town below, while the arches of an aqueduct carry water across the valley behind it. Known as Christoupolis in Byzantine times, the settlement entered a new period of growth under Ottoman rule.

In the 16th century Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha repaired the aqueduct and endowed a mosque and public buildings, including inns, baths and fountains. Their water supply helped sustain the expanding town. Centuries later Kavala's native son Muhammad Ali rose to rule Egypt, but did not forget his birthplace. Between 1813 and 1821 he endowed an imaret complex there, providing space for education and charitable work above the harbor.