Karantere
Encyclopedia
Karantere is a mostly forested area located in the central and northern parts of the Drama Prefecture
(and partially Kavala Prefecture
) in Greek Macedonia
that extends along the Greek
-Βulgarian
border. Karantere is 90% covered by the forest of Elatia and contains the forest village
of Elatia
. The Forest of Elatia and Karantere are sometimes used interchangeably when describing the area.
The forest village of Elatia lies at the location known as "Koutra," 72 km from Drama, Greece
. The forest is owned by the Greek Forest Service, with the village being the administrative and operational center for the Forest of Elatia.
trees. The landscape of the area is similar to that of central
and northern Europe
. Among the trees and plant life that can be found within the forest are:
There is a great wealth of plants in Elatia with more than 700 species. Many of which are endemic the Balkans
and many of which are rare in Greece. A wide variety of mushroom
s can be seen, many which are edible (Boletus
, Amanita caesarea
).
The fauna in the area has animal species such as the brown bear
, wild boar, deer
, roe deer
, hare
, wolves, wild cat
, wood pigeon
, eagles
, hawks, and woodpecker
s, among others.
Drama Prefecture
Drama is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the town of Drama. The regional unit is the northernmost within the geographical region of Macedonia and the westernmost in the administrative region of East Macedonia and Thrace...
(and partially Kavala Prefecture
Kavala Prefecture
Kavala is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the town of Kavala. Kavala regional unit is the easternmost within the geographical region of Macedonia.-Geography:...
) in Greek Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
that extends along the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
-Βulgarian
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
border. Karantere is 90% covered by the forest of Elatia and contains the forest village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Elatia
Elatia (Drama), Greece
Elatia , until 1927 known as Kara Dere , is a forest village in Northern Greece near the border with Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the Karantere forest.-History:...
. The Forest of Elatia and Karantere are sometimes used interchangeably when describing the area.
The forest village of Elatia lies at the location known as "Koutra," 72 km from Drama, Greece
Drama, Greece
Drama , the ancient Drabescus , is a town and municipality in northeastern Greece. Drama is the capital of the peripheral unit of Drama which is part of the East Macedonia and Thrace periphery. The town is the economic center of the municipality , which in turn comprises 53.5 percent of the...
. The forest is owned by the Greek Forest Service, with the village being the administrative and operational center for the Forest of Elatia.
Flora and fauna
Karantere contains the country's only forest of spruceSpruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
trees. The landscape of the area is similar to that of central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
. Among the trees and plant life that can be found within the forest are:
| Alder Alder Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to... |
Hornbeam Hornbeam Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae... |
| Ash Ash tree Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name... |
Maple Maple Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in... |
| Beech Beech Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:... |
Oak Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus... |
| Birch Birch Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa... |
Poplar Poplar Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood.... |
| Bourtree | Ostrya Ostrya Ostrya is a genus of eight to ten small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Its common name is Hophornbeam in American English and Hop-hornbeam in British English. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.The genus is native in southern... |
| Bulgarian Fir Bulgarian Fir Abies borisii-regis is a species of fir native to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, in Bulgaria, northern Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Serbia... |
Wild roses Rosa acicularis Rosa acicularis, also known as the prickly wild rose, the prickly rose, the bristly rose and the Arctic rose, is a species of wild rose with a Holarctic distribution in northern regions of Asia, Europe, and North America.... |
| Cedar | Scots pine Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia... |
| Dogwood Dogwood The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen... |
Sorbus Sorbus Sorbus is a genus of about 100–200 species of trees and shrubs in the subfamily Maloideae of the Rose family Rosaceae. Species of Sorbus are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan, service tree, and mountain ash... |
| Elderberry Elderberry Sambucus is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. It was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified due to genetic evidence... |
Willow Willow Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere... |
There is a great wealth of plants in Elatia with more than 700 species. Many of which are endemic the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and many of which are rare in Greece. A wide variety of mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s can be seen, many which are edible (Boletus
Boletus
Boletus is a genus of mushroom, comprising over 100 species. The genus Boletus was originally broadly defined and described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1821, essentially containing all fungi with pores...
, Amanita caesarea
Amanita caesarea
Amanita caesarea, commonly known in English as Caesar's Mushroom, is a highly regarded edible mushroom in the genus Amanita, native to southern Europe and North Africa. It has a distinctive orange cap, yellow gills and stem. Similar orange-capped species occur in North America and India...
).
The fauna in the area has animal species such as the brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
, wild boar, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
, hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
, wolves, wild cat
Wild cat
The wildcat is a small cat with several subspecies and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is...
, wood pigeon
Wood Pigeon
The Wood Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columba genus in the Columbidae family. It is a member of the dove and pigeon family Columbidae.- Distribution :...
, eagles
Eagles
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner.With five number one singles, six Grammys, five American Music Awards, and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the...
, hawks, and woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
s, among others.
See also
- Elatia (Drama), GreeceElatia (Drama), GreeceElatia , until 1927 known as Kara Dere , is a forest village in Northern Greece near the border with Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the Karantere forest.-History:...
- East Macedonia and ThraceEast Macedonia and ThraceEast Macedonia and Thrace is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Thrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace....
- Geography of GreeceGeography of GreeceGreece is a country located in Southern Europe, on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. Greece is surrounded on the north by Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia and Albania; to the west by the Ionian Sea; to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and to the east by the Aegean Sea and Turkey...
- Western ThraceWestern ThraceWestern Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...