Mega Dereio
village in Evros, Greece
Mega Dereio (Greek: Μέγα Δέρειο) is a village in the central part of the Evros regional unit in Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Orfeas within the municipality of Soufli. Together with 6 other villages, it forms the community of Mikro Dereio. It is situated near the upper course of the river Erythropotamos, in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. The Greek National Road 53 (Alexandroupoli – Mikro Dereio – Kyprinos – Ormenio) passes through the village.
Population
History
The village was founded by the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century. It was known as Büyük Dervent in Turkish, and Голям Дервент Golyam Dervent in Bulgarian. According to Anastas Razboynikov, in 1830 the village numbered 700 Bulgarian and 50 Turk houses, in 1878 400 Bulgarian and 80 Turks houses and in 1912 420 Bulgarian and 80 Turk houses. According to professor Lyubomir Miletich, the 1912 population had around 300 Bulgarian families and 100 Turk families.
In August 1913 the village was attacked by Turkish troops and irregulars and despite the resistance of the local Bulgarians the bigger part of Golyam Dervent was burned.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mega Dereio” as village in Evros, Greece. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as village in Evros, Greece. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12277131. Authority coordinates are 41.234, 26.025. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1830, 1878, 1912 and 1913.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mega Dereio”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mega Dereio primary sources, Mega Dereio archive and Mega research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mega Dereio”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mega Dereio” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.