Thasos is the most northernly of the islands in the Aegean Sea, separated from the Thracian continent by a strait about eight kilometres in width. It is situated less than an hour's ferry ride from the large city of Kavala (the ancient of city of Neapolis, a former territorial possession of Thasos). The strategic situation of the island — on the maritime channel linking Macedonia to Asia Minor and at the terminus of trade routes connecting the Aegean coast to Thrace's inland — made Thasos an important port of call in Antiquity.
With a total land area of 380km2, the island is divided into two unequal halves, separted in the centre by a mountain range: "steep, dug with deep ravins, exposed to prevailing winds, the northeastern slope descends rapidly towards the creeks of the rocky and jagged coast, forming together with the mountain and the sea a landscape of rare beauty. The southwestern slope, less rugged and less steep, gradually descends from the 1208m of Mount Hypsarion, the island's highest point, to the sea, where the horizon closes on the hills of Chalkidiki, topped by the pyramid of Mount Athos" (Guide to Thasos, © EFA).
© EFA / Julien Fournier