Kavala County, Greece Genealogy

Guide to Kavala County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Kavala is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the city of Kavala. Kavala regional unit is the easternmost within the geographical region of Macedonia.

Kavala (Wikipedia)

Geography
Kavala is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the city of Kavala. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the former Kavala County was transformed into a regional unit within the East Macedonia and Thrace region. The prefecture also included the island of Thasos, which became a separate regional unit. Kavala, Wikipedia

Municipalities
Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.

Villages

 * List of villages in Kavala County
 * List of former toponyms in Kavala Prefecture Village names during the Ottoman Empire, etc. Many settlements in Macedonia region in Northern Greece had Greek and non-Greek forms. Most of those names were in use during the multinational environment of the Ottoman Empire. Some of the forms were identifiably of Greek origin, others of Slavic, yet others of Turkish or more obscure origins.

Municipal Archives
Quite comprehensive records for your family, perhaps for several generations, are kept by the mayor's office of each municipality. Civil registers of birth, marriage, and death are kept there. In addition, an important record, unique to Greece, the Dimologion is an actual "family group record". Census records, contracts, and other records can be found.

Information About Important Records in Municipality Archives
Click on the links for an explanation on the types of records you will look for at the municipality level.
 * Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers
 * Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon)
 * Town (Resident) Registers (Dimotologion)

Writing to Municipal Archives

 * Municipality addresses for Kavala County
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality.pdf|Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality]]
 * Asking for a Birth record
 * Asking for a Death record
 * Asking for Family Structure (Dimitologion)
 * Follow up Thank You letter

Greek National Archives and Kavala Regional Archives of the GAK

 * The Greek National Archives (GAK or GSA) has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS). Some records are online. Others are not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request.

General State Archives (GSC) Dafni 61 15452 Psychiko Greece Phone:+30 210-6782200 FAX:+30 210-6782215 E-mail:archives@gak.gr
 * See [[Media:GAK - How to Navigate.pdf|How to Navigate the Greek National Archives.]]
 * Online records
 * Contact information for services

Kavala Archives
Nomos Kavalas Metropolis 1 & Palaeologos PO 1158 654 03 Kavala Greece

Tel: 2510-232697 Fax: 2510-232697 Email: mail@gak.kav.sch.gr
 * Website
 * Kavala Archives Online Records

Important Records of the Kavala Archives

 * Mathilogio, gives student, birth date, birthplace, father's occupation
 * School records, File #001, 1919-1930
 * School records, File #002, 1929-1933
 * School records, File #003, 1932-1933
 * School records, File #004, 1933-1935
 * School records, File #005, 1935-1937
 * School records, File #006, 1937-1945
 * School records, File #007, 1945-1948
 * School records, File #008, 1948-1952
 * Mathologio
 * School records, File #35, 1938-1941
 * School records, File #36, 1944-1949
 * School records, File #37, 1949-1957
 * Mathologio
 * Limenari, Thassos school records, File #002, 1922-1941
 * Dowries, 1864-1889
 * Dowries, 1896-1904
 * Dowries, 1904-1914
 * Wills, 1896-1913
 * Land sale contracts, 1885-1912'''

Writing to the Greek National Archives (GAK) or the Kavala Office of the GAK
Again, not all records will be online. You can write and request searches for records. Instructions, form letters, and their translations are found here.
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK).pdf|Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK)]]
 * Requesting Birth information
 * Requesting Marriage information
 * Requesting information about the family structure and death of an ancestor
 * Follow up Thank You letter

Greek Orthodox Church Records
Records may be either at the diocese archives or still at the local parish church. Usually only the most recent records are still at the parish.
 * Contact information for the Diocese of Filippoi, Neapolis and Thasos
 * Contact information for the Diocese of Eleytheroupolis

Important Church Records
Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf:
 * Book of Births: date of birth, place of birth, gender, name, surname, father’s name, date of baptism, godfather and priest, notes
 * Book of Marriages: date of marriage, groom’s name, groom’s age, groom’s father’s name, groom’s mother’s name, bride’s name, bride’s age, bride’s father’s name, bride’s mother’s name, priest, place of birth, notes
 * Book of Deaths: date of death, name of the deceased, father’s name, age, notes
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letter to a Diocese.pdf|Form Letter to a Diocese]]
 * Asking for a Marriage record
 * Follow up Thank You letter

How to Read the Records
You do not have to be fluent in Greek to read and understand these records! Only a few vocabulary words are involved. True, the alphabet is different. But you learned one alphabet, and you can learn another alphabet!
 * Greece Handwriting and Text will teach you the alphabet in print and handwriting and give you some computer translation tools.
 * The article, This simple Greek Word List, features a short list of key terms. You should learn to recognize these.
 * Other words will be used on a "look it up when you come to it" basis. For this, more thorough word lists can be found at :
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 10 The Language.pdf| Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 10:THE LANGUAGE. Family History Research in Greece.]]
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 11 Numbers and Units of Time.pdf|Catsakis, Lica. Chapter 11: NUMBERS AND UNITS OF TIME. Family History Research in Greece.]]
 * [[Media:Lica Catsakis 12 Appendix A Glossary.pdf|Catsakis, Lica. GLOSSARY. Family History Research in Greece.]]