Saloniki, where we shall witness severe battles, is situated at the
head of the gulf by the same name, an inlet of the AEgean Sea. It
is a well-fortified city, built on the water's edge, but surrounding
it is high land commanding the surrounding country. Added to that,
the swamp region is another protection from an enemy coming from
inland. Its seaward forts, however, are, or were, obsolete and
would probably crumble before the fire of modern naval guns.
Stretching down the eastern shore of the Gulf is a peninsula on
which is the famous Mt. Athos, that very peculiar community of
celibate monks. Here, in the Holy Mountain, as the Slavs call it,
there are monasteries representing all the various denominations of
the Greek Orthodox Church: Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian,
each swarming with hundreds of monks, who pass their time in idleness.
Not only are women forbidden to enter this domain, but even female
dogs or cats are kept out.
Across this upper end of the AEgean, from Mt. Athos, is the Bulgarian
port, Dedeagatch, to which runs a branch of the main railway from
Sofia to Constantinople. The country here is low and swampy, the
port itself being little more than a boat landing.
Just below this point, across the Gulf of Saros, is the peninsula
of Gallipoli, where a critical phase of the war was fought. It is
somewhat like the blade of a scimitar, covering the entrance to
the Sea of Marmora.
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