TOXOTES and Valley of NESTOS Toxotes is a settlement of the municipality of Topiros in the prefecture of Xanthi. It is located 13.9 km southwest of Xanthi. The population is 819 inhabitants (2011). The settlement around the 19th century was called Okcular and consisted of a Muslim population. The inhabitants of the settlement were tobacco farmers. During the Second Balkan War, some inhabitants left their homes. After the Treaty of Lausanne, refugees from Eastern Thrace settled near the railway station and 70 refugees from Asia Minor moved to the settlement of Tuzla. In 1923, refugees from the Trabzon area came to Imera. In 1924, the settlement was renamed from Oxylar to Toxotes. Gradually, the settlements of Tuzla and Imera were abandoned. NESTOS The Nestos is one of the five largest rivers in Greece and forms the border between Macedonia and Thrace as well as the regional units of Kavala and Xanthi, after first crossing the prefecture of Drama. Its total course stretches over 243 km, of which 130 km are on Greek territory. It rises in Bulgaria's Rila Mountains and flows into the Thracian Sea after crossing the western Rhodope Mountains and Mount Falakro. The river delta, with an area of 550,000 hectares, is a "Hydrobiotope of International Importance" and part of the National Park, which also includes Lakes Vistonida and Ismarida. It stretches from Nea Karvali to Abdera and also includes the floodplain forest known as the Great Forest (Koca Orman). It is characterised by lush vegetation and numerous animal species and now covers only 4,600 hectares, whereas it used to be over 125,000 hectares. According to Herodotus, the river Nestos was the northern limit of the lions' distribution in Greece. Today, 300 species of birds, 30 species of birds of prey, 11 species of amphibians, 21 species of reptiles and many species of fish live in the lagoons of the delta. In mythology, Nestos or Nessos is born at the beginning of the year, before humans are born. He was born together with 12,456 rivers and 3000 nymphs. His father was the ocean and his mother was Tethys.                 View of Nestos                                            Meander of the Nestos seen from above