Spilaio, Evros

Spilaio (Greek, Modern: Σπήλαιο, Katharevoussa: Σπήλαιον meaning cave), older forms: -on is a village in the northwestern part of the Evros Prefecture in Greece located west of Turkey and Edirne, southeast of Ormenio and Svilengrad, Bulgaria, north of Alexandroupoli and east of Kurdzhali, Bulgaria, Athens, the Greek capital is nearly 1,100 km northeast. Plati is linked with the road connecting GR-51/E85 (Alexandroupoli - Soufli - Orestiada - Ormenio) and a road to Pentalofos and Komara. Dikea is the seat of the municipality of Trigono. Its 2001 population was 443 for the village. Much of the area are flat, the remainder of the area are hilly.

Nearest places

 * Dikaia, north
 * Marassia, northeast
 * Plati, southeast
 * Elaia, southwest

History
The village was founded by the Ottoman Turks, its name was known as (Ispitli, Bulgarian: Испитли). The village battled with the Turks and handed to the Bulgarians. At the end of the Bulgarian rule in 1913 during the Balkan Wars, Bulgarians moved northward into the remainder of Bulgaria which is now north, the remainder of the Turks were pushed to the western portion of today's Turkey. During the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), refugees east of the Evros river and from Asia Minor arrived into the village. It became entirely Spilaio immediately after the annexation. After World War II and the Greek Civil War, many of its buildings were rebuilt. Electricity After World War II and the Greek Civil War, many of its buildings were rebuilt. Electricity and automobiles arrived in the 1960s, it was linked with pavement in the late-20th century, television arrived in the 1980s. Internet and computers arrived in the late-1990s. The village's population lost by over half between 1981 and 2001.