French Railway Station

The French Station has never ceased to this day to be a living part of the collective memory of the residents of Alexandroupoli and all the surrounding villages and towns that the railway line crosses. After leaving behind the Alexandroupoli lighthouse and passenger train station and continuing to walk east towards the exit of the city following the tracks, we will come across a wooden building, the French Station, a real gem painted in grey.

The railway was the cause of the creation of Alexandroupoli. At first, in 1871, the line connecting Alexandroupoli (Dedeagats) with Pythio and Adrianople was built by the Eastern Railways company and then, in 1895, the line connecting Thessaloniki with Alexandroupoli (Union Railway J.S.C.) . Each of the above railway networks had its own terminal in the city with the corresponding buildings that served its transport, commercial and passenger needs.

The two-story central building of the Railway Station of the Eastern Railways (CO) and later the Franco-Hellenic (C.F.F.H.), is one of the first buildings of this city. It was built by the company: "Societe Imperiale des Chemins de fer de la Turquied D' Europe" (General Company for the Exploitation of the Railways of European Turkey (abbreviated C.O. or Eastern Railways) in 1874. It is also known that Alexandroupoli (old Dedeagats) is served by a railway! This building is two-storey with a tiled roof, made of optical brickwork and externally covered with wooden cladding (with horizontal boards on the ground floor and vertical boards on the first floor). Due to its proximity to the city's port, it served all means of response for the dispersal or gathering of passengers and goods.

Today, as a Sorting station, it still houses the functions of the railway service and is mainly the crossing point of the Thessaloniki – Alexandroupolis and Alexandroupolis – Ormeni lines. The buildings of the railway network of the Eastern Railways from Dedeagats to Karagats were constructed of glass bricks and externally covered with wooden cladding (stations of Alexandroupoli, Pythiou, Didymoteicho and Orestiada) in contrast to the buildings of the Union Railway (J.S.C.) from Thessaloniki to Alexandroupolis, which is all stone with a tiled roof. The building facilities of the Eastern Railways in Alexandroupolis were built based on the studies and plans drawn up by engineers and technicians of the Russian army who arrived in the city during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878.