The first mention of the new name is recorded in a taktikon of the early 9th century. The city is also mentioned in the "Life of St. Gregory the Decapolite". In the 8th and 9th century Bulgarian attacks forced the Byzantines to reorganize the defense of the area, giving great care to Christoupolis with fortification and a notable garrison. In 926 the Byzantine general (stratigos) Vasilios Klaudon reconstructed the fallen walls of the city, according to an inscription that is now in the archaeological museum of Kavala. Due to the location of Christoupolis, the city experienced an economic flourish, securing the contact between Constantinople and Thessaloniki. During the Norman raid of Macedonia in 1185, the city was captured and was burned. In 1302, the Catalonians failed to capture the city. In order to prevent them from coming back, the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos built a new long defensive wall ("το παρά την Χριστούπολιν τείχισμα"). In 1357 is mentioned that the Byzantine officers and brothers Alexios and Ioannis (John) controlled the city and its territory. Recent excavations have revealed the ruins of an early Byzantine basilica under an old Ottoman mosque in the old part of the city (Panagia peninsula). This Christian temple was used until the late Byzantine era, as the also recently revealed small cemetery around it shows. The Ottoman Turks first captured the city in 1387 and completely destroyed it in 1391, as a Mount Athos chronicle testifies.
Ottoman Era.
Kavala was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1387 to 1912. In the middle of the 16th century, Ibrahim Pasha, Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent, contributed to the prosperity and growth of Kavala by the construction of an aqueduct. The Ottomans also extended the Byzantine fortress on the hill of Panagia. Both landmarks are among the most recognizable symbols of the city today.
Mehmet Ali, the founder of a dynasty that ruled
