Komotini is a state of mind by Jana Idvncv from Slovakia

While a simple walk around this town is a walk through the history dated back to the 4th century AD, many local people do not seem to appreciate how unique their hometown really is and often question my sanity when I walk around taking pictures. When approached, all people we have met so far are going the extra mile and share with us the best of their culture... yet they tend to remain negative in their opinions about this forgotten gem of multicultural heritage no matter how much beauty and inspiration can be found right in front of them.

Let me challenge this negativity and talk about my experience with this place as I think these people cannot see the forest for the trees at times.

For anyone wondering what history I can see in the middle of nowhere – There is The Tourist & Culture Map of Komotini where you can find three historic routes and 37 precious and unique places full of interesting history. I travelled well over 3000km to see them all and thoroughly enjoyed this exploration as no school lesson can replace my first-hand experience. I took a selfie with a 24ct gold bust of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus this morning so I suggest you have a walk around your hometown with this map on you as it can take you places.

Komotini is one of the main administrative and financial centres of NE Greece and the presence of the Democritus University makes this town the home of thousands of Greek and international students. In addition to this, Komotini offers the unique mixture of multi- cultural and multi-religious legacies from which I learned a lot more than I ever expected. Although I have seen the boundaries and separation between communities, I also witnessed several acts of kindness and friendship between people of different backgrounds which is a great source of knowledge and inspiration for me. Building bridges is not enough if you do not know how to cross them and I am grateful for the privilege of volunteering in this lovely town as I learned a lot about goodwill from people in this area which I can certainly use in my life when I return back home.