Fort Istibey
Greece · Europe
About
Fort Istimpei (Greek: Οχυρό Ιστίμπεη) is a fortress on Mount Beles, Central Macedonia, on Greece's northern border with Bulgaria, that was built to help defend Greece during World War II.
It became part of the fortifications of the Metaxas Line, a chain of fortifications along the Greek-Bulgarian border that was built in the 1930s and named after Ioannis Metaxas, then Prime Minister of Greece.
It is situated 16 km north of the village of Neo Petritsi at an altitude of 1,339 meters.
The main mission of the fort was to prevent entrance to the country from Bulgaria. It housed 13 officers and 350 soldiers. Its commander in chief was Ksanthos Pikoulakis.
The fort was active until April 1941, when it was forced to surrender to German troops.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.