Village Tichos is a semi-mountainous settlement, at an altitude of about 370 meters, located in the eastern part of the prefecture of Drama, 20 kilometers from the city of Drama and administratively belongs to the municipality of Paranesti. During the 19th century the village was in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the Balkan wars, the village was included in the territory of Greece and with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, Greeks from Pontus settled in the village. Tobacco cultivation was the driving force for the region.
The excellent soil conditions and ideal climate favored the development of excellent tobacco varieties “Basma” with its thin leaf and intoxicating aroma. For decades, almost all the families in the region have cultivated thousands of acres of tobacco, producing large quantities, importing valuable foreign currency into the country and contributing to the development of the region.
After the Second World War, tobacco continued to almost monopolize the production activity, but was hit hard by the decline in demand on foreign markets and the abandonment of this crop by the inhabitants, leading them to emigrate to Germany. Tobacco cultivation was gradually abandoned and at the same time the area began to become deserted.
However, the soil and climatic conditions of the area have not changed, and remain the ideal environment for the cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants, not so much for the large quantity that they will yield but for their excellent and authentic quality. That is why we believe that this project will be an effort, even a small one, to reverse the image of desolation and abandonment of the area and at the same time to mobilize others to create similar activities.
