Serres in the context of "Irakleia, Serres"

In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia (Ancient Greek: Παιονία, romanized: Paionía) was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians (or Paionians; Ancient Greek: Παίονες, romanized: Paíones).

The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, are obscure, but it is known that it roughly corresponds to most of present-day North Macedonia and north-central parts of Greek Macedonia before the expansion of Macedon (i.e. probably the Greek municipalities of Paionia (excluding the village of Evropos), Almopia, Sintiki, Irakleia, and Serres), and a small part of south-western Bulgaria. Ancient authors placed it south of Dardania (an area corresponding to modern-day Kosovo and northern North Macedonia), west of the Thracian mountains, and east of the southernmost Illyrians. It was separated from Dardania by the mountains through which the Vardar river passes from the field of Scupi (modern Skopje) to the valley of Bylazora (near modern Sveti Nikole).

Serres (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Σερρών) is one of the regional units of Greece, in the geographic region of Macedonia. It is part of the Region of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the city of Serres. The total population reaches just over 150,000.

Moses (Church Slavonic: Мѡѷсе́й Bulgarian: Мойсей; died c. 976/986) was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuel of Bulgaria and second son of komes Nicholas. After the fall of the eastern parts of the Empire under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his brothers David, Aron and Samuel continued the fight to the west. They ruled together and divided the realm into four parts. His lands were centred on Strumitsa, from where he had to launch attacks against the Aegean regions of the Byzantine Empire.

In 976, the Bulgarian armies undertook a major assault from all borders and Moses lead his troops to Serres. During the siege of the town, he was mortally hit by a stone and then slain by an enemy sword. David and Aron also perished in the same year and the whole power fell in the hands of Samuel, who became Emperor in 997 after the death of last ruler from the previous dynasty, Roman.

Konstantinos G. Karamanlis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, pronounced [konstaˈdinos karamanˈlis]; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998) was a Greek statesman who was the four-time Prime Minister of Greece and two-term president of the Third Hellenic Republic, serving in the former role from 1955 to 1963 and from 1974 to 1980. A towering figure of Greek politics, his political career spanned portions of seven decades, covering much of the latter half of the 20th century.

Born near Serres in Macedonia, Karamanlis practiced law until his election to the Hellenic Parliament in 1936 as a member of the conservative People's Party. Rising through the ranks of Greek politics after World War II, Karamanlis became Minister of Labour in 1947, and in 1951 he was named Minister for Public Works in Alexandros Papagos's Greek Rally administration. He was appointed prime minister by King Paul of Greece after Papagos's death in 1955. During his first term, he applied a program of rapid industrialization, heavy investment on infrastructure and improvement on agricultural production, which led to the post-war Greek economic miracle. He also implemented the extension of full voting rights to women, which had stood dormant since 1952. In foreign affairs, he pursued an aggressive policy toward Greek membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), and abandoned the government's previous strategic goal for enosis (the unification of Greece and Cyprus) in favour of Cypriot independence. Re-elected three times, electoral victories in 1956 and 1961 were marred by controversy and political division.

New Democracy (Greek: Νέα Δημοκρατία, romanized: Néa Dimokratía [ˈnea ðimokraˈti.a], ND/ΝΔ) is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In contemporary Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main centre-right to right wing political party and one of the two major parties along with its historic rival, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). New Democracy and PASOK were created in the wake of the toppling of the military junta in 1974, ruling Greece in succession for the next four decades. Following the electoral decline of PASOK, New Democracy remained one of the two major parties in Greece, the other being the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the same year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European People's Party, the largest European political party since 1999, the Centrist Democrat International, and the International Democracy Union.

The support of New Democracy comes from a wide electorate base ranging from centrists to conservatives and from nationalists to post-modernists. From a geographical perspective, its main nonvolatile support base is in the southern Peloponnese, Eastern Attica, Northern Athens and Chios. Its support is generally weaker in Epirus and Western Greece such as Arta, Achaia, Ioannina, the city of Thessaloniki and Crete. Traditionally, New Democracy received the greatest percentages in Laconia, Messenia, Kastoria and Serres. Having spent four and a half years in opposition to SYRIZA's government, New Democracy regained its majority in the Hellenic Parliament and returned to government under Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the 2019 Greek legislative election. The party secured another absolute majority in Parliament in the June 2023 Greek legislative election.

Jovan Uglješa (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Угљеша; fl. 1346–1371) was a Serbian medieval nobleman of the Mrnjavčević family and one of the most prominent magnates of the Serbian Empire. He held the title of despot, received from Serbian Emperor Stefan Uroš V, whose co-ruler - Serbian King Vukašin was Uglješa's brother.

Uglješa was the son of Mrnjava, a treasurer of Helen, the queen consort of Stephen Uroš I of Serbia. He held Travunija in 1346, during the rule of Stefan Dušan (1331–1355). Uglješa married Jelena (later nun Jefimija), daughter of Vojihna, the kesar of Drama. This boosted the power of Uglješa, who would later govern the region alongside his father-in-law. Vojihna died in 1360, and his lands were inherited by Uglješa. He was given the title of despotes by the widowed Serbian empress, Helena of Bulgaria, in 1365. His domain, the Principality of Serres [bg], was situated along the lower course of the Struma with Serres as seat, eventually replacing Helena in its possession. From 1368, his territory was under the religious jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Patriarch mentioned the "master of Raška" (another name for Serbia), Jovan Uglješa, in a letter from 1371. With the Ottoman threat rising in the Balkans, Uglješa and his brothers Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Gojko Mrnjavčević tried to oppose the Turks. Uglješa was killed on 26 September 1371 in the Battle of Maritsa. Their troops were defeated by those of Ottoman commanders Lala Shahin Pasha and Gazi Evrenos at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371. The defeat resulted in large portions of the region of Macedonia falling under Ottoman power. Additionally, Uglješa's two brothers were killed during the fight. Their courage made them heroes of Bulgarian and Serbian epic poetry.