[4] During the Ottoman era, tobacco production and trade, the operation of the railway (1895) and improvement of the road network towards the port of Kavala, led to an increase in the population of the city and to the enhancement of commercial activity.

[3] Drama hosts the "Eleftheria", cultural events in commemoration of the city's liberation, at the end of June or beginning of July, and an annual film festival in September.

During the early Christian period (4th–7th centuries), Drama was a small fortified settlement closely tied both administratively and religiously to the declining Roman colony of Philippi.

Over time, Drama emerged as the region's most important urban center, a status it maintained during the Middle Byzantine period.

It fell under the control of various powers, including the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, and the Despotate of Epirus, before being reclaimed by the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty.

In 1913, as a result of the Treaty of Bucharest following the Second Balkan War, the area became part of Greece - along with the rest of eastern Macedonia.

In response, the Bulgarian occupation forces applied harsh reprisals in Drama, Doxato and several villages like Choristi, Kyrgia, Koudounia, and Prosotsani.

[8] The following day, 29 September, the leaders of the attacks were all killed in battle or in their attempts to escape to the German occupation zone.

The terror and famine became so severe that the government in Athens considered plans for evacuating the entire Greek population to German-occupied Greece.

[12] On 4 March 1943, after midnight, the Bulgarian military authorities rounded up the Jewish population across their zone of occupation in eastern Macedonia and Thrace.

The 4,000-strong community, including 589 Jews from Drama, was carried by train into Bulgarian territory and assembled in tobacco warehouses, which were empty at that time of year.

However, these industries have either closed down or moved across the border to Bulgaria,[18] because of the low demands of the Bulgarian workforce,[19] with a negative impact on the local economy and employment.

The same hall continues the journey through time to the Iron Age and later years where the main element was the worship of Dionysius at the city of Drama itself and at Kali Vrysi and other areas of the regional unit.

In the second hall architectural sculptures, pottery and coins confirm that life continued in the city and throughout the whole regional unit during early Christian, Byzantine and post-Byzantine years.

The visitor is taken through modern recent history by a photographic exhibition relating to the city of Drama, the towns of the regional unit and the mountain villages.

Moreover, the episcopal canonicals, holy vessels and their covers, many from the 19th century, relics of Chrysostomos of Drama and Smyrni, constitute the most important exhibits in the museum.

Organized groups of pilgrims and visitors to the city are advised to contact the office of the Diocese of Drama before visiting the museum to make arrangements.