The city was first founded by the Romans and was named after Trajan. In the Roman period, the city was famous for its baths. In the 4th century, it became the capital of the province of Rhodope. The city was later ruled by the Byzantines and the Ottomans, during that period the Roman baths were renovated by the Ottoman Gazi Evrenos and became known as Hana. The area came under Bulgarian rule after the Balkan Wars and was ceded to Greece in the Treaty of Neuilly (1919).