“In Thessaloniki we live our history.» Sofia Bournatzi
Of course, this statement could almost be a cliché if it were not applied to Thessaloniki. This has a greater impact on the city than just having multiple UNESCO World Heritage designations; it has more to do with resilience. Despite wars, earthquakes and fires, the Thessalonians have been doing what they have been doing for 2,300 years.
Founded in 315 BC by King Cassander of Macedon, he would have aptly named the city after his wife, Thessalonica, sister of Alexander the Great, but Cassander had a specific vision. Thessaloniki (aka Salonika or Salonika) was to be the main gateway port from the heart of Alexander’s Macedonian Empire to southeastern Europe, connected to Asian trade routes – the Silk Road.
In the Thermaic Gulf, from Thessaloniki’s expansive seafront promenade, with the Olympus Mountains as a backdrop, merchant ships are anchored and await their turn at the modern docks just north of the city center. Behind it are Ladadika, Ano Poli and the “acropolis” – the imposing Heptapyrgion fortress. These neighborhoods constitute the city’s commercial, cultural and culinary heritage – its postcards.
This reality made the city coveted and popular over the millennia by conquerors from Rome to the Ottomans, and their presence is still palpable. It’s under your feet; it towers over your head, and soon you’ll be passing more of the new state-of-the-art subway/underground tube system. The past is an integral part of the urban fabric of Thessaloniki because it is visible in front.
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The Palace of Galerius
The Romans were attracted by Thessalonica’s commercial success and, in the 100s BC, absorbed Macedonia into their empire. Three hundred years later, the port city was the largest of Rome’s Greek provinces and one of the richest in the empire. At the end of 3rd century, Thessalonica was poised to become the center of the new Eastern Roman Empire.
THE Galerius Palace was not a big luxurious house. It was an “Imperial City” with administrative, residential, religious and public entertainment venues. According to interpretation, it was a complex so vast that it should be considered a total rehabilitation of Cassandra’s Thessalonica.
Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (Caesar: 293-311), newly appointed “deputy emperor” in the Tetrarchy created by Diocletian, preferred Thessalonica to the official capital of his region. Construction of its palace complex began in the late 290s.
It covered the current historic core and was composed of many interconnected elements, most of which today lie beneath streets, parks, residential and commercial buildings. The complex was surrounded by massive defensive walls from the harbor waterfront to the newly fortified acropolis. Besides the ruins of parts of the emperor’s palace, the most visible examples of the complex are the triumphal arch of Galerius and the incredibly preserved rotunda.
The Arch of Galerius
The Arch of Galerius stands at the busy intersection of Egnatia and Dimitriou Gounari streets, as it has since its construction in the 4th century. Thessaloniki’s Egnatia Street is the part of the 2,000-year-old Roman Via Egnatia that still connects (as the A2) Macedonia to Istanbul (aka Constantinople, Byzantium). Significant remains of its intricate carved marble panels detail the military prowess of Galerius and Rome.
Rotunda
The cylindrical rotunda was built in 306 AD and has served as a public building ever since. Emperor Galerius intended the Rotunda to be his tomb, but instead it was opened as a temple, perhaps to Zeus. At the end of the 5th century, Christianity had become established in the Empire and for the next thousand years the rotunda was the Byzantine Church of St. George. After the Ottoman conquest in 1430, it became a mosque (note the 16th-century minaret in the photo) until 1912, when, after Greek-Macedonian reunification, it was designated a national monument. (Ottoman-era buildings are protected by historic designation throughout Greece). Its golden frescoes are the subject of extensive restoration.
Heptapyrgion
The Heptapyrgion dominates the city center of Thessaloniki, from where the ancient acropolis stood, at the foot of Mount Chortiatis. The imposing fortress guarded the city for almost two millennia. Started by the Romans at the end of 4th century, alongside the reconstruction of the defensive walls to encircle the entire city, it was considerably expanded by the Byzantine Empire in the 12th century.th century and the Ottomans in the 15thth.
Curiously, its Greek and Ottoman name (Yedi Kule) means “fortress of seven towers”, although it has ten and at no time in its history has it had only seven. Despite this bureaucratic anomaly, this impressive relic serves today a historic district and park offering panoramic views of the city. Between the Heptapyrgion and the Ladadika district, Ano Poli (Upper Town), historic, colorful and artistic, has survived the Great fire of 1917flows down the side of the hill.
The Saint-Jean Baptistery
Thessaloniki Baptistery of St. John the Baptist (c. 400) is a peaceful hidden sunken garden with an art deco apartment building and beer garden overlooking the site. The fresh water spring, sacred to Christianity, still flows but is now visible from inside a modern chapel. Saint-Jean is considered the oldest baptistery in Christian history. It’s close to 5th century Hagia Sophia and in the Galerian Palace complex.
Bey Hamam
Surrounded by popular cafes in the Ladadika shopping district is one of Thessaloniki’s most beautiful medieval buildings: the 15th-century Bey Hamam. These Ottoman-era public baths are a testament to the sophistication that Thessaloniki has enjoyed over its long history. Only ceasing its original use in the 1960s, its intricate brick and tiled façade constitutes an architectural sculpture dramatically lit at night, providing a stunning visual backdrop for the café’s patrons.
Ladadika
The Ladadika was the Jewish quarter and market area of the city. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire granted asylum to thousands of Jews expelled from Spain. Yet the land has always been the city’s port district and has been built on many layers of history since its founding. In the historic district of Ladadika there are large markets from the beginning of the 20th century, still in operation. The center of Thessaloniki gastronomy for almost a century there have been the Modiano and Kapani markets, two historic post-1917 structures.
The vast Modiano market, housed in a large rectangular glass-covered structure from 1922, is currently undergoing total restoration. Parts of the pre-1917 Ladadika district that survived the Great Fire of 1917 have become fashionable in terms of shopping, cafes and nightlife.
The White Tower
The White Tower’s infamous history as a notorious Ottoman prison fades into the middle of time when seen today in its photogenic location on Thessaloniki’s historic waterfront. The current tower, built in the 15th century, replaced an earlier Byzantine fortification anchoring what would have originally been the southern corner of the waterfront walls of the Palace of Galerius. The tower is now a fascinating museum on the history of the port district and offers panoramic views of Thessaloniki.
Rébétika music
Many famous rebetika songs of love and loss were written by Greek prisoners in the White Tower and the Heptapyrgion during the last half century of Ottoman rule, which ended in 1912. This sad but captivating music by longing, love and loss still resonates in many Greek taverns combining music, food and friends. In 2017 included in the UNESCO list rebetika music like a Intangible cultural heritage of Greece.
When you go: Thessaloniki International Airport (SKR) is served by major European hubs and Greek cities. Thessaloniki is also connected by rail bus and coach in Greece and the Balkans.
Special thanks to Sofia Bournatzi from Pass Partout DMC and at Thessaloniki Tourism Organization for making my stay easier.
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