THESSALONIKI CITY BREAK DESTINATION www.alexandertravel.gr

THESSALONIKI the capital of MACEDONIA

A Very Short History of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki [1], in the Greek district of Central Macedonia, is, at about a million inhabitants, the second largest city in the country. More importantly, it is a city with a continuous 3000-year history, preserving relics of its Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman past and of its formerly dominant Jewish population. Its Byzantine churches, in particular, are included in UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Museums and Galleries

At the end of Tsimiski street there is a special area in the center of Thessaloniki where you can find many museums:

• Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum [7]


• The Museum of Byzantine Culture [8]


• State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki [9]


• Thessaloniki Museum of Photography [10]


• Museum of Cinematography in Thessaloniki [11]


• Thessaloniki Technology Park [12]


• Museum of Science [13]


• Folklore and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and Thrace [14]


• Thessaloniki International Fair [15]


• Jewish Museum [16]


• Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art [17]


• Municipal Gallery of Art


• Teloglion Foundation of Art


• Museum at the White Tower [18]


• Museum at Aghios Demetrios


• Goulandris Museum of Natural History [19]


• Attaturk House


• It is also useful to keep an eye on the website Museums of Macedonia [20] that covers the whole region.

The northernmost Byzantine walls of the city and parts of the western walls are still standing, as is the city's symbol - the White Tower, one of the 16th c. AD fortified towers - which is the only surviving tower on the seafront. The rest of the walls are in the picturesque old town (Upper Town) which offers a spectacular view over the bay, especially in the late afternoon. Take a walk along the enormous seafront promenade (about 12 km altogether) with views of the amphitheatrically-built city. See the Archaeological Museum, the new award-winning Museum of Byzantine Culture (2005 - the best Museum of Europe), the Roman Forum excavations.

Visit the upper town for its traditional old houses, small cobbled streets, Byzantine citadel, the Eptapyrgion fort.

The very lively and youth-oriented international film festival[21] is held in November, the International Trade Fair[22] in September. On no account should you miss the Byzantine churches built between the 5th and 14th century ACE, such as St Demetrios, (7th c. ACE) and Agia Sophia (Holy Wisdome, 9th c. ACE), and many lovely smaller ones in the upper town (St Nicolaos Orfanos is particularly worth a look for its frescoes), which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of them, the Rotonda, started life as a Roman temple of Zeus, built by ceasar Galerius, and is almost as old as the Pantheon in Rome. Next to the Rotonda, see the Arch of Triumph of Galerius and the ruins of his palace.

The city is also known as "the mother of Israel", due to the once flourishing jewish community here, which existed from the Roman period and grew after the Ottoman Empire took in the refugees from Spain ("Sephardis), until World War II when most of the city's Jews were transported to Auschwitz, never to return. However, there are still two Synagogues, and you can see the Jewish Museum.

Also interesting are the Turkish public baths, the Bezesteni (Ottoman closed market for jewellery and precious materials) the Alatza Imaret (Ottoman poorhouse) and Hamza Bey Camii (both restored and used for exhibitions).

The traditional central food market, with hundreds of stalls selling meat, fish, fruit, vegetables (sometimes cheek-by-jowl, an unnerving experience for North Americans), cheap clothes and shoes, flowers, herbs and spices, between Aristotelis Square and Venizelou street. Aristotelous Square-the biggest of the city-and the promenade with its cafes and restaurants.

THESSALONIKI IN VIDEO