After staying at the Sakiá campsite for about 10 days we went off to Thessaloniki, staying at the same park4nite parking lot by the sea where we had stayed in 2019 (N40°35’23” E22°56’41”).
We were able to get into town easily on the number 5 bus for 1€, although always very crowded! We love Thessaloniki – it has such a history and mixture of cultures. It had been conquered by the Ottomans in 1430, and only became part of Greece after the first Balkan War in 1912.
As well as spending quite a lot of time in cafes and the bazaar/market, we went to various museums, churches, Roman remains and to the area right at the top of the city to see the city walls and fortress. The city also has an extraordinary number of sculptures, both old and contemporary, which you just come across when wandering around.
Museums
We went again to the Archaeological Museum and to see the stunning collection of beautiful Macedonia gold items recovered from cemeteries dating from 4th- 2nd century BC. Here are some photos.
Jewish Museum
Before the Second World War 50% of the city’s population were Sephardic Jews, because when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many settled in Thessaloniki. Between 1941 and 1943 the Nazis deported all the Jews in Greece to Auschwitz and Treblinka where of course they were murdered.
The museum provides a grim chronicle of the destruction of Greece’s Jewish population by the Nazis, but also a fascinating insight into Jewish life in the city over nearly 500 years.
Churches
The city’s best loved church is Agios Demetrios, dedicated to the city’s patron saint. The church was almost entirely reconstructed after the huge fire in 1917, but the first church was constructed on the site in the 4th century AD. It has several beautiful mosaic panels dating back to the 8th century.
Arch of Galerius
The arch was built to commemorate the victory of Emperor Galerius over the Persians in 297AD. Its piers contain weathered reliefs of the battle scenes and it is quite an extraordinary sight on Egnatia Street.
The City Walls
The city was initially fortified right after its foundation in the late 4th century BC but the present walls are dated back to the early Byzantine period around 390 AD. Their defensive abilities are quite impressive! They were 7 kilometres long while at some points they were up to 10 meters high and almost 5 meters thick. A number of fortresses and defensive towers were added during different periods of history like the Tower Of Trigoniou.
The walls originally went right down from the top of the city to the sea and you can still see fragments of the wall now and then throughout the city.
Statues and Sculptures
The sculptures throughout the city are really impressive particularly the national resistance memorial which commemorates the courage and sacrifice of the Greek resistance during World War II and the Holocaust memorial. This made in 1997 and depicts the seven branched menorah and flames in a complex of human bodies. The memorial is situated in Eleftherias Square where the Nazis rounded up the Jews in 1942 to torture and humiliate them.
In the second sculpture below the ‘branches’ have lights hanging from them powered by solar panels and light up at night. The piece aims to raise awareness about renewable energy.
For more information on the sculptures see this link https://thessaloniki.travel/exploring-the-city/art-culture/sculptures-monuments/
HS Velos
Walking along the seafront we saw a strange site – a war ship – HS Velos. This ship belonged to the US Navy during the second world war but later became part of the Greek navy and played a vital role in bringing down the military dictatorship which had controlled the country since 1967. Below is the information in front of the ship.
Rotunda
The Rotonda is a huge, circular building which was constructed by the Romans, then consecrated as a church in the 4th century AD, became a mosque in 1590 and was once again consecrated as a church in 1912, when the Greeks captured the city during the Balkan war. Inside there are no seats and no altar. It is a big, bare, very peaceful circular space with lovely mosaics on the walls and ceiling.
