A Vibrant Blend of History and Modernity
Founded in 316 BCE by Cassander, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Thessaloniki remained a thriving Hellenistic city until the era of Ottoman rule. Taking advantage of its strategic position, it developed into a multicultural city. In the 2nd century BCE, it was conquered by the Romans and was the seat of the province of Macedonia. The Egnatia Highway, completed in 120 BCE, connected Constantinople to today’s Albanian town of Durres, becoming the most important connector of East and West and one of the ancient world’s largest military and commercial roads.
In the Byzantine era, Thessaloniki was the Empire’s second most important city after Constantinople and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1432 and remained under its control for nearly five centuries. In 1492, it witnessed the arrival of the Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula, producing a thriving Jewish community, which the Nazis decimated during WWII. Since becoming part of the modern Greek state in 1912, it has been Greece’s second most populous city.
The city has monuments from its entire history, symbolised by the White Tower, a 15th-century Ottoman work. Other significant monuments include the Roman Agora (forum), the Arch of Galerius in Kamara, Emperor Galerius’ mausoleum (The Rotunda – St. George), the Church of St. Demetrios, the city walls, and numerous Byzantine churches. The city is also notable for its museums. In 2005, the Museum of Byzantine Culture was awarded the Council of Europe’s Museum Prize.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern secular Turkish state, was born in Thessaloniki in 1881 in a house on Apostolou Pavlou Street, directly behind the Turkish consulate. Today, it is a museum dedicated to his life.
Gastronomy
For food connoisseurs, it offers an endless array of restaurants and taverns serving excellent cuisine. Nothing better captures the multi-ethnic character than its food. From its Frankish and Ottoman conquerors to its Arab traders and a Jewish population fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, to the early 20th-century population exchange with Asia Minor, it’s unmistakably Greek yet incredibly diverse history has produced an equally rich cultural identity. And to know it all, you have to eat it all.
The gustatory landscape is characterised mainly by ouzo taverns with their meze and restaurants that emphasise northern Greek specialities. There is no shortage of ethnic restaurants, pubs, bar restaurants, and the most gourmet venues – some even in hotels and museums. Fast street snacks also have a variety: from the classic koulouri of Thessaloniki (ring-shaped bread stuffed with whatever you can imagine) and the bougatsa with cheese or cream to the many souvlaki shops. In addition, traditional patisseries and new bakeries will make you stop by their windows!
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Classic sweet flavours are the ‘Panorama triangles’ (with cream or chocolate), stuffed tsoureki, the politika (of the Polis, as Constantinople / Istanbul is also known) sweets (kazan dipi, ekmek kataifi, etc.), as well as the siropiasta.
