Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, with over one million inhabitants in its
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
, and the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of the
geographic region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
administrative region
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of
Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...
and the
Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace
The Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση Μακεδονίας–Θράκης) is one of the seven decentralized administrations of Greece, consisting of the peripheries of Centra ...
. It is also known in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
as (), literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the () or "co-reigning" city of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Larissa ...
, at the northwest corner of the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
. It is bounded on the west by the delta of the
Axios Axios commonly refers to:
* Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia
* ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website
Axios may also refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...
. The
municipality of Thessaloniki
The Municipality of Thessaloniki ( el, Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Dímos Thessaloníkis'') is the second largest municipality by population in Greece after the Municipality of Athens. According to the 2011 Greek census, it has a popu ...
, the historical center, had a population of 317,778 in 2021, while the
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
had 1,091,424 inhabitants in 2021. It is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, notably through the
Port of Thessaloniki
The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.
The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general, and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital. Events such as the
Thessaloniki International Fair
The Thessaloniki International Fair ( el, Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis''), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-large ...
and the
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), organized by the cultural institution of the same name under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, is held every November in Thessaloniki.TIFF features international competition secti ...
are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia ( el, Ομογένεια, Omogéneia), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus). Such places historically include Albania, North Macedonia, parts of ...
. Thessaloniki was the 2014
European Youth Capital
Turin (2010)
Antwerp (2011)
Braga (2012)
Maribor (2013)
Thessaloniki (2014)
Ganja (2016)
The 'European Youth Capital'' (abbreviated EYC) is the title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city, designed to empower ...
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
and sister of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430 and remained an important seaport and multi-ethnic metropolis during the nearly five centuries of Turkish rule. It passed from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
to the
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...
on 8 November 1912. Thessaloniki exhibits
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until th ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, as well as several
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
Sephardic Jewish
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
structures. The city's main university,
Aristotle University
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
, is the largest in Greece and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
Thessaloniki is a popular tourist destination in Greece. In 2013, ''
National Geographic Magazine
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide, while in 2014 ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle.
Names and etymology
The original name of the city was . It was named after the princess
Thessalonike of Macedon
Thessalonike ( grc-gre, Θεσσαλονίκη; 353 or 352 – 295 BC) was a Macedonian princess, the daughter of King Philip II of Macedon by his Thessalian wife or concubine, Nicesipolis. History links her to three of the most powerful men in ...
, the half sister of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, whose name means "Thessalian victory", from Thessalos, and 'victory' (
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...
), honoring the Macedonian victory at the
Battle of Crocus Field
The so-called Battle of Crocus Field (Krokion pedion) (353 BC or 352 BC) was a battle in the Third Sacred War, fought between the armies of Phocis, under Onomarchos, and the combined Thessalian and Macedonian army under Philip II of Macedon. In ...
(353/352 BC).
Minor variants are also found, including , , , and .
The name is first attested in Greek in the
Chronicle of the Morea
The ''Chronicle of the Morea'' ( el, Τὸ χρονικὸν τοῦ Μορέως) is a long 14th-century history text, of which four versions are extant: in French, Greek (in verse), Italian and Aragonese. More than 9,000 lines long, the ''Ch ...
(14th century), and is common in
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
s, but it must have originated earlier, as al-Idrisi called it ''Salunik'' already in the 12th century. It is the basis for the city's name in other languages: (''Solunŭ'') in
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
, () in
Judeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
(שאלוניקי prior to the 19th century) () in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, (''Selenik'') in
Albanian language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...
, (''Selânik'') in
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
and in
modern Turkish
Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant smal ...
, in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, ''Solun'' or in the
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
and neighboring
South Slavic languages
The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches (West and East) ...
, (''Saloníki'') in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, in Aromanian and in Megleno-Romanian.
In English, the city can be called Thessaloniki, Salonika, Thessalonica, Salonica, Thessalonika, Saloniki, Thessalonike, or Thessalonice. In printed texts, the most common name and spelling until the early 20th century was Thessalonica; through most of rest of the 20th century, it was Salonika. By about 1985, the most common single name became Thessaloniki. The forms with the Latin ending ''-a'' taken together remain more common than those with the phonetic Greek ending ''-i'' and much more common than the ancient transliteration ''-e''.
Thessaloniki was revived as the city's official name in 1912, when it joined the
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...
during the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
. In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deep '' L'', characteristic of the accent of the modern Macedonian dialect of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. The name is often abbreviated as .
History
From classical antiquity to the Roman Empire
The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town of
Therma
Therma or Thermē ( grc, Θέρμα, ) was a Greek city founded by Eretrians or Corinthians in late 7th century BC in ancient Mygdonia (Europe), Mygdonia (which was later incorporated into Macedon), situated at the northeastern extremity of a great ...
and 26 other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonike, a half-sister of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
and princess of Macedonia as daughter of
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
. Under the kingdom of Macedonia the city retained its own autonomy and parliament and evolved to become the most important city in Macedonia.
Twenty years after the fall of the
Kingdom of Macedonia
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
in 168 BC, in 148 BC, Thessalonica was made the capital of the
Roman province of Macedonia
Macedonia ( grc-gre, Μακεδονία) was a province of the Roman Empire, encompassing the territory of the former Antigonid Kingdom of Macedonia, which had been conquered by Rome in 168 BC at the conclusion of the Third Macedonian War. The pro ...
. Thessalonica became a
free city Free city may refer to: Historical places
* Free city (antiquity) a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras
* Free imperial city, self-governed city in the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor
** Free City of ...
of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
under
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
in 41 BC. It grew to be an important trade hub located on the ''
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . of ...
'',White Tower Museum – A Timeline of Thessaloniki the road connecting Dyrrhachium with
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centers of commerce such as
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
. Thessaloniki also lies at the southern end of the main north–south route through the Balkans along the valleys of the Morava and
Axios Axios commonly refers to:
* Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia
* ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website
Axios may also refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...
river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece. The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia;.
At the time of the Roman Empire, about 50 AD, Thessaloniki was also one of the
early centers of Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
; while on his second missionary journey,
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
visited this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed the seeds for Thessaloniki's first Christian church. Later, Paul wrote letters to the new church at Thessaloniki, with two letters to the church under his name appearing in the
Biblical canon
A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible.
The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning " rule" or "measuring stick". The use ...
as
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Thessalonians. Some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the first written book of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
.
In 306 AD, Thessaloniki acquired a patron saint, St. Demetrius, a Christian whom Galerius is said to have put to death. Most scholars agree with
Hippolyte Delehaye
Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., (19 August 1859 – 1 April 1941) was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists.
Biography
Born in 1859 in Antwerp, Delehaye joined the Society of Jesus ...
's theory that Demetrius was not a Thessaloniki native, but his veneration was transferred to Thessaloniki when it replaced
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians an ...
as the main military base in the Balkans. A
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
l church dedicated to St. Demetrius,
Hagios Demetrios
The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios ( el, Άγιος Δημήτριος), is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki (in Central Macedonia, Greece), dating from a time when it was the sec ...
, was first built in the fifth century AD and is now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
When the Roman Empire was divided into the
tetrarchy
The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares' ...
, Thessaloniki became the administrative capital of one of the four portions of the Empire under Galerius Maximianus Caesar, where Galerius commissioned an imperial palace, a new
hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
, a
triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...
and a
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, among other structures.
In 379, when the Roman
Prefecture of Illyricum
The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum ( la, praefectura praetorio per Illyricum; el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία ῶν πραιτωρίωντοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four ...
was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum. The following year, the
Edict of Thessalonica
The Edict of Thessalonica (also known as ''Cunctos populos''), issued on 27 February AD 380 by Theodosius I, made the Catholic (term), Catholicism of Nicene Christians the state church of the Roman Empire.
It condemned other Christian creeds s ...
made
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
the state religion of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. In 390,
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
troops under the Roman Emperor
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
Fall of Rome
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
in 476, Thessaloniki was the second-largest city of the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
Byzantine era and Middle Ages
From the first years of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire after
, both in terms of wealth and size, with a population of 150,000 in the mid-12th century. The city held this status until its transfer to Venetian control in 1423. In the 14th century, the city's population exceeded 100,000 to 150,000, making it larger than
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at the time.
During the sixth and seventh centuries, the area around Thessaloniki was invaded by Avars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several times, as narrated in the ''
Miracles of Saint Demetrius
The ''Miracles of Saint Demetrius'' ( la, Miracula Sancti Demetrii) is a 7th-century collection of homilies, written in Greek, accounting the miracles performed by the patron saint of Thessalonica, Saint Demetrius. It is a unique work for the hi ...
''. Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki; however, modern scholars consider this migration to have been on a much smaller scale than previously thought. In the ninth century, the Byzantine missionaries
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
, both natives of the city, created the first
literary language
A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken langu ...
of the Slavs, the
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
, most likely based on the Slavic dialect used in the hinterland of their hometown.
A naval attack led by Byzantine converts to Islam (including
Leo of Tripoli
Leo of Tripoli ( el, Λέων ὸ Τριπολίτης), known in Arabic as Rashīq al-Wardāmī (), and Ghulām Zurāfa (), was a Greek renegade and fleet commander for the Abbasid Caliphate in the early tenth century. He is most notable for h ...
) in 904 resulted in the sack of the city.
The economic expansion of the city continued through the 12th century as the rule of the
Komnenoi
Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην ...
emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the
Kingdom of Thessalonica
The Kingdom of Thessalonica () was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over conquered Byzantine lands in Macedonia and Thessaly.
History
Background
After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204, Bonifac ...
— which then became the largest
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
of the
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzanti ...
. In 1224, the Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by the
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate of Epirus ( gkm, Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου) was one of the Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It claim ...
, a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, under
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
Theodore Komnenos Doukas ( el, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Δούκας, ''Theodōros Komnēnos Doukas'', latinisation of names, Latinized as Theodore Comnenus Ducas, died 1253) was ruler of Despotate of Epirus, Epirus and Thessaly#Late M ...
who crowned himself Emperor, and the city became the capital of the short-lived
Empire of Thessalonica
The Empire of Thessalonica is a historiographic term used by some modern scholarse.g. ,, , . to refer to the short-lived Byzantine Greek state centred on the city of Thessalonica between 1224 and 1246 (''sensu stricto'' until 1242) and ruled by th ...
. Following his defeat at Klokotnitsa however in 1230, the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
until it was recovered again in 1246, this time by the
Nicaean Empire
The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...
.
In 1342, the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots, an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor, which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary. The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire, as it had its own government, a form of republic. The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and the city was reunited with the rest of the Empire.
The
capture
Capture may refer to:
*Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body
*Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation
*"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend
*Capture (band), an ...
of
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
in 1354 kicked off a rapid Turkish expansion in the southern
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, conducted both by the Ottomans themselves and by semi-independent Turkish ghazi warrior-bands. By 1369, the Ottomans were able to conquer Adrianople (modern
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
), which became their new capital until
1453
Year 1453 ( MCDLIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1453rd year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 453rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 53rd year of the 15th century, and the 4 ...
. Thessalonica, ruled by
Manuel II Palaiologos
Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Μανουὴλ Παλαιολόγος, Manouēl Palaiológos; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the na ...
(r. 1391–1425) itself surrendered after a lengthy siege in 1383–1387, along with most of eastern and central Macedonia, to the forces of Sultan
Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
. Initially, the surrendered cities were allowed complete autonomy in exchange for payment of the ''
kharaj
Kharāj ( ar, خراج) is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, developed under Islamic law.
With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the ...
''
poll-tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
. Following the death of Emperor
John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions.
Biography
John V was the son of E ...
in 1391, however, Manuel II escaped Ottoman custody and went to Constantinople, where he was crowned emperor, succeeding his father. This angered Sultan
Bayezid I
Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...
, who laid waste to the remaining Byzantine territories, and then turned on Chrysopolis, which was captured by storm and largely destroyed. Thessalonica too submitted again to Ottoman rule at this time, possibly after brief resistance, but was treated more leniently: although the city was brought under full Ottoman control, the Christian population and the Church retained most of their possessions, and the city retained its institutions.
Thessalonica remained in Ottoman hands until 1403, when Emperor Manuel II sided with Bayezid's eldest son
Süleyman
Suleyman or Süleyman is a variant of Suleiman (the Arabic name ). It means "man of peace". Notable people with the name include:
Suleyman
*Suleyman I of Rûm or Suleiman ibn Qutulmish (d. 1086), founder of an independent Seljuq Turkish state i ...
in the Ottoman succession struggle that broke out following the crushing defeat and capture of Bayezid at the
Battle of Ankara
The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 20 July 1402 at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and the Emir of the Timurid Empire, Timur. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to the ...
against
Tamerlane
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
in 1402. In exchange for his support, in the
Treaty of Gallipoli
The Treaty of Gallipoli, concluded in January or early February 1403, was a peace treaty between Süleyman Çelebi, ruler of the Ottoman territories in the Balkans, and the main Christian regional powers: the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Ve ...
the Byzantine emperor secured the return of Thessalonica, part of its hinterland, the
Chalcidice
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...
peninsula, and the coastal region between the rivers Strymon and Pineios. Thessalonica and the surrounding region were given as an autonomous
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
to
John VII Palaiologos
John VII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 1370 – 22 September 1408) was Byzantine emperor for five months in 1390, from 14 April to 17 September. A handful of sources suggest that ...
. After his death in 1408, he was succeeded by Manuel's third son, the DespotAndronikos Palaiologos, who was supervised by
Demetrios Leontares Demetrios Laskaris Leontares or Leontarios ( el, Δημήτριος Λάσκαρις Λεοντάρης, died 6 September 1431) was an important Byzantine statesman and military leader of the early 15th century, serving under the emperors Manuel II ...
until 1415. Thessalonica enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity after 1403, as the Turks were preoccupied with their own civil war, but was attacked by the rival Ottoman pretenders in 1412 (by
Musa Çelebi
Musa Çelebi (died 5 July 1413) was an Ottoman prince ( tr, şehzade) and a co-ruler of the empire for three years during the Ottoman Interregnum.
Background
Musa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the fourth Ottoman sultan.Kastritsis, Dimi ...
) and 1416 (during the uprising of
Mustafa Çelebi
Mustafa Çelebi (d. May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( tr, Düzmece Mustafa or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He was the Sul ...
against
Mehmed I
Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...
). Once the Ottoman civil war ended, the Turkish pressure on the city began to increase again. Just as during the 1383–1387 siege, this led to a sharp division of opinion within the city between factions supporting resistance, if necessary with Western help, or submission to the Ottomans.
In 1423, Despot Andronikos Palaiologos ceded it to the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
with the hope that it could be protected from the Ottomans who were besieging the city. The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured by the Ottoman Sultan
Murad II
Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451.
Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...
on 29 March 1430.
Ottoman period
When Sultan
Murad II
Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451.
Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...
captured Thessaloniki and sacked it in 1430, contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved. Ottoman artillery was used to secure the city's capture and bypass its double walls. Upon the conquest of Thessaloniki, some of its inhabitants escaped, including intellectuals such as
Theodorus Gaza
Theodorus Gaza ( el, Θεόδωρος Γαζῆς, ''Theodoros Gazis''; it, Teodoro Gaza; la, Theodorus Gazes), also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis (in Latin) and Thessalonikeus (in Greek) (c. 1398 – c. 1475), wa ...
"Thessalonicensis" and
Andronicus Callistus Andronikos Kallistos ( el, Ανδρόνικος Καλλίστος) was a teacher of Greek literature in Bologna, Rome, Florence, Paris and London. He was one of the most able Greek scholars of the 15th century and cousin of the distinguished schola ...
. However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as a major imperial city and trading hub. Thessaloniki and
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs. Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field of
shipping
Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...
, but also in manufacturing, while most of the city's trade was controlled by
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
people.
During the Ottoman period, the city's population of Ottoman
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
(including those of
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
Bulgarian Muslim
The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians ( bg, Българи-мохамедани, ''Bǎlgari-mohamedani'', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, ''Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani'', locally called ''Pomak'', ''ahryan'', ''poganets'', '' ...
, especially the Pomaks and
Greek Muslim
Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam (and often the Turkish language and identity) dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of th ...
of convert origin) and Muslim Roma like the
Sepečides Romani
Sepečides Romani also known as Sevlengere Roma (meaning "basket(weaving) Roma" is the Romani dialect of the traditionally basketweaving Roma, originally from Thessaloniki (regional unit), in Greece. Their ancestors live there as Nomads during the ...
grew substantially. According to the 1478 census Selânik ( ota, سلانیك), as the city came to be known in Ottoman Turkish, had 6,094 Christian Orthodox
household
A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...
s, 4,320 Muslim ones, and some Catholic. No Jews were recorded in the census suggesting that the subsequent influx of Jewish population was not linked to the already existing Romaniots community. Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th century, however, nearly 20,000
Sephardic Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
immigrated to Greece from the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
following their expulsion from Spain by the 1492
Alhambra Decree
The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ( Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...
. By c. 1500, the number of households had grown to 7,986 Christian ones, 8,575 Muslim ones, and 3,770 Jewish. By 1519, Sephardic Jewish households numbered 15,715, 54% of the city's population. Some historians consider the Ottoman regime's invitation to Jewish settlement was a strategy to prevent the Christian population from dominating the city. The city became both the largest Jewish city in the world and the only Jewish majority city in the world in the 16th century. As a result, Thessaloniki attracted persecuted Jews from all over the world.
Thessaloniki was the capital of the
Sanjak of Selanik
The Sanjak of Salonica or Selanik (Ottoman Turkish: ; el, λιβάς/σαντζάκι Θεσσαλονίκης) was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the environs of the city of Thessalonica (Salonica, Turkis ...
within the wider
Rumeli Eyalet
The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia ( ota, ایالت روم ایلی, ), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or '' eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ( ...
(Balkans) until 1826, and subsequently the capital of
Selanik Eyalet
Salonica Eyalet ( ota, ایالت سلانیك; Eyālet-i Selānīk) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.
Administrative divisions
Sanjaks of the Eyalet in the mid-19th century: By James Henry Skene
# Sanjak of Tirhala (Trikala)
# Sanjak of Sel ...
(after 1867, the
Selanik Vilayet
The Vilayet of Salonica ( ota, ولايت سلانيك, Vilâyet-i Selânik) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1912. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of . This consisted of the sanjaks of Selanik,
Serres
Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki.
Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...
and
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
between 1826 and 1912.
With the break out of the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
in the spring of 1821, the governor Yusuf Bey imprisoned in his headquarters more than 400 hostages. On 18 May, when Yusuf learned of the insurrection to the villages of
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
, he ordered half of his hostages to be slaughtered before his eyes. The mulla of Thessaloniki, Hayrıülah, gives the following description of Yusuf's retaliations: "Every day and every night you hear nothing in the streets of Thessaloniki but shouting and moaning. It seems that Yusuf Bey, the Yeniceri Agasi, the Subaşı, the hocas and the ulemas have all gone raving mad." It would take until the end of the century for the city's Greek community to recover.
Thessaloniki was also a
Janissary
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while also killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known as
The Auspicious Incident
The Auspicious Incident (or EventGoodwin, pp. 296–299.) (Ottoman Turkish: ''Vaka-i Hayriye'', "Fortunate Event" in Constantinople; ''Vaka-i Şerriyye'', "Unfortunate Incident" in the Balkans) was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Jan ...
in Ottoman history. In 1870–1917, driven by economic growth, the city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917.
The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an "official" face with the creation of the
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries.
Gover ...
while a number of new public buildings were built in the
eclectic style
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact th ...
in order to project the European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire. The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889, efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879, the first tram service started in 1888 and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908. In 1888, the Oriental Railway connected Thessaloniki to Central Europe via rail through
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
In the early 20th century, Thessaloniki was in the center of radical activities by various groups; the
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
, founded in 1897, and the Greek
Macedonian Committee
The Macedonian Committee ( gr, Μακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Makedoniko Komitato''), formally the Hellenic Macedonian Committee (Ελληνομακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Ellinomakedoniko Komitato''), was a Greek revolutionary ...
, founded in 1903. In 1903, an anarchist group known as the
Boatmen of Thessaloniki
The Boatmen of Thessaloniki ( bg, Гемиджиите; mk, Гемиџиите) or the Assassins of Salonica, was a Bulgarian anarchist group, active in the Ottoman Empire in the years between 1898 and 1903. The members of the Group were predom ...
planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki, including the
Ottoman Bank
The Ottoman Bank ( tr, Osmanlı Bankası), known from 1863 to 1925 as the Imperial Ottoman Bank (french: Banque Impériale Ottomane, ota, بانق عثمانی شاهانه) and correspondingly referred to by its French acronym BIO, was a bank ...
, with some assistance from the IMRO. The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki (now the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle) served as the center of operations for the Greek guerillas.
During this period, and since the 16th century, Thessaloniki's Jewish element was the most dominant; it was the only city in Europe where the Jews were a majority of the total population. The city was ethnically diverse and
cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
. In 1890, its population had risen to 118,000, 47% of which were Jews, followed by Turks (22%), Greeks (14%), Bulgarians (8%), Roma (2%), and others (7%). By 1913, the ethnic composition of the city had changed so that the population stood at 157,889, with Jews at 39%, followed again by Turks (29%), Greeks (25%), Bulgarians (4%), Roma (2%), and others at 1%. Many varied religions were practiced and many languages spoken, including
Judeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
, a dialect of Spanish spoken by the city's Jews.
Thessaloniki was also the center of activities of the Young Turks, a political reform movement, which goal was to replace the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy with a constitutional government. The Young Turks started out as an underground movement, until finally in 1908, they started the
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Constit ...
from the city of Thessaloniki, which lead to of them gaining control over the Ottoman Empire and put an end to the Ottoman sultans power.Eleftherias (Liberty) Square, where the Young Turks gathered at the outbreak of the revolution, is named after the event. Turkey's first president
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
, who was born and raised in Thessaloniki, was a member of the Young Turks in his soldier days and also partook in the Young Turk Revolution.
As the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. When
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
at the time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (now
Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
,
Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
), Venizelos replied "" (''Thessaloniki, at all costs!''). As both Greece and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies. On 8 November 1912 (26 October
Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
), the feast day of the city's patron saint,
Saint Demetrius
Saint Demetrius (or Demetrios) of Thessaloniki, Thessalonica ( el, Ἅγιος Δημήτριος τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης, (); bg, Димитър Солунски (); mk, Свети Димитрија Солунски (); ro, Sfântu ...
, the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki. The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece and Tahsin Pasha, ruler of the city, told the Bulgarian officials that "I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered". After the
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
George I of Greece
George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913.
Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for ...
was assassinated in the city by
Alexandros Schinas
Alexandros Schinas ( el, Αλέξανδρος Σχινάς, c. 1870 – 6 May 1913), also known as Aleko Schinas, assassinated King George I of Greece in 1913. Schinas has been variously portrayed as either an anarchist with political motiva ...
.
In 1915, during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, a large
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
expeditionary force established a base at Thessaloniki for operations against pro-German Bulgaria. This culminated in the establishment of the
Macedonian Front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
, also known as the Salonika front. And a temporary hospital run by the
Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...
was set up in a disused factory. In 1916, pro-
Venizelist
Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s.
Main ideas
Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:
*Greek irredentism: T ...
Greek army officers and civilians, with the support of the Allies, launched an uprising, creating a pro-Alliedtemporary government by the name of the "
Provisional Government of National Defence
The Provisional Government of National Defence (), also known as the State of Thessaloniki (Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης), was a parallel administration, set up in the city of Thessaloniki by former Prime Minister Eleftherios Ve ...
" that controlled the "New Lands" (lands that were gained by Greece in the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, most of
Northern Greece
Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions.
Administrative regions of Greece
Administrative term
The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...
including
Greek Macedonia
Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...
, the
North Aegean
The North Aegean Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Βορείου Αιγαίου, translit=Periféria Voríou Eyéou, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the isla ...
as well as the island of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
); the official government of the King in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, the "State of Athens", controlled "Old Greece" which were traditionally monarchist. The State of Thessaloniki was disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek governments under Venizelos, following the
abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
air raid on Thessaloniki alarmed many town civilians and killed at least one person, and in response the Allied troops based there arrested the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish
vice-consul
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
s and their families and dependents and put them on a battleship, and billeted troops in their consulate buildings in Thessaloniki.
Most of the old center of the city was destroyed by the
Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917
250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917.
250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf.
The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 ( el, Μεγάλη Πυρκαγιά της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1917) destroyed two thirds of the city of T ...
, which was started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917. The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless; according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were unemployed. Two churches and many synagogues and mosques were lost. More than one quarter of the total population of approximately 271,157 became homeless. Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it could implement the new redesign of the city according to the European-style urban plan prepared by a group of architects, including the Briton
Thomas Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. H ...
, and headed by French architect
Ernest Hébrard
Ernest Hébrard (1875–1933) was a French architect, archaeologist and urban planner, best known for his urban plan for the center of Thessaloniki, Greece, after the great fire of 1917.
Background
Hebrard studied at the École des Beaux- ...
. Property values fell from 6.5 million
Greek drachma
The drachma ( el, wikt:δραχμή, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:
# An Ancient Greece, ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states du ...
s to 750,000.
After the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, a
population exchange
Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration, often imposed by state policy or international authority and most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion but also due to economic development. Banishment or exile is a ...
took place between Greece and Turkey. Over 160,000 ethnic Greeks deported from the former
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
– particularly Greeks from
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and
East Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
were resettled in the city, changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims, including Ottoman
Greek Muslims
Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam (and often the Turkish language and identity) dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of th ...
, were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people. This made the Greek element dominant, while the Jewish population was reduced to a minority for the first time since the 14th century.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded by
Fascist Italy
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
(with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone), and, the Italians having failed in their invasion of Greece, it fell to the forces of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
on 8 April 1941 and went under German occupation. The Nazis soon forced the Jewish residents into a ghetto near the railroads and on 15 March 1943 began the deportation of the city's Jews to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
and
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concent ...
s. Most were immediately murdered in the
gas chambers
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
History
...
. Of the 45,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz, only 4% survived.
During a speech in Reichstag, Hitler claimed that the intention of his Balkan campaign, was to prevent the Allies from establishing "a new Macedonian front", as they had during WWI. The importance of Thessaloniki to
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially,
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
had planned to incorporate it directly into
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and not have it controlled by a puppet state such as the Hellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised to
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
*Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
on 25 March 1941).
As it was the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying forces, the first Greek resistance group formed in Thessaloniki (under the name , , "Freedom") as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe, also by the name ''Eleftheria''. Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" (
Pavlos Melas
Pavlos Melas ( el, Παύλος Μελάς, ''Pávlos Melás''; March 29, 1870 – October 13, 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first ...
Concentration Camp), where members of the resistance and other anti-fascists were held either to be killed or sent to other concentration camps. On 30 October 1944, after battles with the retreating German army and the Security Battalions of Poulos, forces of
ELAS
The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
entered Thessaloniki as liberators headed by
Markos Vafiadis
Markos Vafeiadis (also spelled as Vafiadis and Vafiades; el, Μάρκος Βαφειάδης; Tosya, – Athens, ) was a leading figure of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War.
Pre-war life
Vaf ...
(who did not obey orders from ELAS leadership in Athens to not enter the city). Pro-EAM celebrations and demonstrations followed in the city. In the 1946 monarchy referendum, the majority of the locals voted in favor of a republic, contrary to the rest of Greece.
After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage list
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...
in 1988. In 1997, Thessaloniki was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture, sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in existence by 2010. In 2004, the city hosted a number of the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
events as part of the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
.
Today, Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in
Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
, with its port, the
Port of Thessaloniki
The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.
The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland. On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece. The city also forms one of the largest student centers in Southeastern Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and was the
European Youth Capital
Turin (2010)
Antwerp (2011)
Braga (2012)
Maribor (2013)
Thessaloniki (2014)
Ganja (2016)
The 'European Youth Capital'' (abbreviated EYC) is the title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city, designed to empower ...
in 2014.
Geography
Thessaloniki is located 502 kilometres (312 mi) north of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
.
Thessaloniki's urban area spreads over 30 kilometres (19 mi) from
Oraiokastro
Oraiokastro ( el, Ωραιόκαστρο) is a municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece and a suburb of Thessaloniki.
Municipality
The municipality Oraiokastro was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the foll ...
in the north to Thermi in the south in the direction of
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
.
Geology
Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe of the
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Larissa ...
on its eastern coast and is bound by Mount Chortiatis on its southeast. Its proximity to imposing mountain ranges, hills and fault lines, especially towards its southeast have historically made the city prone to geological changes.
Since medieval times, Thessaloniki has been hit by strong earthquakes, notably in 1759, 1902, 1978 and 1995. On 19–20 June 1978, the city suffered 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake, a series of powerful earthquakes, registering 5.5 and 6.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, Richter scale. The tremors caused considerable damage to a number of buildings and ancient monuments, but the city withstood the catastrophe without any major problems. One apartment building in central Thessaloniki collapsed during the second earthquake, killing many and raising the final death toll to 51.
Climate
Thessaloniki's climate is directly affected by the Aegean Sea, on which it is situated. The city lies in a transitional climatic zone, so its climate displays characteristics of several climates. According to the Köppen climate classification, the city has a Mediterranean climate (''Csa''), bordering on a semi-arid climate (''BSk''), observed on the periphery of the region. Its average annual precipitation of is due to the Pindus rain shadow drying the westerly winds. However, the city has a summer precipitation between , which increases gradually towards the north and west, turning some parts of the city Humid subtropical climate, humid subtropical (Cfa).
Winters are somewhat dry, with common morning frost. Snowfalls occur sporadically more or less every winter, but the snow cover does not last for more than a few days. Fog is common, with an average of 193 foggy days in a year. During the coldest winters, temperatures can drop to . The record minimum temperature in Thessaloniki was . On average, Thessaloniki experiences frost (sub-zero temperature) 32 days a year. The coldest month of the year in the city is January, with an average 24-hour temperature of . Wind is also usual in the winter months, with December and January having an average wind speed of .
Thessaloniki's summers are hot and quite dry. Maximum temperatures usually rise above , but they rarely approach or go over ; the average number of days the temperature is above is 32. The maximum recorded temperature in the city was . Rain seldom falls in summer, mainly during thunderstorms. In the summer months Thessaloniki also experiences strong heat waves. The hottest month of the year in the city is July, with an average 24-hour temperature of .
In 2021, Greece was taken to task by the European Commission for failing to curb consistently high air pollution levels in Thessaloniki.
Government
According to the Kallikratis reform, as of 1 January 2011 the Thessaloniki Urban Area ( el, Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Θεσσαλονίκης) which makes up the "City of Thessaloniki", is made up of six self-governing List of municipalities of Greece, municipalities ( el, Δήμοι) and one municipal unit ( el, Δημοτική ενότητα). The List of municipalities of Greece, municipalities that are included in the Thessaloniki Urban Area are those of Thessaloniki (the city center and largest in population size), Kalamaria, Neapoli-Sykies, Pavlos Melas (municipality), Pavlos Melas, Kordelio-Evosmos, Ampelokipoi-Menemeni, and the municipal units of Pylaia and Panorama, Thessaloniki, Panorama, part of the municipality of Pylaia-Chortiatis. Prior to the Kallikratis reform, the Thessaloniki Urban Area was made up of twice as many municipalities, considerably smaller in size, which created bureaucratic problems.
Thessaloniki Municipality
The
municipality of Thessaloniki
The Municipality of Thessaloniki ( el, Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Dímos Thessaloníkis'') is the second largest municipality by population in Greece after the Municipality of Athens. According to the 2011 Greek census, it has a popu ...
( el, Δήμος Θεσαλονίκης) is the second most populous in Greece, after
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, with a resident population of 317,778 (in 2021) and an area of . The municipality forms the core of the Thessaloniki Urban Area, with its central district (the city center), referred to as the ''Kentro'', meaning 'center' or 'downtown'.
The city's first mayor, Osman Sait Bey, was appointed when the institution of mayor was inaugurated under the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1912. The incumbent mayor is Konstantinos Zervas. In 2011, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a budget of €464.33 million while the budget of 2012 stands at €409.00 million.
Other
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece. It is an influential city for the northern parts of the country and is the capital of the Central Macedonia, region of Central Macedonia and the Thessaloniki (regional unit), Thessaloniki regional unit. The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace is also based in Thessaloniki, since the city is the ''de facto'' capital of the Geographic regions of Greece, Greek region of Macedonia.
It is customary every year for the Prime Minister of Greece to announce his administration's policies on a number of issues, such as the economy, at the opening night of the
Thessaloniki International Fair
The Thessaloniki International Fair ( el, Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis''), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-large ...
. In 2010, during the first months of the Economy of Greece#2010 debt crisis, 2010 Greek debt crisis, the entire cabinet of Greece met in Thessaloniki to discuss the country's future.
In the Hellenic Parliament, the Thessaloniki urban area constitutes a 16-seat constituency. As of the 2019 Greek legislative election the largest party in Thessaloniki is the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy with 35.55% of the vote, followed by the Syriza, Coalition of the Radical Left (31.29%) and the Movement for Change (Greece), Movement for Change (6.05%). The table below summarizes the results of the latest elections.
Cityscape
Architecture
Architecture in Thessaloniki is the direct result of the city's position at the centre of all historical developments in the Balkans. Aside from its commercial importance, Thessaloniki was also for many centuries the military and administrative hub of the region, and beyond this the transportation link between Europe and the Levant.
Merchants, traders and refugees from all over Europe settled in the city. The need for commercial and public buildings in this new era of prosperity led to the construction of large edifices in the city center. During this time, the city saw the building of banks, large hotels, theatres, warehouses, and factories. Architects who designed some of the most notable buildings of the city, in the late 19th and early 20th century, include Vitaliano Poselli, Pietro Arrigoni, Xenophon Paionidis, Salvatore Poselli, :el:Λεονάρντο Τζενάρι, Leonardo Gennari, Eli Modiano, Moshé Jacques, :fr:Joseph Pleyber, Joseph Pleyber, Frederic Charnot, Ernst Ziller, :el:Μαξιμιλιανός Ρούμπενς, Max Rubens, :el:Φιλήμων Παιονίδης, Filimon Paionidis, Dimitris Andronikos, Levi Ernst, Angelos Siagas, Alexandros Tzonis and more, using mainly the styles of Eclecticism, Art Nouveau and Baroque Revival architecture, Neobaroque.
The city layout changed after 1870, when the seaside fortifications gave way to extensive piers, and many of the oldest walls of the city were demolished, including those surrounding the White Tower of Thessaloniki, White Tower, which today stands as the main landmark of the city. As parts of the early Byzantine walls were demolished, this allowed the city to expand east and west along the coast.
The expansion of Eleftherias Square towards the sea completed the new commercial hub of the city and at the time was considered one of the most vibrant squares of the city. As the city grew, workers moved to the western districts, because of their proximity to factories and industrial activities; while the middle and Social class, upper classes gradually moved from the city-center to the eastern suburbs, leaving mainly businesses. In 1917, a devastating fire swept through the city and burned uncontrollably for 32 hours.Gerolympos, Alexandra Karadimou. ''The Redesign of Thessaloniki after the Fire of 1917''. University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 1995 It destroyed the city's historic center and a large part of its architectural heritage, but paved the way for modern development featuring wider diagonal avenues and monumental squares.
City centre
After the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, a team of architects and urban planners including
Thomas Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. H ...
and Ernest Hebrard, a French architect, chose the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine era as the basis of their (re)building designs for Thessaloniki's city centre. The new city plan included axes, diagonal streets and monumental squares, with a Grid plan, street grid that would channel traffic smoothly. The plan of 1917 included provisions for future population expansions and a street and road network that would be, and still is sufficient today. It contained sites for public buildings and provided for the restoration of Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques.
Also called the ''historic centre'', it is divided into several districts, including Dimokratias Square (Democracy Sq. known also as ''Vardaris'') ''Ladadika'' (where many entertainment venues and tavernas are located), ''Kapani'' (where the Modiano Market, city's central Modiano market is located), ''Diagonios, Navarinou Square, Navarinou, Arch of Galerius and Rotunda, Rotonda, Agias Sofias Square, Agia Sofia'' and ''Hippodromio'', which are all located around Thessaloniki's most central point, Aristotelous Square.
Various commercial stoas around Aristotelous are named from the city's past and historic personalities of the city, like stoa Maurice de Hirsch, Hirsch, stoa Carasso family, Carasso/Ermou, Pelosov, Colombou, Levi, Modiano Market, Modiano, Morpurgo, Mordoch, Simcha, Kastoria, Malakopi, Olympios, Emboron, Rogoti, Vyzantio, Tatti, Agiou Mina, Karipi etc.
The western portion of the city centre is home to Thessaloniki's law courts, its New railway station (Thessaloniki), central international railway station and the Port of Thessaloniki, port, while its eastern side hosts the city's two universities, the Thessaloniki International Fair, Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, the city's Kaftanzoglio Stadium, main stadium, its archaeological and Byzantine museums, the new city hall and its central parks and gardens, namely those of the ''ΧΑΝΘ'' and ''Pedion tou Areos''.
Ano Poli
Ano Poli (also called ''Old Town'' and literally the ''Upper Town'') is the heritage listed district north of Thessaloniki's city center that was not engulfed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, great fire of 1917 and was declared a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by ministerial actions of Melina Merkouri, during the 1980s. It consists of Thessaloniki's most traditional part of the city, still featuring small stone paved streets, old squares and homes featuring old Greek architecture, Greek and Ottoman architecture. It is the favorite area of Thessaloniki's poets, intellectuals and bohemians.
Ano Poli is also the highest point in Thessaloniki and as such, is the location of the city's acropolis, its Byzantine fort, the Heptapyrgion (Thessaloniki), Heptapyrgion, a large portion of the Walls of Thessaloniki, city's remaining walls, and with many of its additional Ottoman and Byzantine structures still standing. With the capture of Thessaloniki by the Ottomans in 1430, after a lengthy Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430), siege of the city from 1422 to 1430, the Ottomans settled in Ano Poli. This geographical choice was attributed to the higher level of Ano Poli, which was convenient to control the rest of the population remotely, and the microclimate of the area, which favoured better living conditions in terms of hygiene compared to the areas of the centre.
Today, the area provides access to the ''Kedrinos Lofos, Seich Sou'' Forest National Park and features panoramic views of the whole city and the
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Larissa ...
. On clear days Mount Olympus, at about away across the gulf, can also be seen towering the horizon.
Other districts of Thessaloniki Municipality
In the Municipality of Thessaloniki, in addition to the historic center and the Upper Town, are included the following districts: Xirokrini, Dikastiria (Courts), Ichthioskala, Palaios Stathmos, Lachanokipoi, Behtsinari, Panagia Faneromeni, Doxa, Saranta Ekklisies, Evangelistria, Triandria, Agia Triada-Faliro, Ippokrateio, Charilaou, Analipsi, Depot (Thessaloniki), Depot and Toumba.
In the area of the Old Railway Station (Palaios Stathmos) began the construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece. In this area are located the Railway Museum of Thessaloniki, the Water Supply Museum and large entertainment venues of the city, such as ''Milos'', ''Fix'', ''Vilka'' (which are housed in converted old factories). The New Thessaloniki Railway Station is located on Monastiriou street.
Other extended and densely built-up residential areas are Charilaou and Toumba (Thessaloniki), Toumba, which is divided into "Ano Toumpa" and "Kato Toumpa". Toumba was named after the homonymous hill of Toumba, where extensive archaeological research takes place. It was created by refugees after the 1922 Asia Minor disaster and the population exchange (1923–24).
On ''Exochon'' avenue (''Rue des Campagnes'', today Vasilissis Olgas and Vasileos Georgiou Avenues), was up until the 1920s home to the city's most affluent residents and formed the outermost suburbs of the city at the time, with the area close to the
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Larissa ...
, from the 19th-century holiday villas which defined the area.
Thessaloniki urban area
Other districts of the wider urban area of Thessaloniki are Ampelokipi, Eleftherio - Kordelio, Menemeni, Evosmos, Ilioupoli, Stavroupoli, Nikopoli, Neapoli, Polichni, Paeglos, Meteora, Agios Pavlos, Kalamaria, Pylaia and the Sykies.
Northwestern Thessaloniki is home to ''Moni Lazariston'', located in Stavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centers for the city, including MOMus–Museum of Modern Art–Costakis Collection and two theatres of the National Theatre of Northern Greece.
In northwestern Thessaloniki many cultural premises exist, such as the open-air Theater ''Manos Katrakis'' in Sykies, the Museum of Refugee Hellenism in Neapolis, the municipal theater and the open-air theater in Neapoli and the New Cultural Center of Menemeni (Ellis Alexiou Street). The Stavroupolis Botanical Garden on Perikleous Street includes 1,000 species of plants and is a oasis of greenery. The Environmental Education Center in Kordelio was designed in 1997 and is one of a few public buildings of bioclimatic design in Thessaloniki.
Northwest Thessaloniki forms the main entry point into the city of Thessaloniki with the avenues of Monastiriou, Lagkada and 26is Octovriou passing through it, as well as the extension of the A1 motorway, feeding into Thessaloniki's city center. The area is home to the Thessaloniki Bus Station, Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL (Greece), KTEL), the New Thessaloniki Railway Station, the Zeitenlik Allies (World War I), Allied memorial military cemetery.
Monuments have also been erected in honour of the fighters of the Greek Resistance, as in these areas the Resistance was very active: the monument of Greek National Resistance in Sykies, the monument of Greek National Resistance in Stavroupolis, the Statue of the struggling Mother in Eptalofos Square and the monument of the young Greeks who were executed by the Nazis on 11 May 1944 in Xirokrini. In Eptalofos, on 15 May 1941, one month after the occupation of the country, the first resistance organization in Greece, "Eleftheria", was founded, with its newspaper and the first illegal printing house in the city of Thessaloniki.
Today southeastern Thessaloniki has in some way become an extension of the city center, with the avenues of Megalou Alexandrou, Georgiou Papandreou (Antheon), Vasileos Georgiou, Vasilissis Olgas, Delfon, Konstantinou Karamanli (Nea Egnatia) and Papanastasiou passing through it, enclosing an area traditionally called ('','' lit. Dépôt), from the name of the old tram station, owned by a French company.
The municipality of Kalamaria is also located in southeastern Thessaloniki and was firstly inhabited mainly by Greek refugees from
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and
East Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
after 1922. There are built the Northern Greece Naval Command and the old royal palace (called Palataki (Thessaloniki), Palataki), located on the most westerly point of Mikro Emvolo cape.
Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments (UNESCO)
Because of Thessaloniki's importance during the early Christianity, early Christian and Byzantine Empire, Byzantine periods, the city is host to several paleochristian monuments that have significantly contributed to the development of Byzantine art and Byzantine architecture, architecture throughout the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
as well as Serbia. The evolution of Imperial
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until th ...
and the prosperity of Thessaloniki go hand in hand, especially during the first years of the Empire, when the city continued to flourish. It was at that time that the Arch of Galerius and Rotunda, Complex of Roman emperor Galerius was built, as well as the first church of Saint Demetrius, Hagios Demetrios.
By the eighth century, the city had become an important administrative center of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, and handled much of the Byzantine Empire, Empire's Balkans, Balkan affairs.Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, "The City of Thessaloniki" (in Greek) During that time, the city saw the creation of more notable Christian churches that are now part of Thessaloniki's UNESCO World Heritage Site, such as the Church of Saint Catherine, Thessaloniki, Church of Saint Catherine, the Hagia Sophia (Thessaloniki), Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki, the Church of the Acheiropoietos, the Church of Panagia Chalkeon. When the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
took control of Thessaloniki in 1430, most of the city's churches were converted into mosques, but have survived to this day. Travelers such as Paul Lucas (traveller), Paul Lucas and Abdulmejid I document the city's wealth in Christian monuments during the years of Ottoman control of the city.
The church of
Hagios Demetrios
The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios ( el, Άγιος Δημήτριος), is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki (in Central Macedonia, Greece), dating from a time when it was the sec ...
burned down during the
Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917
250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917.
250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf.
The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 ( el, Μεγάλη Πυρκαγιά της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1917) destroyed two thirds of the city of T ...
, as did many other city monuments, but it was rebuilt. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the city was extensively bombed and as such many of Thessaloniki's paleochristian and Byzantine monuments were heavily damaged. Some of the sites were not restored until the 1980s. Thessaloniki has more monuments listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site than any other city in Greece, a total of 15 monuments. They have been listed since 1988.
Urban sculpture
There are around 150 statues or busts in the city. Probably the most famous one is the equestrian statue of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
on the promenade, placed in 1973 and created by sculptor Evangelos Moustakas. An equestrian statue of Constantine I of Greece, Constantine I, by sculptor :el:Γεώργιος Δημητριάδης, Georgios Dimitriades, is located in Demokratias Square. Other notable statues include that of
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
by sculptor :el:Γιάννης Παππάς, Giannis Pappas,
Pavlos Melas
Pavlos Melas ( el, Παύλος Μελάς, ''Pávlos Melás''; March 29, 1870 – October 13, 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first ...
by Natalia Mela, the statue of Emmanouel Pappas by Memos Makris, Chrysostomos of Smyrna by Athanase Apartis, Athanasios Apartis, such as various creations by George Zongolopoulos.
Thessaloniki 2012 Program
With the 100th anniversary of the 1912 incorporation of Thessaloniki into Greece, the government announced a large-scale redevelopment program for the city of Thessaloniki, which aims in addressing the current environmental and spatial problemsHellenic Government – Thessaloniki 2012 Program (in Greek) that the city faces. More specifically, the program will drastically change the physiognomy of the city by relocating the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center and grounds of the
Thessaloniki International Fair
The Thessaloniki International Fair ( el, Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis''), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-large ...
outside the city centre and turning the current location into a large metropolitan park,Ministry of the Environment, of Energy and of Climate Change – Complete presentation (in Greek) redeveloping the coastal front of the city, relocating the city's numerous military camps and using the grounds and facilities to create large parklands and cultural centers; and the complete redevelopment of the harbor and the ''Lachanokipoi'' and ''Dendropotamos'' districts (behind and near the
Port of Thessaloniki
The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.
The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
) into a commercial business district, with possible skyscraper, highrise developments.
The plan also envisions the creation of new wide avenues in the outskirts of the city and the creation of pedestrian-only zones in the city centre. Furthermore, the program includes plans to expand the jurisdiction of ''Seich Sou'' Forest National Park and the improvement of accessibility to and from the Old Town. The ministry has said that the project will take an estimated 15 years to be completed, in 2025.
Part of the plan has been implemented with extensive pedestrianization's within the city center by the municipality of Thessaloniki and the revitalization the eastern urban waterfront/promenade, (, lit. new promenade), with a modern and vibrant design. Its first section opened in 2008, having been awarded as the best public project in Greece of the last five years by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.
The municipality of Thessaloniki's budget for the reconstruction of important areas of the city and the completion of the waterfront, opened in January 2014, was estimated at million ( million) for the year 2011 alone.
Economy
Thessaloniki rose to economic prominence as a major economic hub in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
during the years of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. The Pax Romana and the city's strategic position allowed for the facilitation of trade between
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
and now Istanbul) through Thessaloniki by means of the
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . of ...
. The Via Egnatia also functioned as an important line of communication between the Roman Empire and the nations of Asia, particularly in relation to the Silk Road. With the partition of the Roman Emp. into Byzantine Empire, East (Byzantine) and Western Roman Empire, West, Thessaloniki became the second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire after New Rome (Constantinople) in terms of economic might. Under the Empire, Thessaloniki was the largest port in the Balkans. As the city passed from Byzantium to the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
in 1423, it was subsequently conquered by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Under Ottoman rule the city retained its position as the most important trading hub in the Balkans. Manufacturing, shipping and trade were the most important components of the city's economy during the Ottoman period, and the majority of the city's trade at the time was controlled by ethnic Greeks. Plus, the Jews of Thessaloniki, Jewish community was also an important factor in the trade sector.
Historically important industries for the economy of Thessaloniki included tobacco industry, tobacco (in 1946 35% of all tobacco companies in Greece were headquartered in the city, and 44% in 1979) and banking (in Ottoman years Thessaloniki was a major center for investment from western Europe, with the Banque de Salonique having a capital of 20 million French francs in 1909).
Services
The secondary sector of the economy, service sector accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total labour force of Thessaloniki. Of those working in services, 20% were employed in trade; 13% in education and healthcare; 7.1% in real estate; 6.3% in transport, communications and storage; 6.1% in the finance industry and service-providing organizations; 5.7% in public administration and insurance services; and 5.4% in hotels and restaurants.
The city's port, the
Port of Thessaloniki
The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.
The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
, is one of the largest ports in the Aegean and as a free port, it functions as a major gateway to the Balkan hinterland. In 2010, more than 15.8 million tons of products went through the city's port, making it the second-largest port in Greece after Aghioi Theodoroi, surpassing Piraeus. At 273,282 Twenty-foot equivalent unit, TEUs, it is also Greece's second-largest container port after Piraeus. As a result, the city is a major transportation hub for the whole of south-eastern Europe, carrying, among other things, trade to and from the neighbouring countries.
In recent years Thessaloniki has begun to turn into a major port for Cruising (maritime), cruising in the eastern Mediterranean. The Greek ministry of tourism considers Thessaloniki to be Greece's second most important commercial port, and companies such as Royal Caribbean International have expressed interest in adding the Port of Thessaloniki to their destinations. A total of 30 cruise ships are expected to arrive at Thessaloniki in 2011.
Companies
*Recent history
After WWII and the Greek Civil War, heavy industrialization of the city's suburbs began in the mid-1950s.
During the 1980s, a spate of factory shutdowns occurred, mostly of automobile manufacturers, such as Agricola (vehicles), Agricola, AutoDiana, EBIAM, Motoemil, Pantelemidis-TITAN and C.AR (automobiles), C.AR. Since the 1990s, companies took advantage of cheaper labour markets and more lax regulations in other countries, and among the largest companies to shut down factories were Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Goodyear, AVEZ pasta industry (one of the first industrial factories in northern Greece, built in 1926), Philkeram Johnson, AGNO dairy and VIAMIL.
However, Thessaloniki still remains a major business hub in the Balkans and Greece, with a number of important Greek companies headquartered in the city, such as the ELBO, Hellenic Vehicle Industry (ELVO), Namco (automobiles), Namco, Astra Airlines, Ellinair, Pyramis and MLS Multimedia, which introduced the first Greek-built smartphone in 2012.
*Industry
In early 1960s, with the collaboration of Standard Oil and ESSO-Pappas, a large industrial zone was created, containing Oil refinery, refineries, oil refinery and steel production (owned by Hellenic Steel Co.). The zone attracted also a series of different factories during the next decades.
Titan Cement has also facilities outside the city, on the road to Serres, such as the Heracles General Cement, AGET Heracles, a member of the Lafarge (company), Lafarge group, and Alumil Aluminium Industry S.A., Alumil SA.
Multinational companies such as Air Liquide, American Cyanamid, Cyanamid, Nestlé, Pfizer, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company and Vivartia have also industrial facilities in the suburbs of the city.
*Foodstuff
Foodstuff or drink companies headquartered in the city include the Mevgal, Macedonian Milk Industry (Mevgal), Allatini (company), Allatini, Barbastathis, Hellenic Sugar Industry, Haitoglou Bros, Mythos Brewery, Malamatina, while the Goody's Burger House (restaurant), Goody's chain started from the city.
The American Farm School also has important contribution in food production.
Macroeconomic indicators
In 2011, the Thessaloniki (regional unit), regional unit of Thessaloniki had a Gross Domestic Product of Euro, €18.293 billion (ranked second amongst the country's regional units), comparable to Bahrain or Cyprus, and a per capita of €15,900 (ranked 16th). In Purchasing Power Parity, the same indicators are €19,851 billion (2nd) and €17,200 (15th) respectively. In terms of comparison with the European Union average, Thessaloniki's GDP per capita indicator stands at 63% the EU average and 69% in Purchasing Power Parity, PPP – this is comparable to the German state of Brandenburg. Overall, Thessaloniki accounts for 8.9% of the total economy of Greece. Between 1995 and 2008 Thessaloniki's GDP saw an average growth rate of 4.1% per annum (ranging from +14.5% in 1996 to −11.1% in 2005) while in 2011 the economy contracted by −7.8%.
Demographics
Historical ethnic statistics
The tables below show the ethnic statistics of Thessaloniki during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Population growth
The municipality of Thessaloniki is the most populous in the Thessaloniki Urban Area. Its population has increased in the latest census and the metropolitan area's population rose to over one million. The city forms the base of the
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
, with latest census in 2021 giving it a population of 1,091,424.
Jews of Thessaloniki
The Jewish population in Greece is the oldest in mainland Europe (see Romaniote Jews, Romaniotes). When
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
came to Thessaloniki, he taught in the area of what today is called ''Upper City''. Later, during the Ottoman period, with the coming of Sephardic Jews from Spain, the community of Thessaloniki became mostly Sephardic. Thessaloniki became the largest center in Europe of the
Sephardic Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
, who nicknamed the city ''la madre de Israel'' (Israel's mother) and "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It also included the historically significant and ancient Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews, Romaniote community. During the Ottoman era, Thessaloniki's Sephardic community was half of the population according to the Ottoman Census of 1902 and almost 40% the city's population of 157,000 about 1913; Jewish merchants were prominent in commerce until the ethnic Greek population increased after Thessaloniki was incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece in 1913. By the 1680s, about 300 families of Sephardic Jews, followers of Sabbatai Zevi, had converted to Islam, becoming a sect known as the ''Dönmeh'' (convert), and migrated to Salonika, whose population was majority Jewish. They established an active community that thrived for about 250 years. Many of their descendants later became prominent in trade. Many Jewish inhabitants of Thessaloniki spoke
Judeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
, the Romance languages, Romance language of the Sephardic Jews.
From the second half of the 19th century with the Ottoman reforms, the Jewish community had a new revival. Many French and especially Italian Jews (from Livorno and other cities), influential in introducing new methods of education and developing new schools and intellectual environment for the Jewish population, were established in Thessaloniki. Such modernists introduced also new techniques and ideas from the industrialized Western Europe and from the 1880s the city began to industrialize. The Italian Jews Allatini brothers led Jewish entrepreneurship, establishing Mill (grinding), milling and other food industries, brickmaking and processing plants for tobacco. Several traders supported the introduction of a large textile-production industry, superseding the weaving of cloth in a system of artisanal production. Notable names of the era include among others the Italo-Jewish Modiano family and the Allatini (company), Allatini. Benrubi SA, Benrubis founded also in 1880 one of the first retail companies in the Balkans.
After the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, Thessaloniki was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...
in 1913. At first the community feared that the annexation would lead to difficulties and during the first years its political stance was, in general, anti-
Venizelist
Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s.
Main ideas
Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:
*Greek irredentism: T ...
and pro-royalist/conservative. The
Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917
250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917.
250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf.
The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 ( el, Μεγάλη Πυρκαγιά της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1917) destroyed two thirds of the city of T ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
burned much of the center of the city and left 50,000 Jews homeless of the total of 72,000 residents who were burned out. Having lost homes and their businesses, many Jews emigrated: to the United States, Palestine, and Paris. They could not wait for the government to create a new urban plan for rebuilding, which was eventually done.
After the Greco-Turkish War in 1922 and the bilateral population exchange between Greece and Turkey, many refugees came to Greece. Nearly 100,000 ethnic Greeks resettled in Thessaloniki, reducing the proportion of Jews in the total community. After this, Jews made up about 20% of the city's population. During the interwar period, Greece granted Jewish citizens the same civil rights as other Greek citizens. In March 1926, Greece re-emphasized that all citizens of Greece enjoyed equal rights, and a considerable proportion of the city's Jews decided to stay. During the Metaxas regime, the stance towards Jews became even better.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
brought a disaster for the Jewish Greeks, since in 1941 the Germans occupied Greece and began actions against the Jewish population. Greeks of the Greek resistance, Resistance helped save some of the Jewish residents. By the 1940s, the great majority of the Jewish Greek community firmly identified as both Greek and Jewish. According to Misha Glenny, such Greek Jews had largely not encountered "anti-Semitism as in its North European form."
In 1943, the Nazis began brutal actions against the historic Jewish population in Thessaloniki, forcing them into a ghetto near the railroad lines and beginning deportation to concentration and labor camps. They deported and exterminated approximately 96% of Thessaloniki's Jews of all ages during the Holocaust.www.ushmm.org "Jewish Community in Greece" , Online Exhibit, US Holocaust Museum. Retrieved 29 December 2010. The Thessaloniki Holocaust memorial in Eleftherias ("Freedom") Square was built in 1997 in memory of all the Jewish people from Thessaloniki murdered in the Holocaust. The site was chosen because it was the place where Jewish residents were rounded up before embarking to trains for concentration camps. Today, a community of around 1200 remains in the city. Communities of descendants of Thessaloniki Jews – both Sephardic and Romaniote – live in other areas, mainly the United States and Israel. Israeli singer Yehuda Poliker recorded a song about the Jewish people of Thessaloniki, called "Wait for me, Thessaloniki".
Others
Since the late 19th century, many merchants from Western Europe (mainly from France and Italy) were established in the city. They had an important role in the social and economic life of the city and introduced new industrial techniques. Their main district was what is known today as the "Frankish district" (near Ladadika), where the Catholic church designed by Vitaliano Poselli is also situated. A part of them left after the incorporation of the city into the Greek kingdom, while others, who were of Jewish faith, were exterminated by the Nazis.
The Albanians, Albanian community of the city has always been great and important. Albanians belong to two religions and they are Muslims and Christians. This has been the reason that they have never been numbered as a separate community, but sometimes they were numbered as Muslims and sometimes as Christians, then sometimes as Turkish and sometimes as Greek. It is thought that until 1922 the Albanian community was the largest in the city, after the Jewish community. The old Albanian cemeteries of the city are located in what is now called Triandria (they were destroyed in 1983).
The Bulgarians, Bulgarian community of the city increased during the late 19th century. The community had a Men's High School, a Girl's High School, a trade union and a gymnastics society. A large part of them were Catholics, as a result of actions by the Congregation of the Mission, Lazarists society, which had its base in the city.
Another group is the Armenians, Armenian community which dates back to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. During the 20th century, after the Armenian genocide and the defeat of the Greek army in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), many fled to Greece including Thessaloniki. There is also an Armenian cemetery and an Armenian church at the center of the city.
Culture
Leisure and entertainment
Thessaloniki is regarded not only as the cultural and entertainment capital of northern Greece but also the cultural capital of the country as a whole. The city's main theaters, run by the National Theatre of Northern Greece () which was established in 1961,'History', National Theater of Northern Greece website (in Greek) include the ''Theater of the Society of Macedonian Studies'', where the National Theater is based, the ''Royal Theater'' ()-the first base of the National Theater-, ''Moni Lazariston'', and the ''Earth Theater'' and ''Forest Theater'', both amphitheatrical open-air theatres overlooking the city.
The title of the European Capital of Culture in 1997 saw the birth of the city's first opera and today forms an independent section of the National Theatre of Northern Greece. The opera is based at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, one of the largest concert halls in Greece. Recently a second building was also constructed and designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Thessaloniki is also the seat of two symphony orchestras, the ''Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra'' and the ''Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki''.
''Olympion Theater'', the site of the
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), organized by the cultural institution of the same name under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, is held every November in Thessaloniki.TIFF features international competition secti ...
and the ''Plateia Assos Odeon multiplex'' are the two major cinemas in downtown Thessaloniki. The city also has a number of multiplex cinemas in major shopping malls in the suburbs, most notably in Mediterranean Cosmos, the largest retail and entertainment development in the Balkans.
Thessaloniki is renowned for its major shopping streets and lively laneways. Tsimiski Street, Mitropoleos and Proxenou Koromila avenue are the city's most famous shopping streets and are among Greece's most expensive and exclusive high streets. The city is also home to one of Greece's most famous and prestigious hotels, Makedonia Palace hotel, the Hyatt Regency Casino and hotel (the biggest casino in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe) and Waterland, the largest water park in southeastern Europe.
The city has long been known in Greece for its vibrant city culture, including having the most cafes and bars per capita of any city in Europe; and as having some of the best nightlife and entertainment in the country, thanks to its large young population and multicultural feel. Lonely Planet listed Thessaloniki among the world's "ultimate party cities".
Parks and recreation
Although Thessaloniki is not renowned for its parks and greenery throughout its urban area, where green spaces are few, it has several large open spaces around its waterfront, namely the central city gardens of ''Palios Zoologikos Kipos'' (which is recently being redeveloped to also include rock climbing facilities, a new skatepark and paintball range), the park of ''Pedion tou Areos'', which also holds the city's annual floral expo; and the parks of the ''Nea Paralia'' (waterfront) that span for along the coast, from the White Tower of Thessaloniki, White Tower to the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, concert hall.
The ''Nea Paralia'' parks are used throughout the year for a variety of events, while they open up to the Thessaloniki waterfront, which is lined up with several cafés and bars; and during summer is full of Thessalonians enjoying their long evening walks (referred to as ''"the volta"'' and is embedded into the culture of the city). Having undergone an extensive revitalization, the city's waterfront today features a total of 12 thematic gardens/parks.
Thessaloniki's proximity to places such as the national parks of Pieria (regional unit), Pieria and beaches of
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
often allow its residents to easily have access to some of the best outdoor recreation in Europe; however, the city is also right next to the ''Seich Sou'' forest national park, just away from Thessaloniki's city center; and offers residents and visitors alike, quiet viewpoints towards the city, mountain bike trails and landscaped hiking paths. The city's zoo, which is operated by the municipality of Thessaloniki, is also located nearby the national park.
Other recreation spaces throughout the
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
include the ''Fragma Thermis'', a landscaped parkland near Thermi and the Delta wetlands west of the city center; while urban beaches that have continuously been awarded the Blue Flag beach, blue flags, are located along the coastline of Thessaloniki's southeastern suburbs of Thermaikos, about away from the city center.
Museums and galleries
Because of the city's rich and diverse history, Thessaloniki houses many museums dealing with many different eras in history. Two of the city's most famous museums include the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of Byzantine Culture.
The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki was established in 1962 and houses some of the most important Macedon, ancient Macedonian artifacts, including an extensive collection of golden artwork from the royal palaces of Aegae (Macedon), Aigai and Pella. It also houses exhibits from Macedon's prehistoric past, dating from the Neolithic age, Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The Prehistoric Antiquities Museum of Thessaloniki has exhibits from those periods as well.
The Museum of Byzantine Culture is one of the city's most famous museums, showcasing the city's glorious Byzantine Empire, Byzantine past. The museum was also awarded Council of Europe's museum prize in 2005. The museum of the White Tower of Thessaloniki houses a series of galleries relating to the city's past, from the creation of the White Tower of Thessaloniki, White Tower until recent years.
One of the most modern museums in the city is the Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum and is one of the most high-tech museums in Greece and southeastern Europe.NOESIS – About the Museum (in Greek) It features the largest planetarium in Greece, a cosmotheater with the country's largest flat screen, an amphitheater, a motion simulator with 3D projection and 6-axis movement and exhibition spaces. Other industrial and technological museums in the city include the Railway Museum of Thessaloniki, which houses an original Orient Express train, the War Museum of Thessaloniki and others. The city also has a number of educational and sports museums, including the Thessaloniki History Centre and the Thessaloniki Olympic Museum.
The Atatürk Museum (Thessaloniki), Atatürk Museum in Thessaloniki is the historic house where
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
, founder of modern-day Turkey, was born. The house is now part of the Turkish consulate complex, but admission to the museum is free. The museum contains historic information about
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
and his life, especially while he was in Thessaloniki.
Other ethnological museums of the sort include the Historical Museum of the Balkan Wars, the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, containing information about the freedom fighters in Macedonia and their Greek Struggle for Macedonia, struggle to liberate the region from the Ottoman yoke. Construction on the Holocaust Museum of Greece began in the city in 2018.
The city also has a number of important art galleries. Such include the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, housing exhibitions from a number of well-known Greek people, Greek and foreign artists. The Teloglion Foundation of Art is part of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and includes an extensive collection of works by important artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by prominent Greek people, Greeks and native Thessalonians. The Thessaloniki Museum of Photography also houses a number of important exhibitions, and is located within the old port of Thessaloniki.
Archaeological sites
Thessaloniki is home to a number of prominent archaeological sites. Apart from its recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Thessaloniki features a large two-terraced Roman Forum (Thessaloniki), Roman forum featuring two-storey stoas, dug up by accident in the 1960s. The forum complex also boasts two Roman baths, one of which has been excavated while the other is buried underneath the city. The forum also features a small theater, which was also used for gladiatorial games. Although the initial complex was not built in Roman times, it was largely refurbished in the second century. It is believed that the forum and the theater continued to be used until at least the sixth century.
Another important archaeological site is the imperial palace complex which Roman emperor Galerius, located at Navarinou Square, commissioned when he made Thessaloniki the capital of his portion of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. The large octagonal portion of the complex, most of which survives to this day, is believed to have been an imperial throne room. Various mosaics from the palatial complex have also survived. Some historians believe that the complex must have been in use as an imperial residence until the 11th century.
Not far from the palace itself is the Arch of Galerius, known colloquially as the ''Kamara''. The arch was built to commemorate the emperor's campaigns against the Persians. The original structure featured three arches; however, only two full arches and part of the third survive to this day. Many of the arches' marble parts survive as well, although it is mostly the brick interior that can be seen today.
Other monuments of the city's past, such as the ''Incantadas'', a Caryatid portico from the ancient forum, have been removed or destroyed over the years. The Incantadas in particular are on display at the Louvre. Thanks to a private donation of €180,000, it was announced on 6 December 2011 that a replica of the Incantadas would be commissioned and later put on display in Thessaloniki.
The construction of the Thessaloniki Metro inadvertently started the largest Excavation (archaeology), archaeological dig not only of the city, but of
Northern Greece
Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions.
Administrative regions of Greece
Administrative term
The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...
; the dig spans and has unearthed 300,000 individual artefacts from as early as the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
and as late as the
Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917
250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917.
250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf.
The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 ( el, Μεγάλη Πυρκαγιά της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1917) destroyed two thirds of the city of T ...
. Ancient Thessaloniki's Decumanus Maximus was also found and of the marble-paved and column-lined road were unearthed along with shops, other buildings, and plumbing, prompting one scholar to describe the discovery as "the Byzantine Pompeii". Some of the artefacts will be put on display inside the metro stations, while will feature the world's first open archaeological site located within a metro station.
Festivals
Thessaloniki is home of a number of festivals and events. The
Thessaloniki International Fair
The Thessaloniki International Fair ( el, Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis''), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-large ...
is the most important event to be hosted in the city annually, by means of economic development. It was first established in 1926Thessaloniki International Fair – History and actions (in Greek) and takes place every year at the ''Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center''. The event attracts major political attention and it is customary for the Prime Minister of Greece to outline his administration's policies for the next year, during event. Over 250,000 visitors attended the exposition in 2010. The new Art Thessaloniki, is starting first time 29.10. – 1 November 2015 as an international contemporary art fair.
The International Thessaloniki Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival is established as one of the most important film festivals in Southern Europe, with a number of notable film makers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Deneuve, Irene Papas and Fatih Akın taking part, and was established in 1960. The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Documentary Festival, founded in 1999, has focused on documentaries that explore global social and cultural developments, with many of the films presented being candidates for FIPRESCI and Audience Awards.
The Dimitria festival, founded in 1966 and named after the city's patron saint of St. Demetrius, has focused on a wide range of events including music, theatre, dance, local happenings, and exhibitions. The "DMC World DJ Championships, DMC DJ Championship" has been hosted at the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki, has become a worldwide event for aspiring DJs and turntablists. The "International Festival of Photography" has taken place every February to mid-April. Exhibitions for the event are sited in museums, heritage landmarks, galleries, bookshops and cafés. Thessaloniki also holds an annual International Book Fair.
Between 1962–1997 and 2005–2008, the city also hosted the Thessaloniki Song Festival, Greece's most important music festival, at Alexandreio Melathron Nikos Galis Hall, Alexandreio Melathron.
In 2012, the city hosted its first pride parade, ''Thessaloniki Pride'', which took place between 22 and 23 June. It has been held every year ever since, however in 2013 transgender people participating in the parade became victims of police brutality. The issue was soon settled by the government. The city's Greek Orthodox Church leadership has consistently rallied against the event, but mayor Boutaris sided with ''Thessaloniki Pride'', saying also that Thessaloniki would seek to host EuroPride 2020. The event was given to Thessaloniki in September 2017, beating Bergen, Brussels, and Hamburg.
Since 1998, the city host Thessaloniki International G.L.A.D. Film Festival, the first LGBT film festival in Greece.
Sports
The main stadium of the city is the Kaftanzoglio Stadium (also home ground of Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki), Iraklis F.C.), while other main stadiums of the city include the football Toumba Stadium and Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium home grounds of PAOK FC and Aris Thessaloniki F.C., Aris F.C., respectively, all of whom are founding members of the Super League Greece, Greek league.
Being the largest "multi-sport" stadium in the city, Kaftanzoglio Stadium regularly plays host to athletics (sport), athletics events; such as the European Athletics Association event "Olympic Meeting Thessaloniki" every year; it has hosted the Greek national championships in 2009 and has been used for athletics at the Mediterranean Games and for the European Cup (athletics), European Cup in athletics. In 2004, the stadium served as an official Athens 2004 venue, while in 2009 the city and the stadium hosted the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.
Thessaloniki's major indoor arenas include the state-owned Alexandreio Melathron Nikos Galis Hall, Alexandreio Melathron, P.A.O.K. Sports Arena and the YMCA indoor hall. Other sporting clubs in the city include Apollon Pontou FC, Apollon FC based in Kalamaria, Agrotikos Asteras F.C. based in Evosmos and YMCA. Thessaloniki has a rich sporting history with its teams winning the first ever panhellenic
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
(Aris FC), basketball (Iraklis BC), and water polo (AC Aris) tournaments.
During recent years, PAOK FC has emerged as the strongest football club of the city, winning also the Greek championship without a defeat (2018–19 Super League Greece, 2018–19 season).
The city played a major role in the development of basketball in Greece. The local YMCA was the first to introduce the sport to the country, while G.S. Iraklis B.C., Iraklis B.C. won the first ever Greek championship. From 1982 to 1993 Aris B.C. dominated the league, regularly finishing in first place. In that period Aris won a total of 9 championships, 7 cups and one European Cup Winners' Cup. The city also hosted the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in which Greece came third. In volleyball, Iraklis V.C. (Thessaloniki), Iraklis has emerged since 2000 as one of the most successful teams in Greece and Europe – see 2005–06 CEV Champions League. In October 2007, Thessaloniki also played host to the first Southeastern European Games.
The city is also the finish point of the annual Alexander The Great Marathon, which starts at Pella, in recognition of its Ancient Macedonian heritage.
There are also aquatic and athletic complexes such as ''Ethniko'' and ''Poseidonio''.
Media
Thessaloniki is home to the ERT3 TV-channel and Radio Macedonia (ERT3), Radio Macedonia, both services of Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) operating in the city and are broadcast all over Greece.
The municipality of Thessaloniki also operates three radio stations, namely FM100, FM101 and FM100.6; and TV100, a television network which was also the first non-state-owned TV station in Greece and opened in 1988. Several private TV-networks also broadcast out from Thessaloniki, with Makedonia TV being the most popular.
The city's main newspapers and some of the most circulated in Greece, include ''Makedonia (newspaper), Makedonia'', which was also the first newspaper published in Thessaloniki in 1911 and ''Aggelioforos''. A large number of radio stations also broadcast from Thessaloniki as the city is known for its music contributions.
TV broadcasting
* ERT3 (Panhellenic broadcasting)
* Makedonia TV (Panhellenic)
* 4E TV (Panhellenic)
* TV 100 (Regional)
* Vergina TV (Regional)
* Atlas TV (Thessaloniki), Atlas TV (Regional)
Throughout its history, Thessaloniki has been home to a number of well-known figures. It was also the birthplace or base of various Saints and other religious figures, such as Demetrius of Thessaloniki,
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
(creators of the first Slavic alphabet), Saint Mitre (Saint Demetrius, not to be confused with the previous), Gregory Palamas, Gregorios Palamas, Matthew Blastares, Eustathius of Thessalonica and Patriarch Philotheus I of Constantinople. Other Byzantine-era notable people included jurist Constantine Armenopoulos, historian John Kaminiates, Ioannis Kaminiates, Demetrius Triclinius, Thomas Magister, Thomas Magistros, the anti-Palamian theologians Prochoros Kydones, Prochoros and Demetrios Kydones, such as scholars
Theodorus Gaza
Theodorus Gaza ( el, Θεόδωρος Γαζῆς, ''Theodoros Gazis''; it, Teodoro Gaza; la, Theodorus Gazes), also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis (in Latin) and Thessalonikeus (in Greek) (c. 1398 – c. 1475), wa ...
(''Thessalonicensis'') and Matthaios Kamariotis.
Many of the country's best-known musicians and movie personalities are from Thessaloniki, such as Zoe Laskari, Costas Hajihristos, :el: Στέλλα Χασκίλ, Stella Haskil, Giannis Dalianidis, Maria Plyta, Harry Klynn, Antonis Remos, Paschalis Terzis, Nikos Papazoglou, Nikolas Asimos, Giorgos Hatzinasios, :el:Αλμπέρτο Εσκενάζυ, Alberto Eskenazi, Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Giannis Kalatzis, Natassa Theodoridou, Katia Zygouli, Kostas Voutsas, Takis Kanellopoulos, Titos Vandis, Manolis Chiotis, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Marinella, Yvonne Sanson and the classical composer Emilios Riadis. Additionally, there have been a number of politicians born in the city: Ioannis Skandalidis, :el:Αλέξανδρος Ζάννας, Alexandros Zannas, Evangelos Venizelos, Christos Sartzetakis, fourth President of Greece, and Yiannis Boutaris. Sports personalities from the city include Nikos Galis, Georgios Roubanis, Giannis Ioannidis, Faidon Matthaiou, Alketas Panagoulias, Panagiotis Fasoulas, Eleni Daniilidou, Traianos Dellas, Giorgos Koudas, Kleanthis Vikelidis, Christos Kostis, Dimitris Salpingidis and Nikos Zisis. Benefactor Ioannis Papafis, architect Lysandros Kaftanzoglou and writers, such as Grigorios Zalykis, Manolis Anagnostakis, Kleitos Kyrou, :el: Αλβέρτος Ναρ, Albertos Nar, Elias Petropoulos, :el:Κωστής Μοσκώφ, Kostis Moskof, Rena Molho and Dinos Christianopoulos are also from Thessaloniki.
The city is also the birthplace or base of a number of international personalities, which include Bulgarians (Atanas Dalchev), Jews (Moshe Levy (chemist), Moshe Levy, Maurice Abravanel, Isaak Benrubi, Isaac Carasso, Isaac and Daniel Carasso, Raphaël Salem, Baruch Uziel, Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, Salamo Arouch, Avraam Benaroya), Slav Macedonians (Dimo Todorovski), Italians (:it:Luisa Poselli, Luisa Poselli, Giacomo Poselli, :it:Vittorio Citterich, Vittorio Citterich), French people, French (Louis Dumont), Spanish people, Spanish (Juana Mordó), Turkish people, Turks (
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
, Nâzım Hikmet, Afet İnan, Cahit Arf, Mehmet Cavit Bey, Sabiha Sertel, Abdul Kerim Pasha, Hasan Tahsin Uzer, Hasan Tahsin) and Armenians (Jean Tatlian).
Cuisine
Because Thessaloniki remained under Ottoman rule for about 100 years longer than southern Greece, it has retained a lot of its Eastern character, including its culinary tastes. Spices in particular play an important role in the cuisine of Thessaloniki, something which is not true to the same degree about Greece's southern regions. Thessaloniki's Ladadika borough is a particularly busy area in regards to Thessalonian cuisine, with most tavernas serving traditional meze and other such culinary delights.
Bougatsa, a breakfast pastry, which can be either sweet or savory, is very popular throughout the city and has spread around other parts of Greece and the Balkans as well. Another popular snack is ''Simit, koulouri''.
Notable sweets of the city are ''Trigona'', ''Roxákia'', '':el:Κουρκουμπίνι, Kourkoubinia'' and ''Armenonville''. A stereotypical Thessalonian coffee drink is Frappé coffee. Frappé was invented in the
Thessaloniki International Fair
The Thessaloniki International Fair ( el, Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, ''Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis''), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-large ...
in 1957 and has since spread throughout Greece and Cyprus to become a hallmark of the Greek coffee culture.
''Kapani'' or ''Agora Viali'' is the oldest central market in Thessaloniki, with shops selling fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, drinks, olives, sweets, nuts, spices and Modiano Market is located nearby.
Tourism
A tourism boom took place in the 2010s, during the years of mayor Yiannis Boutaris, Boutaris, especially from the neighboring countries, Austria, Israel and Turkey. In 2010, overnight stays of foreign tourists in the city were around 250,000. In 2018, overnight stays of foreign tourists were estimated to reach 3,000,000 people. Thessaloniki is known as "The City That Never Sleeps (nickname), the city that never sleeps" and a "party capital" due to its thriving nightlife, young atmosphere and famous 24/7, 24-hour culture.
Music
The city is viewed as a romantic one in Greece, and as such Thessaloniki is commonly featured in Music of Greece, Greek songs. There are a number of famous songs that go by the name 'Thessaloniki' (rebetiko, laïko etc.) or include the name in their title.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the city became a center of the Rebetiko music, partly because of the 4th of August Regime, Metaxas censorship, which was stricter in Athens. Vassilis Tsitsanis wrote some of his best songs in Thessaloniki.
The city is the birthplace of significant composers in the Greek music scene, such as Manolis Chiotis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis and Dionysis Savvopoulos. It is also notable for its rock music scene and its many rock groups; some became famous such as Xylina Spathia, Trypes or the pop rock group Onirama.
Between 1962–1997 and 2005–2008 the city also hosted the Thessaloniki Song Festival. In the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Greece was represented by Koza Mostra and Agathonas Iakovidis, both from Thessaloniki.
In popular culture
* In May 1936, a massive strike by tobacco workers led to general anarchy in the city and Ioannis Metaxas (future dictator, then PM) ordered its repression. The events and the deaths of the protesters inspired Yiannis Ritsos to write the ''Epitafios''.
* On 22 May 1963, Grigoris Lambrakis, pacifist and MP, was assassinated by two far-right extremists driving a three-wheeled vehicle. The event led to political crisis. Costa Gavras directed ''Z (1969 film), Z'' (1969) based on it, two years after the Greek military junta of 1967–74, military junta had seized power in Greece.
* Notable films set or shot in Thessaloniki, among others, include ''Street of Shadows (1937 film), Mademoiselle Docteur/Salonique, nid d'espions'' (1937) by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, ''The Barefooted Battalion'' (1954) by Greg Tallas (Gregory Thalassinos), ''O Atsídas'' (1961) by Giannis Dalianidis, ''Parenthesis'' (1968) by Takis Kanellopoulos, ''Triumph of the Spirit'' (1989) by Robert M. Young (director), Robert M. Young, ''Eternity and a Day'' by Theo Angelopoulos (1998) and ''Cloudy Sunday, Ouzeri Tsitsanis'' (2015) by Manousos Manousakis.
Education
Thessaloniki is a major center of education for Greece. Three of the country's largest universities are located in central Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia and the International Hellenic University. Aristotle University was founded in 1926 and is currently the largest university in list of universities in Greece, Greece by number of students, which number at more than 80,000 in 2010, and is a member of the Utrecht Network. For the academic year 2009–2010,
Aristotle University
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
was ranked as one of the 150 best universities in the world for arts and humanities and among the 250 best universities in the world overall by the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, Times QS World University Rankings, making it one of the top 2% of best universities worldwide. Leiden ranks
Aristotle University
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
as one of the top 100 European universities, at number 97, and the best university in Greece. Since 2010, Thessaloniki is also home to the Open University of Thessaloniki, which is funded by
Aristotle University
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
, the University of Macedonia and the municipality of Thessaloniki.
Additionally, a Technological Educational Institute, TEI (Technological Educational Institute), namely the Alexander TEI of Thessaloniki, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, is located in the western suburb of Sindos; home also to the industrial zone of the city. Numerous public and private IEK, vocational institutes ( el, IEK) provide professional training to young students, while a large number of private colleges offer United States, American and UK academic curriculum, via cooperation with foreign universities. In addition to Greek people, Greek students, the city hence attracts many foreign students either via the Erasmus programme for public universities, or for a complete degree in public universities or in the city's private colleges. the city's total student population was estimated around 200,000.
Transport
Tram
Tram was the main, oldest and most popular public urban mean of Thessalonians in the past. It was in operation from 1893 to 1957, when it was disestablished by the government of Konstantinos Karamanlis. The French ''Compagnie de Tramways et d' Éclairage Électrique de Salonique'' operated it from 1912 until 1940, when the company was purchased by the Hellenic State. The operating base and tram station was in the district of Dépôt.
Before the Greek government-debt crisis, economic crisis of 2009, there were various proposals for new tram lines.
Bus
Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (''OASTH'') operates buses as the only form of public transport in Thessaloniki. It was founded in 1957 and operates a fleet of 604 vehicles on 75 routes throughout the
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
. International and regional bus links are provided by KTEL (Greece), KTEL at its Thessaloniki Bus Station, Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal, located to the west of the city centre.
Metro
The creation of a metro system for Thessaloniki goes back as far as 1918, when Thomas Hayton Mawson and
Ernest Hébrard
Ernest Hébrard (1875–1933) was a French architect, archaeologist and urban planner, best known for his urban plan for the center of Thessaloniki, Greece, after the great fire of 1917.
Background
Hebrard studied at the École des Beaux- ...
proposed the creation of a Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway. In 1968, a circular metro line was proposed, and in 1987 the first serious proposal was presented and construction briefly started in 1988, before stalling and finally being abandoned due to lack of funding. Both the 1918 and 1988 proposals ran almost the identical route to the current Line 1 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 1.
Construction on Thessaloniki's current metro began in 2006 and is classified as a megaproject: it has a budget of €1.57 billion ($ billion). Line 1 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 1 and Line 2 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 2 are currently under construction and will enter service, in phases, between 2023 and 2024. Line 1 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 1 is long and stops at 13 stations, while Line 2 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 2 is long and stops at a further five stations, while also calling at 11 of the Line 1 stations. Thessaloniki Metro#Archaeology, Important archaeological discoveries have been made during construction, and some of the system's stations will house archaeological exhibitions. One stop, , will house the only open archaeological site within a metro station anywhere in the world.
Line 2 (Thessaloniki Metro), Line 2 is to be expanded further, with a loop extension to the western suburbs of the city, towards Evosmos and Stavroupoli, and one overground extension towards Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia", the Airport. The western extension is more high-priority than the airport one, as the airport will be served by a 10-minute shuttle bus to the terminus of Line 2, .
Once it opens in 2023, it is expected that 320,000 people will use the metro every day, or 116 million people every year.
Commuter/suburban rail (Proastiakos)
Commuter rail services have recently been established between Thessaloniki and the city of Larissa (the service is known in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
as the "Proastiakos", meaning "Suburban Railway"). The service is operated using Siemens Desiro EMU trains on a modernised electrified double track and stops at 11 refurbished stations, covering the journey in 1 hour and 33 minutes. Furthermore, an additional line has also been established, although with the use of regional trains, between Thessaloniki and the city of Edessa, Greece, Edessa.
Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia"
International and domestic air traffic to and from the city is served by Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia". The short length of the airport's two runways means that it does not currently support intercontinental flights, although a major extension – lengthening one of its runways into the
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Larissa ...
– is under construction, despite considerable opposition from local environmental groups. Following the completion of the runway works, the airport will be able to serve intercontinental flights and cater for larger aircraft in the future. After long delays, the new runway of the airport was completed in spring 2019. Construction of a second terminal began in September 2018 and finished in February 2021, three months ahead of schedule.
Railways
Because of the Greek economic crisis, all international train links from the city were suspended in February 2011. Until then, the city was a major railway hub for the Balkans, with direct connections to Sofia, Skopje,
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul, alongside
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and other destinations in Greece. Daily through trains to Sofia and Belgrade were restarted in May 2014 but stopped again for COVID-19. Thessaloniki remains one of Greece's most important railway hubs and has the biggest marshalling yard in the country.
Regional train services within Greece (operated by TrainOSE, the Hellenic Railways Organization's train operating company), link the city with other parts of the country, from its central railway passenger station, called the "New railway station (Thessaloniki), New railway station" located at the western end of Thessaloniki's city center.
Port
The
Port of Thessaloniki
The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.
The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
connects the city with seasonal ferries to the Sporades and other north Aegean islands, with its Passenger, passenger terminal, being one of the largest in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
basin; having handled around 162,731 passengers in 2007. Meanwhile, ongoing actions have been going on for more connections and the port is recently being upgraded, as Thessaloniki is also slowly turning into a major tourist port for cruising in the eastern Mediterranean.
Motorways
Thessaloniki lies on the crossroads of the Motorway 1 (Greece), A1/European route E75, E75, Egnatia Odos (modern road), A2/European route E90, E90 and Motorway 25 (Greece), A25 motorways; which connect the city with other parts of the country, as well as the
Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
, Bulgaria and Turkey.
The city itself is bypassed by the C-shaped Thessaloniki Inner Ring Road (''Esoteriki Peripheriaki Odos'', el, Εσωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός), which all of the above motorways connect onto it. The western end of the route begins at the junction with the Motorway 1 (Greece), A1/Egnatia Odos (modern road), A2 motorways in ''Lachanagora'' District. Clockwise it heads northeast around the city, passing through the northwestern suburbs, the forest of ''Seich Sou'' and through to the southeast suburb/borough of Kalamaria. The ring road ends at a large junction with the Motorway 25 (Greece), A25 motorway, which then continues south to
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
, passing through Thessaloniki metropolitan area, Thessaloniki's outer southeast suburbs.
The speed limit on this motorway is ; it currently has three traffic lanes for each direction and forms the city's most vital road link; handling more than 120,000 vehicles daily, instead of the 30,000 vehicles that it was originally designed to handle in 1975.
An outer ring road known as Eksoteriki Peripheriaki Odos ( el, Εξωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός, ''outer ring road'') carries all traffic that completely bypasses the city. It is Part of Motorway 2 (Greece), Motorway 2.
Future plans
Despite the large effort that was made in 2004 to improve the motorway features of the Thessaloniki ring road, the motorway is still insufficient to tackle Thessaloniki's increasing traffic and metropolitan population. To tackle this problem, the government has introduced large scale redevelopment plans throughout 2011 with tenders expected to be announced within early 2012; that include the total restructuring of the A16 in the western side of the city, with new junctions and new hard shoulder, emergency lanes throughout the whole length of the motorway. In the eastern side an even larger scale project has been announced, for the construction of a new elevated motorway section above the existing, which would allow faster travel for drivers heading through to the Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia", airport and
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
that do not wish to exit into the city, and will decongest the existing motorway for city commuters. The plans also include adding one more lane in each direction on the existing A16 ring road and on the Motorway 25 (Greece), A25 passing through Thessaloniki metropolitan area, Thessaloniki's southeast suburbs, from its junction with the A16 in Kalamaria, up to the airport exit (Greek National Road 67, ΕΟ67); which will make it an 8 lane highway.
Additional long-term plans include the extension of the planned outer ring road known as Eksoteriki Peripheriaki Odos ( el, Εξωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός, ''outer ring road'') to circle around the entire
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
, crossing over the Thermaic Gulf from the east, to join with the Motorway 1 (Greece), A1/European route E75, E75 motorway. Preliminary plans have been announced which include a bridge over the gulf, as part of the southern bypass of the city; to cater for the large number of travellers from Macedonia and the rest of Greece heading to the Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia", airport, and to the increasingly popular tourist region of
Chalkidiki
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
, Larissa,
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
)''
** Egnatia Odos (modern road), A2/European route E90, E90 W ''(Kozani, Ioannina, Igoumenitsa)'' N ''(Kavala, Xanthi, Alexandroupolis, Turkey)''
** Motorway 25 (Greece), A25 (Greek National Road 12, ΕΟ12)/European route E79, Ε79 Ν ''(Serres, Bulgaria)''
** Motorway 25 (Greece), A25 (Greek National Road 67, ΕΟ67) S ''(Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia", Airport, Nea Moudania)''
* National Roads:
** Greek National Road 2, ΕΟ2/European route E86, Ε86 W ''(Edessa, Giannitsa)''
** Greek National Road 12, ΕΟ12/European route E79, Ε79 Ν ''(Serres, Drama, Greece, Drama)''
** Greek National Road 16, ΕΟ16, SW ''(Polygyros, Ouranopolis)''
** Greek National Road 65, ΕΟ65, Ν ''(Kilkis, Doirani)''
Thessaloniki is Sister city, twinned with:
* Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, United States (1962)
* Alexandria, Egypt (1993)
* Bologna, Italy (1984)
* Leipzig, Germany (1984)
* Limassol, Cyprus (1984)
* City of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (1984)
* Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1984)
* Bratislava, Slovakia (1986)
* Cologne, Germany (1988)
* Constanţa, Romania (1988)
* San Francisco, United States (1990)
* Nice, France (1992)
* Tel Aviv, Israel (1994)
* Kolkata, India (2005)
* Korçë, Albania (2005)
* Busan, South Korea (2010)
* Durrës, Albania (2012)
Other cooperation
Thessaloniki also cooperates with:
* Toronto, Canada (1986)
* Budapest, Hungary (1993)
* Brooklyn, Brooklyn (New York), United States (1993)
* Boston, United States (1996)
* Shenyang, China (2000)
* Gyumri, Armenia (2000)
* Philadelphia, United States (2002)
* Saint Petersburg, Russia (2002)
* Dnipro, Ukraine (2003)
* Venice, Italy (2003)
* Dongguan, China (2008)
See also
*
Thessaloniki metropolitan area
The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, w ...
*Battle of Thessalonica (disambiguation), Battle of Thessalonica (fourteen events at various times)
* Macedonians (Greeks)
* Mount Chortiatis, above the city
* Lake Koroneia, 14 km from the city
* Delta, Thessaloniki, Delta of
Axios Axios commonly refers to:
* Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia
* ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website
Axios may also refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...
National Park, west of the city
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Apostolos Papagiannopoulos,''Monuments of Thessaloniki'', Rekos Ltd, date unknown.
* Apostolos P. Vacalopoulos, ''A History of Thessaloniki'', Institute for Balkan Studies,1972.
* John R. Melville-Jones, 'Venice and Thessalonica 1423–1430 Vol I, The Venetian Accounts, Vol. II, the Greek Accounts, Unipress, Padova, 2002 and 2006 (the latter work contains English translations of accounts of the events of this period by St Symeon of Thessaloniki and John Anagnostes).
* ''Thessaloniki: Tourist guide and street map'', A. Kessopoulos, MalliareÌ"s-Paideia, 1988.
* Mark Mazower, ''Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430–1950'', 2004, .
* Naar, Devin E. ''Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece.'' Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture Series. Stanford Stanford University Press, 2016. 400 pp. .
* Μεσσίνας, Ηλίας. ''Οι Συναγωγές της Θεσσαλονίκης και της Βέροιας''. Εκδόσεις Γαβριηλίδης, 1997. .
* Messinas, Elias. ''The Synagogues of Greece: A Study of Synagogues in Macedonia and Thrace: With Architectural Drawings of all Synagogues of Greece''. Seattle: KDP, 2022.
* Eugenia Russell, ''St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages'', Peter Lang, Oxford, 2010.
* James C. Skedros, ''Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector, 4th-7Th Centuries'' (Harvard Theological Studies), Trinity Press International (1999).
* Vilma Hastaoglou-Martinidis (ed.), ''Restructuring the City: International Urban Design Competitions for Thessaloniki'', Andreas Papadakis, 1999.
* Matthieu Ghilardi, Dynamiques spatiales et reconstitutions paléogéographiques de la plaine de Thessalonique (Grèce) à l'Holocène récent, 2007. Thèse de Doctorat de l'Université de Paris 12 Val-de-Marne, 475 p.
* : Official promotional video for Thessaloniki by the Greek National Tourism Organization
Thessaloniki The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation
Thessaloniki 2012 (celebrations for the 100 years of the incorporation of the city to Greece)
Thessaloniki 2014 (official website of Thessaloniki European Youth Capital 2014)
Local guides
Greek Local Yellow Pages of Thessaloniki
{{Authority control
Thessaloniki,
Geography of ancient Mygdonia
Greek regional capitals
Historic Jewish communities
Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece
Municipalities of Central Macedonia
New Testament cities
Pauline churches
Populated coastal places in Greece
Populated places established in the 4th century BC
Populated places in Thessaloniki (regional unit)
Port cities of the Aegean Sea
Capitals of Greek states
Fortified settlements
World Heritage Sites in Greece, Thessaloniki, Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments
310s BC establishments
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece
Archaeological sites in Macedonia (Greece)
4th-century BC establishments in Greece
Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust