καλός ορίσατε στη Θεσσαλονίκη! – Thessaloniki here we come!

It's been a long time since our last visit: 1992! And, it's only been our third visit in total to this second-largest city of Greece, located in the Northern part, in Central Macedonia. Thessaloniki has a population of about 320,000 (like Augsburg!), over 800,000 in the metro area (Athens: 650,000 / over 3 mio.) and is popular because of its location on the Thermaic Golf, closeby many favorite beaches on the Chalkidiki Peninsula.

 

Well, after so many years we decided to visit our friend Mimi, who studied with us in Würzburg, decades ago, but, other than us, made a career as an Archeologist. Didn't remember much of the city anymore, mostly the archeological sites and buildings and museums, and, of course, the promenade and the harbor.    

The city is inhabited since prehistoric times, but officially founded in 316/315 B.C. by King Cassander of Macedonia, and named after the sister of Alexander the Great (photo below).  

 

 

The place developed rapidly and florished until the city was taken over by the Romans in 168 BC. In 379 AD Thessaloniki became the capital of the Roman new Prefecture of Illyricum and gained importance, became almost equal to Constantinople. After King Theodosius' I death 395 AD the Roman Empire was split up in an Eastern and a Western part and Saloniki became an important city in the so-called (eastern) Byzantine Empire. It florished until the 14th century. In the 15th century the Ottomans (Turkish) took over and religion, politics and society changed. A big break was the Big Fire in 1917, which destroyed considerable parts of the city before it was quickly newly built up.

 

We were staying in an AirBnB, which we had chosen wisely, in a great downtown location, on the upper floors, with two balconies and A/C. The latter showed very useful considering the heat. Not so much the temperature itself (which was not too much different from what we have had the week before here), but the heaps of stone and concrete which radiated the heat, and, the lack of greenery in the center.

We had a kitchenette and were able to prepare breakfast and small meals, but, also dined out with our friend and enjoyed the Greek cuisine, the good quality and comparably low prices, and, the abundance of fish and seafood in this area. Also, we found a craftbrewery "Utopia" with their own beers and some others. Below: "Bougatsa" a philo dough with a cream (or cheese) filling, is a speciality of Saloniki.

Fancy sandwiches at "Mandarini":

A nice fish tavern in Krini:

,,, and a simple Greek salad on our balcony:

Some sweets for dessert?

For a nightcap:

The old market hall Modiano, which we still remembered, was closed for renovations, but the Kapani market, an open-air market (photos below), was open, with all kind of vendors, butchers, fish mongers, olive and cheese stores, household items, clothing, souvenirs and much more. At the end, we bought our provisions of olives for the next weeks at home.

In the different neighborhoods also weekly farmers' markets take place, like shown on the photo far below in Ana Poli. 

 

Already on the first day, we climbed up to Ano Poli, the upper city, and to the Acropolis, the fortress. It's been a long, but rewarding walk: gorgeous views, great history, lots of interesting architecture of different periods, walls, towers, cloisters, churches - in total a big difference to the modern, hectic downtown along the waterfront. 

 

 

Most impressive: the Heptapyrgion, the fortress of Thesslaoniki, from Byzantine times, later used as a prison. Idyllic: the Vlatades monastery dating in the 14th century with a beautifully decorated church. 

The Trigonion Tower (left) also functioned as a military fortification and nowadays offers great views from a platform. The historic old town, Ano Poli, has still many old buildings from osmanic times with alcoves and wood constructions - reminded us a lot of Crete! It has pitturesque corners, too, where - like so often in Greece - decay and beauty goes side by side. 

 

 Main square in Ano Poli above

 

Museums: The Archeological Museum - nice, not too overwhelming, and, of course, I knew it from the time I wrote my doctoral thesis:  two copies of the Aphrodite type (Louvre-Neapel) I did my research on are stored in this museum.

 

 The Byzantine Museum was equally interesting, a stroll through byzantine times, nicely arranged exhibitions in a modern building. 

Downtown Thessaloniki is full of archeological remains. Excavations at every corner, from Hellenistic  through Roman to Byzantine and Ottomanic times. Probably most impressive is the palace complex of Galerius, built at the turning-point of  Roman and Byzantine. 

Also, the Rotunda (left) with its later-added minaret talks history, as well as the triumphal arch of Galerius dating in 303 AD. There is the Roman Agora and many other archeological excavations to visit, popping up everywhere on the way.

 

  

Latest addition to the cultural scene is the Thessalonikeon Metropolis, where antiquities, discovered during the new Metro construction are exhibited since May 2026. Also, in the new metro stations (a ticket costs 60 cents by the way!) parts of the findings are shown and old  foundations carefully preserved (photo below). 

 

The museum itself is housed in the Pavlos Melas military camp, a bit out of town, easily to be reached by bus. It's located in one of the Barracks Buildings (above, right) and surrounded by a newly planted park, still an on-going project. 

 

The old, almost shadeless waterfront promenade was expanded towards the South ("Nea Paralia"), starting at the "White Tower", which we visited one day (exhibitions about the city history) and climbed up. On the way south towards the Megaron Musikis, the modern concert hall, are different garden sections, some monuments and modern artwork like the Zongolopoulos, the "umbrellas".  Also, there's a bit more shade thanks to more trees and despite the broad paved trail.   

 

We walked around 15 km every day, saw lots of murals on walls, found only few kiosks (formerly, very common in Greece!) and almost none with papers or magazines anymore. Water is real cheap, but comes in plastic bottles, beaches are not too clean. Lots of restaurants and cafés and shopping, fancy brand stores and some vintage, too. 

Especially around Plateia Aristotelou (left photo) the "hoi polloi" feel comfy, whereas in Ladadika, a former commerce district, the night owls, diners and the party-goers are meeting.

 

Thessaloniki is a modern hub with a harbor where some ferries and, apparently, not too many big cruiseships dock. Mostly, container ships bringing are bringing goods from who-knows-where/Asia? 

Pier One at the Port of Thessaloniki houses two branches of the MOMus, the Museum of Modern Art (digital art and photography), photo below, some restaurants and a historic warship, the "HS Velos", operating as a floating Naval Museum. 

We had a great time in Thessaloniki - interesting walks and discoveries, old & new, top-notch and run-down, downtown and neighborhoods, good food, wine and beer, great museums and sights. But, especially, we enjoyed meeting our friend Mimi and spending time with her.