Thessaloniki is Greece's second city and capital of Macedonia. It was founded in 315 BC by King Cassander, who named it after his wife Thessalonike, half-sister of Alexander the Great. Under Rome and Byzantium it was one of the Empire's most important cities, second only to Constantinople. A cosmopolitan port, for centuries it was home, alongside Greeks and Turks, to a large Sephardic Jewish community that arrived from Spain after 1492 and formed the majority of the population in the early 20th century; almost all were deported and murdered in 1943. It became Greek in 1912; a great fire in 1917 destroyed much of the centre, rebuilt to a modern plan.
What to see
| Place | Why |
|---|---|
| White Tower | The city's symbol, an Ottoman tower on the seafront with a museum of Thessaloniki's history |
| Seafront (Nea Paralia) | A promenade of several kilometres with gardens and the Umbrellas sculpture |
| Aristotelous Square | The great square by the sea, heart of the city |
| Rotunda and Arch of Galerius | 4th-century Roman monuments, later church and mosque |
| Basilica of St Demetrios | Church of the city's patron saint, with crypt and mosaics |
| Hagia Sophia and Panagia Acheiropoietos | Byzantine churches, UNESCO |
| Ano Poli | The upper town, with colourful houses, lanes and Byzantine walls overlooking the gulf |
| Kapani and Modiano markets | Spices, olives, cheese, fish and tavernas |
| Ladadika | The old oil merchants' quarter, now full of restaurants |
Museums
The Archaeological Museum holds the treasures of ancient Macedonia, such as the Derveni krater; the Museum of Byzantine Culture is one of the best of its kind; the Jewish Museum tells the story of the Sephardic community; the modern Museum of Photography and the arts centre in old harbour warehouses complete the picture.
Eating and going out
Thessaloniki is considered Greece's food capital: bougatsa for breakfast, sesame koulouri, cooking shaped by Jewish, Armenian and Asia Minor traditions, mezedes in tsipouradika and sweets such as Panorama's trigona. Thanks to about a hundred thousand university students, nightlife is very lively, especially in Ladadika, Valaoritou and along the sea.
Day trips
From Thessaloniki you can easily visit Vergina and Pella, the cities of Alexander the Great, Mount Olympus and Dion, Chalkidiki and its beaches and, for men, Mount Athos.
Getting there and around
Makedonia Airport is 15 km from the centre, linked by bus. The city has a new metro, opened in late 2024, linking the railway station with the centre and eastern districts. Trains to Athens take about four hours.
See also Macedonia and the Byzantine Empire.