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THESSALONIKI Name: Carlota Gil Group: 2ยบD Subject: History
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INDEX CHAPTERS
PAGES
The city………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p.3 Origins and history…………………………………………………………………………………………………………p.4 Ancient urban spaces and old buildings……………………………………………………………………..…p.4 & 5 Urbanization rate today……………………………………………………………………………………….……….p.6 Urban dimension, population and city size…………………………………………………………..……….p.6 & 7 Urban morphology…………………………………………………………………………………………...…….…….p.7 & 8 Position in the urban hierarchy……………………………………………………………………………………..p.9 The structure of the city………………………………………………………………………………………………..p.9 & 10 Social and environmental problems….............................................................................p.11 Famous buildings………………………………………………………………………………………………………..p.12 & 13 Resources……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...p.14
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1. THE CITY Thessaloniki also known as Thessalonica, Salonica and Salonika is the second biggest city in Greece (Europe) and the capital of Greek Macedonia. Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf, at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city was founded in 315 BC (2334 years ago), it has 7 municipalities and it has a mayor-council government. Thessaloniki has over one million of inhabitants. The original name of the city was Thessalonike, named after a princess who was the half-sister of Alexander the Great.
City of Thessaloniki
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2. ORIGINS AND HISTORY
The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon. He named it after his wife Thessalonike, princess of Macedonia. It evolved to become the most important city in Macedonia. After the fall of the Kingdom of Macedonia in 168 BC, Thessaloniki was made the capital of the province of Macedonia. It grew to be an important trade-hub. There was a road which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centers of commerce such as Rome and Byzantium. In the 6th and 7th centuries, Thessaloniki was invaded by Avars and Slavs. In 1342 the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots, which was an anti-aristocratic party formed by sailors and poor people.
Thessaloniki was basically independent from the rest of the Byzantine Empire as it had its own government, laws and customs. The zealot movement ended and the city reunited with the rest of the empire. During the 15th and 16th centuries almost 20.000 Jews immigrated to Greece from the Iberian Peninsula because they had been expelled from Spain by the Alhambra Decree. From that moment on the number of households increased. Some historians think the invitation to Jewish settlements was a strategy so that Greeks didn’t dominate the city.
3. ANCIENT URBAN SPACES AND OLD BUILDINGS
The old town of Thessaloniki is situated on the north. Jews used to live there. The old town has cemented streets and houses made of stones. You can also find some Byzantine monasteries and churches but only one monastery is active called the Monastery of Vlatadon. The majority of the town was destroyed in a fire in the year 1917. In 168 BC the Romans dominated the town and changed the streets. They paved them and installed a drainage system. The number of streets increased. There was a very long street which crossed the city horizontally, it was called Via Regia which meant Royal Street. Some roadways were16 meters wide. A famous ancient building in the city is the Arch of Galerius. It was constructed because the Roman Emperor Galerius wanted a road to pass
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beneath it and connect his palace to the city. Only three of the eight pillars it had remain today. Other ancient buildings are the Byzantine church of Agia Sofia and a mosque called Alaja Imaret.
Mosque Alaja Imaret
Church Agia Sofia
Arch of Galerius
An old town street
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4. URBANISATION RATE TODAY
The population in Greece has increased 3% in ten years. 5. URBAN DIMENSION, POPULATION AND CITY SIZE
Urban Area had a population of 824.676 and the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area had 1.030.338 inhabitants in 2011. Thessaloniki has a size of 19, 31 km² and 1.108 million of inhabitants.
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EVOLUTION OF THE POPULATION IN THESSALONIKI Year
Population
Growth Rate (%)
Growth
1980
693,663
2.38%
76,994
1985
724,136
0.86%
30,473
1990
745,906
0.59%
21,770
1995
770,808
0.66%
24,902
2000
796,973
0.67%
26,165
2005
803,241
0.16%
6,268
2010
806,139
0.07%
2,898
2015
809,043
0.07%
2,904
2019
811,435
0.07%
2,392
6. URBAN MORPHOLOGY
Thessaloniki today is a modern city with large avenues, parks town squares‌ Some streets have lines of trees at each side of the pavement. There are also many old houses and buildings. The modern city has shops, taverns, cinemas, restaurants‌ A famous street in Thessaloniki is the Egnatia Street is the main commercial street in the city. It is lined with office buildings and shops. Apart from the modern part of the city there is an area of old neighborhoods with narrow streets and small gardens. And the walls that surrounded the city are still standing.
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Urban plans of Thessaloniki
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7. POSITION IN THE URBAN HIERARCHY
Thessaloniki is a national node and a metropolis with influence over an industrial region.
• Largest cities in Greece Capital of Greece 8. THE STRUCTURE OF THE CITY
A very famous part of Thessaloniki is the Ano Poli also referred as the upper town or the city above the city. It is situated on the north of the city and was the only part that survived the Great Fire in 1917. There you can find stone-paved alleys, traditional houses and Byzantine monuments. Ano Poli is a very colorful neighborhood. Another important part of Thessaloniki is Ladadika which is a historic district of the city. In the past it was a very important market place and its name refers to the many olive oil shops of the area. There you can find buildings from the 19th century that have been preserved. Laidadika is nowadays used for entertainment where there are bars, nightclubs, restaurants‌
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Plaza Aristotelous is another part of the city. It is the main square of Thessaloniki and it is located in the middle of the city.The square is surrounded by 12 buildings which have been numbered since 1950.
Ano Poli (Upper part) Ladadika (Thessaloniki) Plaza Aristotelous (Thessaloniki)
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9. SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTTAL PROBLEMS
Thessaloniki is very affected by air pollution is quite dirty and the quality of green and parks is low. Water in Thessaloniki is clean and accessible. Thessaloniki has suffered by economic and political crises. On one hand unemployment and absence of opportunities for young people have increased. On the other hand resources to provide services have decreased.
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10.
FAMOUS BUILDINGS
WHITE TOWER
The White Tower of Thessaloniki is a monument and a museum. This tower was once a prison and where executions took place. In 1826 there was a massacre and lots of people died. From that moment on till the end of the 19th century the tower was called “Tower of Blood” or “Red Tower”. In 1912 the tower was whitewashed and its name was changed to the White Tower and also became the symbol of the city. Although today the Tower is a brownish color its name remains. The White Tower is now a famous tourist attraction and a museum dedicated to the history of Thessaloniki. The tower has a cylindrical shape with a height of 34m. Some parts of the tower are reached by a spiral ramp. It has six floors.
The white Tower in Thessaloniki (Greece)
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OTE TOWER
The OTE tower is located in central Thessaloniki. It is 76 meters tall and has four floors. It was once used for the first black and white broadcasts of the Greek State Television. Nowadays the tower has been transformed into a modern telecommunications tower.
Ote Tower in Thessaloniki
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11.
BIBLIOGARPHY
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https://www.greeka.com/macedonia/thessaloniki/thessalonikineighbourhoods/thessaloniki-old_town_ano_poli.htm https://www.statista.com/statistics/276402/urbanization-in-greece/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/thessaloniki-population/ https://wikitravel.org/en/Thessaloniki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tower_of_Thessaloniki http://www.world-guides.com/europe/greece/centralmacedonia/thessaloniki/thessaloniki_landmarks.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTE_Tower https://www.numbeo.com/pollution/in/Thessaloniki https://countryeconomy.com/unemployment/greece