IF YOU'RE FORTUNATE ENOUGH to be staying at the Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki but unlucky enough to be an early riser, you’d do well to leave your curtains open so that the view of the Thermaic Gulf is the first thing you see when you open your eyes. This is precisely what I did one recent wintry Sunday, waking up to a windless day that turned the sea the same slate blue as the sky. I went out onto the balcony to take a few deep breaths and enjoy the tranquil view and the morning calm and was immediately seized by the desire to go for a walk along the waterfront, a ritual I consider essential for anyone who wants to get a sense of the city.
Some 2.5 kilometers along the road to the city center, I started coming across other early birds – some were jogging, others were gliding along on their electric scooters and bicycles. It was such a charming setting that the only thing I could think about was how privileged Thessaloniki is to have the sea so near at hand.
It's been several weeks since then and I’m sitting at my desk in Athens, looking back on that morning as one of
the most pleasant awakenings I’ve had in a very long time.
Last summer, the authoritative Conde Nast Traveller placed Thessaloniki in seventh place among the most underrated cities in Europe. I understand the allure of lists to the reading public, but I’m in no position to know whether it is less underrated than sixth-placed Petworth in the UK or more than Ohrid in North Macedonia, which came in eighth. What I do know is that there was nowhere else I would rather have been on that Sunday morning.
The purpose of my visit was, after all, a joyful one. Gastronomos, Greece’s top food culture magazine and a sister publication of Greece Is, was giving out its annual quality awards, focusing this year on producers with roots in Asia Minor. To make it even more special, the event was being held at the newly revamped Modiano Market, one day before it would reopen to the public. A beautiful structure, it had stood eerily empty for years until a makeover transformed into a wonderful food hall, filled with smiles and optimism.
The problems of the day-to-day grind – apparent in every city in the world, underrated or otherwise – had given way to a feeling that the future is bright for Thessaloniki. It is this sense of optimism that we have tried to convey in this issue, and we hope that it keeps you good company and inspires you to explore and enjoy. •
The preservation of memory and the Holocaust Museum of Greece
116
A scientific expedition on Mt Olympus
128 |
Four easy day trips offer a Macedonian mix of glittering waters, grand wines, rare birds, and natural wonders.
Today, even the local stuff is served from a bottle and sipped from stemware.
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ON THE COVER Collage art by Dimitris Tsoumplekas
Thessaloniki is striving to pick up where it left off in 2019, its best tourism year on record.
BY JOHN PAPADIMITRIOU
IT’S THE SECOND WEEK of November, and I’m taking an afternoon stroll around Ladadika, a historic district in downtown Thessaloniki that's recently become a culinary hub, thanks to several new restaurants. There’s a light drizzle in the air and a great deal of buzz coming from the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival. On cobbled Morichovou Square, I notice an English-speaking family of tourists making their plans over a map as I head towards Katouni Street, which has seen quite a few new arrivals, mostly bar-restaurants that play dance music. I make my way to a modern café, designed and run by Beetroot, on the corner of Syngrou and Valaoritou.
Beetroot is a multi-award-winning design firm, and it recently launched this venture, where it also sells its own merchandise, everything from posters to kitchen aprons. The place is self-service, so I join the line and wait to order. The women in front of me are talking in Hebrew about the wine list.
Just a decade ago, such scenes would have been unimaginable. The city had few foreign tourists, even from the Balkans, and fewer still during the colder months of winter. It was a little-known destination linked to the world by a handful of flights from abroad. During the 2010-2018 economic crisis, however, an interesting culinary scene emerged in Thessaloniki, with young chefs experimenting with local ingredients, reviving forgotten recipes from the city’s multicultural past, and serving excellent food at very reasonable prices. At the same time, the Israeli travel market took an interest in the city because of the large Jewish community that once thrived here. Investments in accommodation followed suit, albeit timidly at first. Landmark hotels were revamped, and
new modern units were built, too. By 2019, when the city broke its arrivals record, Thessaloniki was firmly established as a pleasant, good-value weekend break destination.
Despite expectations, a new record in 2022 didn’t materialize. According to figures from the Institute of the Greek Tourism Federation, the city’s renovated Macedonia International Airport received 320,000 fewer visitors in January-October 2022 than it did in 2019. The drop in arrivals also appears to have affected
overnight stays which, according to the Thessaloniki Hoteliers’ Association, were down 13.9% in the first nine months of the year compared with three years ago. As this was a particularly good year for tourism in Greece, the slump worries local stakeholders. “There’s an urgent need for a comprehensive strategic plan to develop the city’s tourism image and infrastructure and to attract visitors from new markets,” says Alexandros Mandrinos, president of the hoteliers’ association.
Despite concerns for the future, Thessaloniki continued to maintain the reputation it has built for itself over the past few years. Time Magazine put it on its list of the world’s top 50 destinations in 2022 for its culinary scene, which “has long attracted foodies.” It’s also the first Greek city to be inducted into UNESCO’s Creative Cities of Gastronomy network, rewarding efforts to showcase its rich and multifaceted cultural identity through food.
Along with its modern kafeneios, traditional ouzeris, humble tavernas, restaurants experimenting with creative Greek cuisine and wine bars showcasing local producers and Macedonia’s wine country, new projects of a more far-reaching scope are also being developed.
Following the launch of Ergon Agora East – a seaside space on the eastern edge of the city dedicated to food and recreation and featuring a food hall, restaurants and bars – and the rebirth of the legendary restaurant Olympos Naoussa on Nikis Avenue, December 2022 saw what’s possibly the most significant opening in Thessaloniki in recent years. After 22 years of neglect that brought it close to collapse, the iconic Modiano Market celebrated its 100th anniversary by revealing its new look following a makeover that’s put it on a par with the best food halls in Europe. It now hosts more than 70 food shops specializing in local artisanal products, as well as restaurants, bars and an upper level with areas suitable for special events. The Fais Group, which carried out the reconstruction and invested €10 million in the project, estimates that Modiano Market will welcome 4 million visitors in the first year alone, 25% of which will be from abroad. “We’re experiencing a burst of growth in the city right now, similar to that of the late 19th century. Its airport has been renovated and
upgraded, improving connectivity with international destinations. The completion of road projects makes the city more accessible by car. The modernization of commercial rail routes and the development of the port will re-establish Thessaloniki as a hub of trade and commercial activity in the Balkan region,” says Hasdai Capon, general manager of the Fais Group.
THE MODIANO MARKET RECENTLY CELEBRATED ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY BY REVEALING ITS NEW LOOK AFTER A MAKEOVER THAT’S PUT IT ON A PAR WITH THE BEST FOOD HALLS IN EUROPE.Above: Over the last eighteen months, four new five-star hotels have opened in the city, including the Teight. Below: The relaunched Olympos Naoussa serves creative new takes on classics from the restaurant's original menu.
The male definite articles, “O”, that are repeatedly being used in our language, reflect the underrepresentation of women in positions of power.
At Piraeus Bank, we designed the program EQUALL and we commit that we will contribute to the creation of a society of equal people through our actions and initiatives:
• Women Entrepreneurship Support Program
• Reintegration of Women into the Labor Market
• Educational Programs to Raise the Awareness of the Younger Generation on Gender Stereotypes and Professions
PIRAEUS BANKThe continuing upgrade of the Thessaloniki Port has boosted commercial traffic and tourism. It now runs ferry services to several new destinations, including the nearby Sporades Islands and the more distant Cyclades, as well as a summer-season route to Izmir, which will strengthen ties with the Turkish market. It's also helped Thessaloniki make a dynamic entry into the cruise market. Right now, the city is connected to 10 different ports (including Istanbul, Kusadasi, and Volos). In 2021, it was designated a “homeport,” meaning that cruises start and end here. Compared with 2019, cruises this year have increased tenfold since their February start date, the earliest ever. In 2022, there were 61 cruises stopping here; 70 have already been scheduled for 2023, with half being homeporting cruises. Most passengers are from the US, Canada, and the UK, but there are Greeks, too. Thessaloniki’s status as a trade and tourism hub was confirmed when it was picked to host next year’s installment of the top cruise and yachting conference, the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum.
Conferences and exhibitions are another field of activity that brings tourists and money to the city.
great deal to help raise Thessaloniki’s profile over the next three years and create the conditions that will favor a further increase in tourist arrivals.
The big question, of course, is when all these tourists will be able to get around on the long-overdue driverless subway network; the city's longest-running transport project is already into its trial phase and should be fully operational by the end of 2023, although many city residents, frustrated by previous promises, have their doubts.•
THE MODIANO MARKET, a historic landmark, was closed for about six years. Today, it᾿s open again, brighter than ever, with brand new shops and restaurant services. The original Modiano Market was built in the 1920s and, for more than half a century, was an important culinary hub for Thessaloniki and the nearby cities. People used to come here to do their daily shopping for items such as seasonal fruit from the Macedonian plains, various vegetables, the freshest fish from the Thermaikos Gulf and the Northern Aegean Sea, and meat from animals raised at local mountain farms. They also came for rare imported delicacies, ranging from liqueurs and canned fish to expensive spices. In addition to its grocery stores, butcher shops and delicatessens, the market was also home to tavernas and grill houses. People from all walks of life frequented the market not only for the delicious food, made with the freshest ingredients from the neighboring shops, but also for the party atmosphere; street musicians often serenaded the tables, and the fun began as early as 11:00 and continued well after dark. Today, the new Modiano Market boasts around 70 shops, where you can buy Greek products – from halva and nut butters to fine olive oils and wine – and eateries serving everything from ceviche to street food favorites.
→ 33 Vasileos Irakleiou. Restaurants open daily 11:00-02:00, stores open Mon-Sat 08:00-20:00, Sun 11:00-19:00
Special spots you won't want to miss during your stay in the Jewel of the North.
BY NENA DIMITRIOU AND LINA KAPETANIOU
LOCATED IN THE CITY ᾿S HEART, new five-star hotel MOnAsty is a proud member of Marriott᾿s Autograph Collection. Its name comes from its proximity to an old monastery, and there᾿s a monastic element to the hotel's clean, auster lines and uncluttered common spaces. The décor of the 100 rooms and suites, on the other hand, draws inspiration from the grandeur of the city᾿s rich Byzantine heritage.
→ MonAsty, 45 Vasileos Irakliou, Tel. (+30) 2310.274.545 monastyhotel.com From €146 for a double room without breakfast
BEETROOT IS A CAFÉ-GALLERY founded by the team from the design firm Beetroot. Housed in a building that dates from the early 20th century, the café operates on the ground floor, together with an exhibition space showcasing items that the Beetroot design team have created. Their new restaurant, named Poster, will be opening any day now across the street, helmed by the talented young chef Vasilis Hamam, whose background includes experience in some of London’s most demanding kitchens. → Beetroot, 1 Paikou, Tel. (+30) 2310.274.545
OPERATING SINCE SUMMER 2022 in a neighborhood known for its buzzing nightlife, Teight Hotel is super modern, and its interior spaces are adorned with photographs selected by celebrated Greek photographer Yannis Bournias. Cutting-edge technology means guests can control room services via the hotel’s web app. Moldee, the ground-floor restaurant presents an interesting menu created by talented local chefs Vassilis Mouratidis and Sofoklis Maragoudakis.
→ Teight Hotel, 8 Mitropolitou Iosif, teighthotel.gr From €99 for a double room with breakfast.
THE COZY SIGNORA TRATTORIA opened last winter in the city center and offers everything you’d expect of a traditional Italian eatery, which isn᾿t surpsiring, since the ingredients used are mostly imported from Italy. The menu features a classic Italian selection of antipasti, primi, and secondi. Particularly impressive are the Caprese salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella, carob powder, and delicious basil pesto; the Bucatini all’Amatriciana with sauce from San Marzano tomatoes and Tuscan pancetta; and the Rigatoni Cacio e Peppe. There is a wide variety of Italian and Greek wines, spirits and cocktails, although the choice of beers is limited.
→ Signora Trattoria, 38 Pavlou Mela, Tel. (+30) 2310.238.233, open: Mon-Sat 13:00-23:00, Sun 13:00-20:00
BUILT IN 1926, this Eclectic-style building on Nikis Avenue has been classified as a historic landmark. It initially housed the Naoussa brewery and the offices of the Olympos ice-making company. Its new life as ON Residence, a 60-bed boutique hotel, began last year following extensive renovation. Its ground-floor bar, Tiger Loop, is staffed by the award-winning team of Achilleas Plakidas, an entrepreneur with many successful bar projects in the city. Inspired by the Far East and by Chinese astrology, the team serves 12 signature cocktails named after Chinese zodiac animals. The Dragon, for instance, is made with white tequila and pineapple juice spiced with curry and ginger. The hotel's restaurant, Olympos Naoussa, harks back to the original establishment of that name, which operated here from 1935 until it closed in 1994. That classic eatery was a staple on the fashionable social scene in the city; it᾿s this glamorous 1930s ambiance that the present owners of the restaurant have rekindled. From the chairs and lighting to the art de la table, everything contributes to reproducing a glorious past, and the same journey through history has been taken by chef Dimitris Tasioulas, who creates nostalgic Greek dishes using modern techniques. The menu features pan-fried octopus marinated in vinegar; steamed fennel and fish roe cream with cuttlefish ink; lamb fricassée; and Athinaiki, a cold fish salad made with grouper. Desserts include Armenonville ice cream, a local treat made with meringue, and an almond dessert.
→ ON Residence, 5 Nikis, onresidence.gr From €158 for a double room with breakfast
→ Tiger Loop, open: Sun-Thu 09:00-01:00, Fri & Sat 09.00-03.00
→ Olympos Naoussa, olymposnaoussa.gr, open daily 13:00-23:30
THE CITY HAS ACQUIRED a new hangout for restless musical spirits. Ydro, opposite the waterfront, has already become the talk of the town thanks to its exciting live evenings featuring local artists, experimental electronic music from DJs, and a fun crowd. The spot takes its name from the legendary Greek indie pop group “Kore. Ydro” formed in 1993 in Corfu.
→ Ydro, 11 Navarchou Kountouriotou, open daily 09:00-03:00
SHED, A TINY COFFEE SHOP, is located in a quiet pedestrian zone perpendicular to Aghias Sofias Street. The decor style is called Japandi; it᾿s a minimalist mix of Japanese and Scandinavian elements. Shed is selfservice and ideal for a quick coffee, but only either while standing or to go, as there᾿s no room in the 9-sq.m interior for tables. It offers specialty coffee prepared with single-origin beans from Kenya, Ethiopia and elsewhere. You᾿ll also find a variety of matcha options.
→ Shed, 11 Patriarchou Dionysiou, open daily 08:00-23:30
1. The Archaeological Museum is a gateway to the history of Thessaloniki. Make sure to seek out the funerary stele of Areskon (“One who is liked, who is popular”), a star performer from antiquity who died before his time.
Ceramic artist / Founder Serene Home @serene__home
1. The Lola Nikolaou Art Gallery (52 Tsimiski) opened in 1993 and it’s hosted some unique artists representing both classical and modern approaches to art, in one of the city's most impressive neoclassical buildings.
2. A beautiful area with a special historic identity is Kastra. It’s home to Café Aithrio (7 Dim. Tzachila), which began operating in the early 20th century as a coffee shop frequented by prison guards. Today, the café attracts some of the most interesting people in the city.
3. Speakeasy Floor Bar (8 Salaminos) is a secret spot in the Ladadika district that feels like a classic New York bar. Its cocktails are renowned.
4. Nea Folia 4 (Aristomenous) is an eatery that opened as a coffee shop in 1966. A friend took me there and I fell in love with the atmosphere, the old jukebox, the marble-topped tables, and the wonderful terrazzo flooring. Here, I discovered a paradise of flavors.
5. Modiano Market (24 Ermou & 33 Vasileos Irakleiou) is one of the most important landmarks in the city. In its relaunched version, you’ll find gastronomy products from selected Greek companies, in a space of unique architectural value that combines the modern with the traditional.
2. Stroll the shore; walk from the piers of the old port to Nikis Avenue and down the Nea Paralia (“New Waterfront”) walkway, a Thessaloniki highlight, from the White Tower past impressive parks to the Concert Hall.
3. The Residents (4 Str. Kallari) is the ultimate hangout, the perfect bar to visit for a drink. You'll hear good music, make friends, and perhaps even spot well-known actors or musicians. Special places require outstanding people; the soul of this spot is Giorgos Christianakis.
4. Karnagio (58 Georgikis Scholis, Pilea, Hortiatis), a small taverna near the shipyard, is a well-kept secret in the eastern part of the city. Enjoy delectable seafood and views of rusting cranes and old ship hulls.
5. Shakespearikon (8 Patriarchou Ioakim) : this small bookstore houses carefully selected books, not just the latest titles. It also operates as a publishing house and its owner, Giorgos Alisanoglou, is a poet.
in Thessaloniki
Pleasure
1. MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography (Warehouse A, Pier A, Thessaloniki Port Area) is the place to explore the city’s culture and history, housing a collection of almost 90,000 images spanning the years 1890-2015.
2. Thessaloniki is famous for its bougatsas, a cream-filled filo pastry treat. You'll find the city's best at Bougatsa Giannis (106 Mitropoleos) near the White Tower, open 19 hours a day.
3. La Doze Bar (1 Vilara) is one of the best cocktail bars in the vibrant Valaoritou area. It also operates as a creative multispace, hosting interesting art exhibitions.
4. I recommend Π.22, on 22 P. Patron Germanou Street, with its open kitchen and its wonderful cooking by Nikoletta Dimou, based on Mediterranean cuisine and with an emphasis on seafood.
5. Proxenou Koromila Street is one of my favorite shopping destinations, with countless choices for all tastes. I’m particularly fond of Hellofrom Thessaloniki (45 Proxenou Koromila), which sells everything from technology accessories and books to bags and minimalist clothing. The window displays here are always impressive.
1. The Thessaloniki Film Festival, which lasts just 10 days, nourishes me with food for thought for the entire year.
2. Βeetroot Studio (1 Paikou), the gorgeous building that houses the creative design firm of the same name, operates as a multi-purpose space and is a place where one can be inspired and moved.
3. At Υpsilon (5 Edessis), you’ll meet a cool crowd, enjoy fantastic drinks and listen to good music in a space that carries with it the magical energy of the past and the chill vibes of the present.
4. Grab a falafel to go from Falafel Taste Middle East (106 Μitropoleos) and walk along the waterfront. Regardless of the weather, this is a treat that offers inner warmth and great comfort.
5. Grab your reusable bag and head to Olicatessen (4 Viktoros Ougko) for some deli treats and stunning ceramic items, or to Pantopoleio (12 Komninon) for its wide range of organic products.
1. Culture Destination 2. Only in Thessaloniki 3. Night Out 4. Guilty Pleasure
5. Shopping Therapy
CHRISTINA VASILAKI Journalist Founder mporonafao.gr @babedaki
1. "Etsi Kanoun Oi Balarines" (61 Stergiou Polydorou) is a new café-bookstore whose name in English would be "That's What Ballerinas Do"; this family-focused shop hosts activities and group play.
2. Deka.epta speciality coffee shop (24 Al. Svolou) has quite simply the best coffee in the city, on the coziest street, Svolou Street. It's reminiscent of old aristocratic Thessaloniki and masterfully combines the classic with the new.
3. Thermaikos Bar (21 Νikis) is probably the oldest bar on the Thessaloniki waterfront, boasting a 30-year history. This is where my best student memories were made. Unchanged and unspoiled, it offers unique time-traveling musical experiences.
4. Laikon (24 Politechniou). I challenge you to stop at a single little bread roll with a freshly cooked, homemade beef patty. I, for one, am just kidding myself when I try to eat only one.
5. Second-hand means second life. Ippodromion Street has become the ultimate second-hand destination, and there are many treasures to discover here.
1. The Museum of Byzantine Culture (2 Stratou) is housed in one of the most impressive works of public architecture in Thessaloniki. This jewel of a museum will take visitors back to the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods with its impressive sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, coins, glassware and other items excavated in Thessaloniki and other parts of Macedonia.
2. Take a walk to Eptapirgio for the incredible view and treat yourself to a stop at Tobourlika ( 5 Lordou Vironos), a wonderful place for those who love authentic rebetiko music, a Greek form of urban folk music.
3. Elefantas, on the corner of Siggrou and Filippou streets, is one of the city's most atmospheric little bars. A warm place that's quiet at times and bustling at others, it has a special energy and style of its own.
4. You’ll never regret a stop at Iliopetra (5 Eschilou), a small restaurant headed by a talented young chef who gives his all in the kitchen. Indulge yourself with his dishes of the day, made with passion and carefully selected ingredients.
5. Those who haven’t been shopping at Kapani, a traditional market, have missed a chance to experience one of the liveliest, most authentic landmarks in the city. Here you’ll find select foodstuffs, herbs, household goods, garments, shoes, and a series of welcoming cafés and eateries.
1. Culture Destination
Only in Thessaloniki
Night Out
Guilty Pleasure
Shopping Therapy
Thessaloniki is a densely populated city, with tall buildings and narrow streets that often prevent natural light from shining through, but it is also blessed with an expansive coastline. From the revamped port and the restored historic dock at the start of Nikis Avenue to the Thessaloniki Concert Hall’s M2 building, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, there is a promenade stretching six kilometers along the urban shore.
Thessaloniki’s fun seekers gather in the Ladadika district when they’re looking for a great night out. Bars, restaurants, tavernas and clubs fill up quickly in this historic district, once a commercial hub. Walking along the cobbled streets, with the buzz of the crowds and the glare of bright signs, you can’t help feeling a sense of nostalgia for bygone times. It’s the same kind of feeling that creeps in during winter, making you pine for lazy summer nights at open-air cinemas like the Nataly.
Be it summer or winter, residents and visitors alike enjoy exploring Warehouse A, home to the Museum of Photography and Experimental Art Center, posing for pictures with George Zongolopoulos’ famous “Umbrellas” sculpture, watching the sun set with Mt Olympus in the background, and discovering romance under the moon-lit sky.
When the lights come on in the evening, the city looks like something from a film.
Waterfront walks, upper town sights, Byzantine landmarks, modern museums, great culinary experiences and a vibrant nightlife: Thessaloniki dares you to try and do it all.
Aristotelous Square and the pedestrianized street that leads all the way to the Roman Agora.
THESSALONIKI MIGHT BE the most interesting city in Greece, and keeping this in mind is key to appreciating its peculiarities, tuning into its unique vibe, and discovering the truth (if any exists) behind the clichés that surround it. Is it really Greece’s city for lovers? The most easy-going and yet outgoing? Αre Thessalonians masters of the art of slow living, of enjoying life to the fullest while avoiding stress? Is food a religion to them?
Once you’re there, you’ll find all these answers out for yourself. What I know for a fact, after countless visits, is that Thessaloniki still has a way of astonishing me with both its contradictions and its attractions. It’s a city rich in history, influenced by many different peoples and cultures, its fate and character forged by the sea in more ways than one. It only takes a long walk from its waterfront up to the picturesque district of Ano Poli, the oldest part of the city, to discover just how much Thessaloniki has to offer. You’ll spot Roman-era monuments, Byzantine churches, beautifully restored Eclectic-style buildings, little neighborhood shops, and shopping arcades that time seems to have forgotten, as well as shiny new coffee shops and luxury boutique hotels. Thessaloniki is ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, youthful and old-fashioned, sparkling and run-down, sleepy and restless, and full of creative energy that spawns new ideas. It might also be on the verge of becoming one of the most fascinating city-break destinations in Europe.
THE OLD PORT has been reclaimed in recent years, with the areas closest to the center now hosting various cultural institutions. The restored warehouses opposite Eleftherias Square are venues for the renowned Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which takes place every November, and for the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which is held every March. Nearby is the Cinema Museum of Thessaloniki (Warehouse A, entrance €2, open: Mon-Tue 09:00-15:00, Wed-Fri 09:00-19:00), dedicated to the Greek film history and displaying everything from movie clips to posters and other memorabilia. Next door, you’ll find the Museum of Photography (Warehouse A, entrance €3, open daily except Mon 11:00-19:00), boasting a collection of 90,000 photographs dating from the late 19th to the early 21st century. Its current exhibition, dedicated to the philhellene French-Swiss photographer Fred Boissonnas and running until February 12th, 2023, is one of the cultural highlights of the year for the city. Just across the dock, you’ll find MOMus - Experimental Center for the Arts (for info, see page 74), a home for many different innovative forms of artistic expression.
On sunny days, the Old Port atttracts a diverse crowd.
THE NEA PARALIA (“NEW WATERFRONT”) is a threekilometer waterfront promenade and one of the city’s most beloved outdoor spaces; it was a particularly popular destination during the COVID pandemic, when restaurants and other leisure and entertainment options were unavailable to the public. Running from the White Tower to the Concert Hall, it features thematic miniparks, art installations such as the much-photographed Umbrellas by Yorgos Zongolopoulos, and many spots to rest and take in the view. Morning and afternoon, this long walkway is flooded with people of all ages who come here to stretch their legs, ride bicycles or enjoy take-out coffee as they gaze across the Thermaic Gulf, hoping for a glimpse of Mt Olympus in the distance. If you don’t feel like walking, you can start your promenade experience from the Concert Hall, where Thessbike (thessbike.gr) operates a stand with all kinds of bikes for rent, including electric bicycles, two-person and threeperson bikes, and even electric scooters.
THIS YEAR, THERE’S A GREAT REASON to start exploring the city at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (6 Manoli Andronikou, amth.gr, entrance €4, open daily 8:30-15:30), as it celebrates its 60th anniversary with a thrilling exhibition chronicling the most important moments in the city’s history. What’s more, the museum building itself is a historical city landmark in its own right, a prime example of 1960s modernism designed by the distinguished architect Patroklos Karantinos. Turn to page 95 to discover more.
IN 1917, THE CENTER OF THESSALONIKI was ravaged by a terrible fire that burned almost a third of the city. Reconstruction began soon afterward, and the French architect Ernest Hebrard redesigned the city center. The centerpiece of his urban plan, implemented only in part, is Aristotelous Square and the pedestrianized street of the same name. The southwestern flank of the square ends just a few meters from the sea; Aristotelous Street runs from the opposite end of the square north to the Roman Agora. On the square itself, you’ll find the Electra Palace Hotel and, facing it, the Cine Olympion, headquarters for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Both buildings feature cafés with views over the imposing square and the Thermaic Gulf.
THE NORTHERNMOST SECTION of Thessaloniki is an elevated area called Ano Poli, or Upper Town; it’s one of the few areas to survive the horrific fire of 1917. Here you can still see buildings that predate that disaster, but in order to do so, you’ll have to climb a little. However, what you’ll discover here, along with the views of Thessaloniki that you’ll enjoy, will certainly be worth the effort. Find your way to the Church of Aghios Dimitrios, dedicated to the city’s patron saint, and head uphill for 400 meters to Terpsitheas Square, where you’ll see an octagonal domed building, the mausoleum of Musa Baba, a Muslim saint of the Order of Bektashi Dervishes. A bit higher up lies Tsitsanis Square, with a statue of the famed musician Vasilis Tsitanis, and many traditional coffee shops and tavernas where you can catch your breath and enjoy a drink. You’re near the city’s great Byzantine walls, part of its medieval fortifications. Seek out the main gate, known as Portara, where Akropoleos Street runs into the old fortified district of Ano Poli, and then turn left for the restaurant Koukida sta Kastra (13 Agrafon), which serves outstanding fish and meat dishes.
THE OTHER IMPORTANT PEDESTRIANIZED stretch of road in the city is Dimitriou Gounari Street, known by everyone as Navarinou, near the city’s two universities. Depending on the time of day, you’ll come across crowds of students heading for Navarinou’s bookstores, or picking up something to eat on the trot from the dozens of fast food outlets that operate here. One way to see this street is to start from the Arch of Galerius (also called the Kamara), or the Rotunda next to it. Halfway to the shore as you head south lies the Palace of Galerius. Together, these structures form the Galerian Complex, the most important group of monuments in the city. Construction began at the end of the 3rd century, when the Roman Emperor Galerius chose Thessaloniki as the seat of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The Palace was the residence of the Emperor, the Kamara is the arch built by Galerius to commemorate his victory against the Persians, and it’s believed that the Rotunda was initially built as a church, mausoleum or throne room. Whatever its original purpose, this circular structure remains impressive. Further south is recently renovated Fanarioton Square, with a statue dedicated to the women of Epirus who resisted the Germans during the Second World War. From here, it’s just a short walk to the Nea Paralia and the White Tower, the city’s most famous landmark.
THESSALONIKI WAS ONCE A CENTER OF TRADE, with merchants hawking wares from across the ancient world. Today, traces of this great past can still be found behind modern corporate buildings and down lanes running off wide avenues. On both sides of Aristotelous Street are alleyways and side streets where locals shop for their everyday needs, buying meat, nuts, spices, fruits and vegetables from establishments little changed over the decades. This part of town is lively and loud, just as a living city should be. Here the Kapani Market has been operating for more than two centuries; today, it offers everything from clothes and souvenirs to fish, olive oil and cheeses. The covered Modiano market, which lies south of Kapani, opened for the first time in 1930 and was declared a historic landmark in 1995. It recently reopened after years of disuse, and now, newly renovated, is home to almost 70 businesses, including both café-restaurants and grocery stores. On the other side of Aristotelous Street is Athonos Square, with workplaces for carpenters, ironmongers and locksmiths. You’ll also find small shops selling chairs, stools, and other wood items, as well as many stores selling foodstuffs. Harilaos (24 Vatikiotou) roasts and sells fresh nuts sourced from all over Greece, as it has for nearly half a century. There are many tavernas and restaurants in this area, too. Locals crowd the tables at Katsamaka which serves gyro, kokoretsi (lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal) and kontosouvli (slow roasted pork on a skewer).
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EVEN ATHENIANS WILL ADMIT that Thessaloniki boasts an outstanding gastronomic scene, and everyone agrees that it’s easy to eat well here without going over budget. In addition to the rich culinary traditions of the many different ethnic groups that called the city home over the years, Thessaloniki’s gastronomic identity has recently benefited from the contributions of a number of creative young chefs. Here’s a quick look at just some of what the city has to offer.
Sebriko (2 Fragon) was one of the first places in Thessaloniki to explore beyond the city’s culinary roots, using traditional ingredients and creative cooking techniques. Here you’ll find a variety of Greek cheeses and many handmade mezes, such as smoked eggplant with yogurt, tahini and mint sauce, or savory pastourma mini pies with yogurt and quince jam. It also has a very good Greek wine list and a selection of beers from Greek microbreweries. Another representative of this new gastronomic culture is Sin Trofi (7 Doxis), where you’ll find a menu with dishes meant for sharing – the idea is that everyone tastes as many different flavors as possible, from the goat stew to the seafood tartares and ceviches made with a variety of fresh fish. The vegetables are mostly organic, and even the olive oil is special; an early-harvest extra virgin olive oil, served with hand-kneaded bread, is the first thing they serve you, and it’s so good you’ll ask for more. Try a version of the traditional braised rooster with pasta served with arseniko cheese from Naxos, or the black pork steak served with naan bread.
It’s not all innovation, however, and there’s always room for the classics, too. The signature Thessaloniki dish is soutzoukakia, oblong beef patties, made according to recipes brought here more than a century ago by refugees from Asia Minor. These wonderful meat treats are usually made from ground beef with some pork or lamb mixed in, and can be flavored with many different spices, with cumin a particular favorite. You’ll find one of the city’s best versions at Vomvidia (35 Vasileos Irakleiou), where the patties are served on parchment paper with fries and warm bread. At Haroupi, (4 Doxis) chef Manolis Papoutsakis draws inspiration from his home island of Crete and sources nearly all his ingredients from there to create delicious dishes.
From his freshly baked sourdough bread to the traditional gamopilafo (traditional Cretan wedding rice) with hogget meat and goat milk yogurt, everything here is genuinely Cretan, even if it’s a few hundred kilometers from home.
Thessaloniki is heaven for those who love street food, too, with dozens of places offering their items to go. Had your fill of souvlaki? Try the great burgers and sandwiches at Tarantino (5 Ernestou Emprar), or cross the street for delicious thin crust pizza at Pizza Hood (2 Ernestou Emprar). For a great local version of bao buns, head to Thess Bao, in two different locations in the city center (3 Kalapothaki, 11 Lori Margariti). For brunch, try Caravan (1 Rebelou) and choose from a large variety of egg-based dishes, as well as a selection of sandwiches and pancakes. The city is also known for its desserts; the bougatsa, perhaps its most famous one, is made with very thin filo pastry and custard cream, and served with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Giannis (106 Mitropoleos) specializes in them.The nearby pâtisserie Trigona Elenidi (13 Dimitriou Gounari) serves up a triangular dessert made with syrupy filo pastry and fluffy cream. For something more chocolate-based, Choureal (9 Paleon Patron Germanou) offers freshly made profiteroles "constructed" according to your preferences, with the choux pastry baked every few hours to ensure ultimate freshness. The residents of Thessaloniki have a well-earned reputation for enjoying a good time out throughout the year. The city is full of cafés with outdoor seating to take advantage of the many sunny days. Café Palermo (4 Romanou) is a Sunday-morning meeting point. Ypsilon (5 Edessis) is an all-day café that becomes a vibrant bar at night, hosting DJ parties. For cocktails, head to Vogatsikou 3 (3 Vogatsikou), with its extremely well-stocked bar featuring almost every kind of rum, whiskey and gin imaginable. For beer, classic drinks and soul jazz music, head down the steps to On the Road (61 Nikis), a perfect hangout near the waterfront. At La Doze (1 Vilara), you can dance till dawn to electro music selected by well-known DJs, while at Enola (19 Valaoritou), the LGBTQ+ crowd turns it all the way up.
SPA means “Sanita per Aqua” –health through water!
Aesthea is the only beauty institute in Greece which helps bring real results when it comes to beauty and youth without pain, the use of needles or any other machines. Aesthea offers unique anti-aging and slimming services based on marine body treatments by the French company PHYTOMER- the only company with two research centers in the world based in Saint Malo. These marine body treatments are combined with the effectiveness of VIE to bring visible and long -lasting results.
Banti Katerina, who is the aesthetician and manager of the institute, has been a member of the Switzerland- Zurich based Beauty Academy since 1999. Since then, she has kept up with the amazing evolution of medical aesthetics and has decided to stay loyal to natural beauty in order to help women believe in themselves and their natural beauty while working to help them be a better version of themselves and delay the first signs of aging.
The prospect of relocating to Greece, at least for the winter months, has become more attractive due to the international energy crisis. A series of initiatives and policies have kept the cost of electricity at levels lower than many other European countries, while at the same time offering incentives for energy-saving upgrades.
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GREECE IS ONE OF THE LEAST EXPENSIVE European countries as regards electricity prices. With the resources contributed by energy providers – in particular the Public Power Corporation (ΔΕΗ), which holds the largest market share – Greek consumers are enjoying low prices, despite the global energy crisis.
At the same time, electricity suppliers are helping households prepare for what’s to come with “smart e-consultants” such as those available at ΔΕΗ, offering customers personalized and practical advice on how to access incentives for switching to more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly heat pumps and for installing photovoltaics.
So, if the cost of energy is a deciding factor in choosing a place to live on either a permanent or temporary basis, Greece holds an advantage over other European countries. In a highly volatile environment, consumers in Greece can count on price stability for the next several months, and can look forward to opportunities for energy upgrades and other measures, including assistance in the replacement of energyconsuming appliances as well as targeted investments that will guarantee savings without making customers change consumption habits.
With all this to offer, how can we best convince an ex-pat – or even a skeptical Greek – of the energy advantages this country holds over other nations? We’ve assembled some strong arguments, including a state-supported mechanism for households and businesses that’s likely to be adopted by other European countries, as well as actions ensuring power sufficiency and clear incentives to make energy-saving investments provided by both the Greek government and by electricity suppliers.
THE EU HAS YET TO BUILD a mechanism acceptable to all its member states to keep down natural gas prices and, by extension, electricity prices. In Greece, the government and power-generating companies introduced in July 2022 a mechanism that guarantees stable – and comparatively low – electricity prices for households and businesses. According to the Household Energy Price Index (HEPI) for September, the final price (with all individual charges included) of one kilowatt-hour of electricity in Athens was 0.2952 euros, compared to the 0.3461-euro average of the 27 EU member states. London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Prague, and Vienna are European capitals with significantly higher prices than Athens. Moreover, the short-term forecast is that Greece will improve its ranking compared to other European countries.
GREECE HAS NOT BEEN CUT OFF from the supply of Russian natural gas, but it has prepared for this eventuality. Lignite units are operating, and natural gas units can, if necessary, be converted to produce electricity using oil, while the Revythoussa facility has already doubled its production capacity in terms of liquefied natural gas (LNG) conversion. The uninterrupted supply of electricity to Europe was not guaranteed a few months ago when Russia permanently cut off the flow of natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Now, however, energy security is no longer in question.
ELECTRICITY IN GREECE is subject to a VAT rate of only 6%. While Belgium, the United Kingdom, Malta, Poland, and Spain enjoy a similar rate, most European countries have chosen to apply the standard VAT rate on electricity. For example, in Austria, Latvia, and Lithuania, the rate is 17%; in Denmark, 20%; and in Hungary, 21%. Of course, electricity is also subject to excise duty in addition to VAT. Again, the sum of all charges in Greece amounts to 19% of the final price, half that of Denmark (38%) and significantly lower than the UK (33%), Germany (26%), and Finland (24%).
THE GREEK GOVERNMENT AND PPC have introduced a set of incentives and disincentives to encourage consumers to save energy. ΔΕΗ charges households that exceed a certain consumption level more for their electricity, while the government subsidy calculation mechanism does the same thing but with a difference: in addition to the counter incentive, there is also an incentive. Anyone who manages to reduce consumption by 15% compared to last year receives a significant discount on their bill. Thus, energy savings are compensated twice: the bill goes down, and the charge per kilowatt-hour is reduced.
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WHILE GENERIC ENERGY-SAVING advice can be helpful – the European Commission has adopted relevant directives for all its citizens – nothing beats personalized guidance tailored to the needs of each consumer. ΔΕΗ allows each consumer to compare their electricity consumption with the average in their neighborhood or broader area and, by doing so, to set a specific goal. This approach is more effective in helping consumers realize that investing in a building upgrade is the best way to save energy and money. More power saving is achieved through installing windows with a thermal break and double glazing compared to old wooden window frames with single glazing. Heat pumps are more efficient than traditional heaters. Heating domestic water with a solar water heater is cheaper than an electric resistance heater. Τhe platform of ΔΕΗ asks consumers to enter data on the use of electrical appliances and calculates how much energy they will save if they replace them.
HOUSEHOLDS ARE ALREADY being encouraged to install photovoltaics and turn into energy producers. A subsidy program for installing 200,000 photovoltaic panels on the roofs of homes and businesses is expected to begin soon. With more days of sunshine in Greece compared to other European countries, the return on investment in photovoltaics is more significant.
STILL A TECHNOLOGY UNFAMILIAR to many people, heat pumps harness heat from ambient air to produce at least four thermal kilowatt-hours, using only one kilowatt-hour of electricity. In other words, if the heating cost for an electric radiator is 0.24 euros per hour, with a heat pump, it drops to 0.06 euros – one-quarter of the cost! Europe is already rushing in this direction, with Germany ordering and installing hundreds of thousands of such devices. Greece is following suit. In addition to government programs to subsidize the installation of heat pumps, electricity suppliers are also contributing. ΔΕΗ, for example, has launched a consulting department for heat pumps, introduced a specific pricing policy, initiated collaborations with major heat pump producers, and offered discounts for purchasing such devices.
WHY IS GREECE FAMOUS ALL OVER THE WORLD? For mild weather conditions and plenty of sunshine! Simply put, it is easier to heat your home when the average temperature, even in the winter, is above 10 degrees Celcius (Athens data, 1991-2020). No matter how you look at it, the mild Greek winter is an advantage during an energy crisis!
Increase in power produced from Renewable Energy Sources with the aim of reaching a share of 40% in 2026.
Immediate installation of 1,000 charging stations throughout Greece, projected to increase to 10,000 in the medium term.
New GreenPass service guaranteeing consumers that the energy they consume is being offset by energy produced from renewable sources.
Significant reduction – of 49% –of lignite production between 2019 and 2021.
In this until recently neglected area around Mavili Square, a number of creative professionals have found a new home and city residents have discovered a new hangout.
BY LAURA ARGYROPOULOU PHOTOS: OLGA DEIKOU
The remnants of the medieval Western Wall of the city.
Paparigopoulou Street.
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OVER THE LAST DECADE , Thessalonians᾽ search for a new hangout has shifted north of Egnatia Street, to the area around the Old Town Hall. Following the pandemic, there has been increased activity a bit further west, in the area surrounding the Church of the Holy Apostles. Mavili Square, the small square at the intersection of Gladstonos and Palama at the northwestern edge of the city center, was the site of the city᾽s western gate during Ottoman times. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was a center of commercial activity, although it also attracted some unsavory types. In the 20th century, the area was dotted with brothels until a “clean-up” policy was adopted in the early sixties. Traces of that shady past lived on in the remaining adult movie theaters, the abandoned shops that lined badly-lit streets, and a general sense of decadence. Lately, however, this part of town has been redefining itself.
In 2017, just as much-needed work around the area᾽s two most important Byzantine sites, the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Pasha Hamam baths, was being completed, municipality authorities took on the reconstruction of Mavili Square using bioclimatic design elements. These projects changed the face of the neighborhood, which now boasts friendlier roads and more greenery and places with outdoor seating, making it a haven in the midst of a dense urban area. Here, the Church of the Holy Apostles – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – shines brighter than ever, thanks to its own recent renovation. This city landmark is a
true architectural marvel, featuring impressive mosaics and frescoes that survived damage suffered at the hands of the Ottomans. Today, it is the most important example of religious art from the Paleologian era (1261 - 1453).
One of the area᾽s other landmarks is the former A. Konstantinidis tobacco warehouse on Mavili Square. This listed building, out of which one of the most important companies in the
city operated until the 1960s, was relaunched after renovation by its newest generation of owners as a boutique hotel. “Mavili Urban Stay” (themavili.gr) features 42 rooms and common areas that preserve elements of its impressive architecture. There are other structures in the area that have undergone similar transformations, including those of the Thess Residences and the Polis Luxury Apartments.
THE WORLD TODAY , more than ever, requires that companies commit to sustainable development practices and strategies. Companies are judged strictly on their social and environmental footprint as well as on their performance regarding corporate governance issues (environmental, social, and governance criteria). Hellas Gold, one of the largest mining companies in Greece, produces gold, silver, lead and zinc concentrates at the Kassandra Mines. It is considered a pioneer in the mining sector for the actions it takes for environmental protection, sustainable development and in terms of climate change.
The company has always invested in industry-leading practices and technology while taking care of the remediation and reclamation of the area in and around the mines. Whenever the mining activity is completed in a specific location, the company always seeks to clean up and upgrade the area in order to restore the land to harmony with the surrounding landscape.
The company has already undertaken a broad
reclamation of the area where it operates, removing three million tonnes of mineral tailings left behind by former owners of the mines, thus solving a decades-old problem. To this end, the company has created a private plant nursery in Olympiada, in a restored area within the mine site, that hosts a million plants of endemic and local species that will be used in restoration works during the development of this project.
In addition, Hellas Gold monitors its environmental performance via the award-winning environmental monitoring system, with more than 400 monitoring stations and sensors around the Kassandra Mines, which provide real-time data and information. As a result, the data give an integrated picture of the footprint of its activity on the natural environment. The company publishes the results on a special platform, which is accessible to all interested parties, demonstrating in practice its commitment to transparency. n
In the 1950s and 1960s, when the area was bursting with life, all the apartment buildings hosted shops and commercial workspaces on their ground floors.
Stefanos Delidis, who grew up in Mavili Square, worked for years at the flower shops on Frangon Street before deciding to open his own on Paparigopoulou Street. He experienced the peak period of the area in the late 1980s and its decline a decade later; today, he᾽s happy to see a creative new crowd moving into spaces left empty for years.
One of these creative newcomers is Simos Antoniadis, an architect who discovered a passion for ceramic art that he᾽s expressing in his new venture ULURU. “For now, it᾽s a ceramic arts workshop, but in the future, I᾽d like it to host other forms of creativity.” Due to open soon, ULURU is housed in an abandoned corner shop that Simos came across while strolling around the area. He rented it immediately and, with the help of his friends, spent a summer transforming the space, which features a bright green ceiling, many plants, and his ceramic creations, as well as the old sign that had hung there previously.
IN THE 1950S AND 1960S, WHEN THE AREA WAS BURSTING WITH LIFE, ALL THE APARTMENT BUILDINGS HOSTED SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL WORKSPACES ON THEIR GROUND FLOORS.
“I knew what I wanted when I moved here,” says Mike Rafail, a photographer and graphic designer creates posters and other visuals for some of Thessaloniki's most significant cultural events. “I was looking for a space in a lively location but didn᾽t want the hustle and bustle of the city center.”
His design studio, That Long Black Cloud, is on Piniou Street, right next to the Pasha Hamam baths. “It᾽s nice to see the neighborhood changing. When I arrived, most shops were empty, but now new ones are opening, and many people are rediscovering this part of the city.”
“We want more people!” says Anastasia Akritidou, who has transformed a spacious former atelier on 17 Olympou into “Law TO Impact,” a co-working space. “We wanted to challenge the stereotype that the bigger a lawyer᾽s office is and the closer it is to the courthouse, the more prestigious they are,” says Anastasia᾽s partner, lawyer Aikaterini Dodi. “Law TO Impact” is a versatile workspace that features open-plan offices and private meeting rooms and is suitable for hosting digital
nomads and social entrepreneurs; it also offers legal consultation services to international clients. Its founders aspire for it to become a space for lawyers of all backgrounds and other professionals to operate together for the benefit of the neighborhood.
FORMrelated, the architectural firm of Konstantinos Theodoridis and Eleni Papaevangelou, is located in an industrial semi-basement space on Gladstonos Street. Next to it stands the neoclassical building known as the Psoma Mansion, where Panos and Sonia, a young Greek couple who recently relocated from the Netherlands, have found the apartment of their dreams. “I love places with high ceilings and
plenty of natural light that give you space to think and breathe. We found our own somewhat by chance. The notice read, ‘Apartment for sale in a landmark building,᾽ without photos or anything else, but we had a good feeling about it,” Sonia tells us. “The neighborhood has a mix of people. For instance, if a lady at the supermarket notices you holding something exotic (such as coconut milk or coriander), they᾽ll ask you what you᾽ll be making; the owners of the car parts shops are living encyclopedias, and the manager of Cine Vilma tells the most amusing stories as he sweeps the pavement. You are as close to – and as far as you need to be from – everything.”•
Top: At the taverna Thodoros.
Above: A tasty dish at Nama Restaurant.
• Dimitris Anastasiadis, the owner of NAMA RESTAURANT transformed a former car paint shop into one of the most charming eateries in town, fully integrated into the city's urban setting and boasting striking views of the Church of the Holy Apostles. The restaurant has become a culinary hotspot over the past five years. Even before the restoration works, the excellent food of chef Giorgos Marinos and Dimitris Tsavos was attracting the city's gourmets to this lovely Scandinavian-design restaurant that serves fresh takes on local cuisine. 1 Olympou
• For those searching for authentic Greek food, THODOROS' TAVERNA is another excellent option in the Mavili Square area. It first opened in 1955 and is now managed by Thodoris, the grandson of the original owner. This street was once known to all for the two different kinds of shops it hosted; the ones selling car parts and the others selling furs. In the evening, when these shops closed, their owners would gather at this taverna for food and music, as many of the area's professionals continue to do to this day. 15 Paparrigopoulou
• A few meters away, you'll find ASPRO DENTRO ("White Tree"), an café -restaurant that doubles as a performance space. The owner, Antonis Fotiadis, is an actor and a chef who dreams of staging a performance where the actors cook and the audience eats as they watch the action. His establishment features a large open kitchen, a bright display case with dishes that include vegan, gluten-free and high-protein options as well as homemade desserts, and a casual, welcoming dining area. Next to the kitchen is a white door that leads to the theater, a space for a range of artistic events. 5 Olympou
• LITTLE CUP looks like a London coffee shop. A year and a half ago, Danai Kyriakou and Thodoris Flegas chose this spot, opposite the ruins of the city's Western Wall, on a wide pedestrianized street to launch a hangout with good coffee and freshly baked goods that's ideal for leisurely breakfasts. Open every day from 07:00 until midnight to serve the needs of the area, Little Cup also organizes bazaars with streetwear brands and parties with DJ sets. Dogs are welcome. 20 Zefiron
• CAFÉ CHANTANT has been operating for the past 13 years. The owner, Simos Iliadis, is a musician and has built a loyal following with eclectic musical selections featuring bouzouki, oboe and everything in between. Live music nights take place, too. 21 Mavili
• WAGON LIT is part Parisian bistro-part New York jazz bar, and a popular choice among discerning drinkers (3 Olympou). If you're in the mood for a beer, the pub Beer24 (17 Olympou) boasts a wide selection of labels from both Greek and international micro-breweries, which you can enjoy on the spot, with views of Mavili Square and its fountain, or to go. Last but certainly not least, the "Moses Coffee" espresso bar (15 Kosti Palama) sources fair-trade coffee and donates part of its proceeds to support female abuse victims. Their motto is "Drink Moses, Save Lives."
Above: In addition to the Iolas Collection, the MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art hosts works donated by Alexander and Dorothea Xydis and by the sculptor Achilleas Apergis.
Left: Dr. Olga Fota, archaeologist and art conservator at MOMus, at work on a painting.
IN 2018, FIVE MUSEUMS JOINED FORCES TO CREATE THE METROPOLITAN ORGANISATION OF MUSEUMS OF VISUAL ARTS OF THESSALONIKI (MOM us ). SINCE THEN, THIS INTEGRATED PUBLIC INSTITUTION HAS BECOME A DESTINATION FOR LOVERS OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURE AND THE EXPERIMENTAL ARTS.
CONTEMPORARY ART may not be Thessaloniki᾽s main attraction, but the city's collection of such works is undoubtedly something that can make any visit to the city more compelling. With this in mind, I head to the outdoor sculpture gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art, located on the premises of the Thessaloniki International Fair, which – as a side note – is one of the focal points of a redevelopment project that will change the face of the city.
This small park, featuring works by Greek and international artists, is an ideal spot for quiet contemplation. One᾽s gaze is immediately drawn to a version of the celebrated piece “Umbrellas” by versatile artist George Zongolopoulos, a leading representative of the Greek art movement known as the ᾽30s Generation. Parts of the sculpture sway gently as a fine stream of water flows through thin pipes installed between them. Αll around this imposing installation are the abstract “bushes” that internationally renowned sculptor Philolaos Tloupas (1923-2010) made using cement and gravel. The setting is complemented by various works in dialogue with one another, including the impressive concrete and marble “L'un contient l' autre” (“One contains the other”) by French sculptor Marc Charpin (1935-2014). Directly across the street stand two compositions by the Greek sculptor Alex Mylona (1920-2016), entitled “LOVE” and “JUSTICE.”
As is often the case in Greek institutions, there᾽s a story behind the 1994 founding of the museum that essentially set the stage for contemporary art appreciation in Thessaloniki. It begins with an earthquake – the first severe earthquake to strike a modern Greek city, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale and occurring on June 20th, 1978, causing 49 deaths and leaving much of the city᾽s infrastructure, including its cultural venues, in shambles.
Alexander Iolas, one of the world᾽s most prominent art collectors at the time, was moved by the tragedy unfolding in a city that reminded him of his hometown of Alexandria. He decided to take action by helping to create a center for contemporary art in Thessaloniki. Discussions with Maro Lagia, a prominent gallerist at the time, resulted in Iolas donating 47 artworks to the Macedonian Centre for Contemporary Art, which was established to
ALEXANDER
IOLAS, ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PROMINENT ART COLLECTORS AT THE TIME, WAS MOVED BY THE TRAGEDY UNFOLDING IN A CITY THAT REMINDED HIM OF HIS HOMETOWN OF ALEXANDRIA.
Not since 2005 has the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography mounted such a large-scale exhibition of Fred Boissonnas' work. The current show opened first at the Musée Rath in Geneva, Switzerland.
accommodate his impressive collection. No one could have known then that it would take 21 years for Iolas᾽ vision to be realized and for his art collection to go on permanent display in a wing of the MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art, breathing new life into the city᾽s cultural scene (unfortunately, by this time, Iolas had passed away).
Three years after the museum opened, Thessaloniki was named the 1997 Cultural Capital of Europe in a year that saw the opening of three more cultural institutions - namely the State Museum of Contemporary Art, the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, and the Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki. In 2018, these three venues, along with the Museum Alex Mylona in Athens and the Museum of Contemporary Art, united under the single name of Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki (MOMus).
With its splendid permanent collections, temporary exhibitions, and creative workshops, MOMus has become a vibrant cultural hub for Thessaloniki. Its venues form a triangle on the city map, one that connects the waterfront to the Lazarist Monastery in the north and the site of the Thessaloniki International Fair in the east. All these venues are worth exploring, as they offer visitors the chance to see everything from historical photographs and documentary screenings to avant-garde paintings and contemporary works that address topical social issues.
At the Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the most memorable works currently on display is “The Little Refugee” (2017), a “procession” of 125 porcelain figurines of children by Armenian artist Aikaterini Gegisian, who wishes to highlight the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. This particular work, along with those of 44 Greek artists created during the
pandemic, appears in the temporary exhibition “Public Domain: Donations & Purchases.” Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the Iolas collection continues to be the museum᾽s star attraction, and what greets me as I enter are “Adam”and “Eve,” two colorful papier-mâché creations by French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle. As I observe the skillfully directed dialogue between them, I raise my eyes and am captivated by “Ftera”(“Wings,” 1970) by the Greek artist Pavlos (1930-2019). Fashioned from poster paper and plexiglass, these wings are spread above the staircase that connects the basement with the ground floor and first floor. I continue toward the most famous exhibit item in the collection, Andy Warhol᾽s screen print of Alexander the Great. This 1981 work was commissioned by Iolas to coincide with the “Search for Alexander” exhibition of ancient art, then
held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
The varied collection includes many more notable works by Greek and international artists, such as the installation “Palindrome IV” by Nikos Zouboulis and Titsa Grekou, in which light sensors react to visitors᾽ movements and produce different sounds; the bronze sculptures by Italian sculptor Novello Finotti; and “Airplane” (1982), by Alexis Akrithakis, made of pieces of wood and neon lights and depicting an airplane flying in the night sky, above a rough sea. This work is on display in both its original version and a miniature replica, which visually impaired visitors can touch and feel while listening to an audio description. In 2020, the museum – together with the Thessaloniki branch of the Center for Education & Rehabilitation for the Blind – implemented the program “Mind᾽s Eye” to facilitate the access of individuals with visual impairment.
Archaeologist Olga Fota is the head conservator of the MOMus collections; one of her main tasks is ensuring all artworks are displayed under the right conditions to prevent any damage. She began her career over two decades ago at the Thessaloniki State Museum of Contemporary Art, now known as MOMus-Museum of Modern ArtCostakis Collection, and is, therefore, the ideal person to introduce us to the most extensive collection of Russian avant-garde in the world, which boasts approximately 1,300 works as well as thousands of rare documents, including the personal diaries of many artists, all purchased by the Greek state in 2000. “Any cultural organization in the world wishing to display works of the Russian avant-garde will, at some point, approach the Museum of Modern Art. I᾽ve traveled everywhere with the Costakis collection, most recently to the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul in 2018, where we exhibited more than 400 works,” Olga says in front of a painting she is preparing to restore in her laboratory.
Born in Moscow in 1913, George Costakis worked as a driver at the Greek embassy until 1940. When the embassy closed due to the war, he took up work as head of personnel at the Canadian embassy, in which capacity he would often accompany visiting diplomats to antique shops and art galleries. Although he had no formal art education, he was blessed with a rare talent for recognizing works of value. In 1946, as avant-garde art was being banned by the Stalinist regime, his attention was drawn to a painting by Olga Rozanova. This “love at first sight” prompted him to look further into the artists who had been active in Russia in the first decades of the 20th century and were responsible for what would come to be known among art historians as the Russian avant-garde. Gradually, by asking friends, approaching relatives of the artists, and traveling all over Russia,
Costakis began collecting works which had often literally been hidden away and that were largely scorned by others. Indeed, among art collector circles in Moscow, he was referred to as “the crazy Greek who collects worthless rubbish.”
The Costakis collection is of global cultural value. “It is so comprehensive that it allows us ... to shed light on all aspects and periods of the Russian avant-garde,” explains art historian Angeliki Charistou, chief curator, who first joined the museum as a student. For about two hours, Charistou shows us around the museum's three floors in the northwest wing of the Lazarist Monastery, a monastic complex built in 1886 which, from time to time, was used for different purposes, such as in 1917 when it provided shelter for people made homeless by the Great Thessaloniki Fire that destroyed twothirds of the city.
Our tour begins in the three rooms on the ground floor; each room introduces a different period of this artistic movement. On display in the first room are works of the early period (1907-1914) which were influenced by European modernism, such as “Still life with a jug” by Lyubov Popova, while in the second are works of non-objective art and suprematism (1915), represented primarily by Kazimir Malevich with his “Black Square.” The term “suprematism” derives from the Latin word “supremus" and refers to the dominance of color and form as opposed to figurative painting – a break with the academic and artistic tradition of the past, aiming to give birth to a new art for the future, in contrast with the Socialist realism of the early 1930s. In the third room, not only is the shift towards constructivism quite clear, but so is the change in the role that art should play. Henceforth, art was to be wholly utilitarian and serve citizens᾽ daily lives. On the first floor, passing through the interior archways of the historic building, we are shown around the exhibition “Organic Art: The Avant-Garde in Petrograd,” which runs until the end of May 2023 and focuses primarily on the artistic movement that sprang up in Saint Petersburg in the 1920s. The foremost exponent of this was painter and composer Mikhail Matyushin. What strikes me immediately is the harmony created in the space by the red, blue, and yellow on the walls.
“The use of colors helps the display of the works. The interior design was undertaken by architects Kirill Asse and Nadezhda Korbut, who work with the biggest museums in Russia,” says Charistou as she guides us to the second floor, to see what initially appears to be a strange piece of wooden furniture with two metal antennas. In fact, it is the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments dating to 1920, and the only one you could play without physical contact. As I move my arms, sounds are produced by the electromagnetic field!
COSTAKIS BEGAN COLLECTING
WORKS WHICH HAD OFTEN LITERALLY BEEN HIDDEN AWAY AND THAT WERE LARGELY SCORNED BY OTHERS. INDEED, AMONG ART COLLECTOR CIRCLES IN MOSCOW, HE WAS REFERRED TO AS "THE CRAZY GREEK."
The third source of pride for MOMus, apart from the marvelous Iolas and Costakis collections, is the archive of Swiss photographer Fred Boissonnas, which belongs to the MOMus – Thessaloniki Museum of Photography. This body of work comprises some 18,000 items, of which 5,000 are negatives. “The collection is significant because Fred Boissonnas, who maintained several studios, from Marseilles to Saint Petersburg, and who traveled to Greece frequently between 1903 and 1930, created a veritable mural of life in the early 20th century. No photographer before him had documented to such an extent the Greek landscapes and their people, linking the culture of the past through ancient monuments with the popular culture of the countryside and city life,” explains Hercules Papaioannou, the museum's curator. “Of major importance, too, are the archives of Yiannis Stylianou, Dimitris Letsios,
The central theme of the 8th Biennale of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki, running until May 21st, 2023, is Geoculture – a term connecting the cultivation of land with culture.
“The participating artists focus on histories of places and people,” says director Thouli Mysirloglou. “They touch upon issues of identity, ethics, equity and sustainability; they suggest improvised ecological technologies; they explore the potential for collective existence and question the systems by which production, consumption and profitability are organized; they put into practice ideas of resource sharing and equitable living, as well as ways of reassessing the commodification of human and non-human life. Through their works, imagination becomes a crucial factor in facilitating the audience to imagine different futures.” thessalonikibiennale.gr
and Socrates Iordanidis, which capture Greece from the post-war period to the regime change in the mid-1970s.”
It᾽s a a sunny November day as I join the line outside the MOMus –Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, a two-story industrial building. A large group from Israel is waiting to see the exhibition “Fred Boissonnas and the Mediterranean,” which will run until February 2023. The exhibition, first presented at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Geneva, looks at how Boissonnas evolved as a photographer. It᾽s a photographic journey that begins in the Alps and ends in the Sinai Desert, but the main focus is the Mediterranean basin. Indeed, in one section of the exhibition, titled “Odyssey: In the footsteps of Odysseus,” one can clearly discern Boissonnas' striving to create a photographic monument to the glory of Homer as the photographer wandered the Mediterranean shores, visiting places that may have inspired the legendary poet to compose the Odyssey.
WHILE YOU MAY BE USED TO SQUEEZING WHATEVER HONEY IS IN THAT BEAR-SHAPED CONTAINER INTO YOUR TEA OR PORRIDGE, WITH SITHON HONEY, YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT YOU ARE CONSUMING A HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCT THAT WILL DEFINITELY CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT HONEY.
FOUNDED IN 1952 by the members of the Agricultural Beekeeping Cooperative of Nikiti in Chalkidiki, Sithon Honey is a product of labor and love, and it shows.
The unique Greek flora and the exceptional climate of the Sithonia region, paired with state-of-the-art facilities, exquisite craftsmanship, and a thorough knowledge of beekeeping traditions, have catapulted Sithon Honey to the top of the Greek and European markets. Today, more than 70,000 swarms of bees and 140 beekeepers are devoting their lives to honey production, while partnerships with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Greek Beekeeping Institute and the top two European quality control laboratories ensure that quality standards are kept far above par. In this way, Sithon Honey produces more than 1000 tonnes of honey every year, representing 12-14% of the annual Greek honey production.
You can introduce yourself to their products by trying their flower honey, or you can opt for their pine honey, awarded a two-star distinction by Brussel’s International Taste Institute. For those who want to tantalize their senses even further, Sithon Honey offers a whole range of distinct types of honey varying in both taste and texture, including chestnut honey, thyme honey, orange blossom honey, forest honey, heather honey and fir honey. In their specialized shops across Thessaloniki, you can find other apiculture products as well, including propolis extract, bee pollen, royal jelly and even beeswax candles to decorate your home. n
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For more information on their Thessaloniki shops, please visit: honeysithon.gr. (Address: Nikiti Chalkidikis, TK 63088, (+30) 23750.228.87, 200.60-3)
As I leave the museum, I notice a flurry of activity outside the Experimental Center for the Arts. Employees are bringing in material for an exhibition in honor of the film director Theo Angelopoulos, a show scheduled to open during the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The center often hosts events to promote public discourse on contemporary art. “We want to stimulate public debate by highlighting issues that concern the future by organizing, for example, exhibitions focused on potential threats to humanity,” says the new Chairman of the Management Board of MOMus and Head of the UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies, Epaminondas Christophilopoulos. As we talk, the sun᾽s rays shine brightly on the text installation by Vassilis Psarras titled “Curate Our Traumas,” which graces the front of the building. A very astute stance, I decide. We should indeed be turning to art to heal our traumas.•
• MOMus – Museum of Modern Art - Costakis Collection, 21 Kolokotroni, Moni Lazariston, Tel. (+30) 2310.589.143, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu 12:00-20:00
• ΜΟΜus – Museum of Contemporary Art – Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections, 154 Egnatias, in the TIF-HELEXPO grounds, Tel. (+30) 2310.240.002, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu 12:00-20:00
• MOMus – Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Warehouse Α, Pier Α, port area, Tel. (+30) 2310.566.716, Tue-Sun 11:00-19:00, Thu 11:00-20:00
• ΜΟΜus – Experimental Center for the Arts, Warehouse Β1, Pier Α, port area, Tel. (+30) 2310.593.270, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu 12:00-20:00
infoCombined MOMus ticket €12 (general admission) or €6 (reduced admission) momus.gr
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BY NATASHA BLATSIOU COLLAGE ART BY DIMITRIS TSOUMPLEKAS
THESSALONIKE , SIMONIDA, Valeria, Zoe Kareli: what do these names conjure up, if anything? And what if I'd asked instead about the half-sister of Alexander the Great, the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, the wife of Roman Emperor Galerius, and the sister of author
Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis, respectively?
TThe more I ponder the question, the more I come to realize that not only has history been written by men, but that – generally speaking – women are imprinted in our minds merely as reflections of great men. So, I ask myself, what would it be like to hear the stories of these women, with men in a peripheral role for once?
This is the different look at history offered by the city sightseeing tour fromThessaloniki Walking Tours. I'm intrigued by the concept, but my initial enthusiasm regarding the female side of history will soon be dispelled as I learn about the dark, heartbreaking, and even horrific aspects of the women’s lives, beginning first with Thessalonike, the woman who gave her name to the city.
I’m standing across the road from the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, with Tasos Papadopoulos, a Thessaloniki Walking Tours guide. We're looking at ruins below street level, trying to make out a recently discovered building dating from the Hellenistic period. “Here, from the ancient ruins of a city that has been inhabited uninterruptedly for centuries, we shall unravel the thread of its founding and, we hope, find some traces of Thessalonike the woman. Unfortunately for us locals, the historical figure is now little more than a legend created in medieval times,” my guide says with a sad shrug. Indeed, the tale of how the sister of Alexander the Great became a mermaid and searched the
seas for her dead brother is familiar to many Greeks, and it's a popular subject in the fine arts as well.
“Born around 345 BC,” Papadopoulos continues, “Thessalonike was the daughter of King Philip II of Macedon and half-sister to Alexander the Great. Her tragic fate was foreshadowed at a very early age when she lost her mother while still an infant. Some scholars believe that she was brought up by her stepmother, Olympias, mother of Alexander. Unusually, despite her royal lineage, she remained unmarried. When Alexander died in Babylon, sparking the Wars of the Diadochi (“Successors”), Cassander –who is considered the founder of the city of Thessaloniki, – fought against
Olympias, defeating her in the great siege of ancient Pydna, an important commercial center of the time located south of Thessaloniki. After having Olympias killed, Cassander forced Thessalonike to marry him and then had Alexander’s wife Roxana and their son, Alexander IV, murdered. He later joined together 26 small settlements around the Thermaic Gulf and founded the city in 316-315 BC, naming it after his wife. It is perhaps ironic that his own name was given to Cassandreia, today a small tourist town of Halkidiki. Cassander and Thessalonike had three sons. When Cassander died, the three brothers vied for power, resulting in the murder of Thessalonike at the hands of her own son, Antipater II. Nearly two
WOMEN ARE IMPRINTED IN OUR MINDS MERELY AS REFLECTIONS OF GREAT MEN. WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO HEAR THE STORIES OF THESE WOMEN, WITH MEN IN A PERIPHERAL ROLE FOR ONCE?SABIHA SERTEL
thousand years later, her life became the subject of a 17th-century Italian opera, “La Tessalonica.”
Papadopoulos reveals something that may explain why Thessalonike has faded from our collective memory: we do not know what she looked like. He goes on to describe how the slab of a large pedestal was discovered during excavations in the Roman Agora, bearing the inscription “Queen Thessalonike –[Daughter] of Philip,” and next to it two more slabs with inscriptions dedicating the missing statues, one to Alexander the Great and the other to Alexander his son (murdered by Cassander). “In the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, there’s an interesting marble head that was found very close to the pedestal slabs which remains unidentified. There is disagreement among archaeologists; some believe it’s an Alexander, albeit of
an atypical type, while others argue that it may be the face of Thessalonike. If this is indeed the case, it is probably the only depiction we have of her from the entire ancient world,” Papadopoulos says with undisguised pleasure.
A pioneer in print City tours can at times appear to lack substance, with the fragments of the stories often lacking a link to reality, as if the concrete has swallowed up the last fragments of memory. But not this one. For I have the good fortune to be accompanied by an individual who is not only well read, but also has the gift of being able to transform the city, through his descriptions, into a vibrant scene from the distant past. Beneath the asphalt I “see” ancient wars; in the buildings and neighborhoods I “see” historic quarters; and in every
BENEATH THE ASPHALT
I “SEE” ANCIENT WARS, AND IN EVERY MONUMENT I “SEE” ALL THOSE CITIES THAT ONCE EXISTED IN THIS PART OF THE MODERN-DAY CITY.STELLA HASKIL
monument I “see” all those cities that once existed in this part of the modern-day city.
In the Aghios Dimitrios neighborhood, Papadopoulos transports me to the beginning of the last century. As we walk past the elementary school on Kassandrou Street, I can imagine our next heroine ascending the steps to the school entrance. Her name is Sabiha Sertel (1895-1968). Until today, I’d never even heard of this amazing woman, who was born in Thessaloniki, became the first professional female journalist and publisher in Turkey, and was active in the campaign for women’s rights in New York in the 1920s. Her family were members of the Dönmeh community, Jews who converted to Islam while privately retaining their Jewish faith. It was a group with
conservative principles and strict rules of endogamy, but Sabiha managed to escape the suffocating atmosphere in which she had grown up and became the first woman to marry a man from outside the Dönmeh, the Turkish journalist Zekeriya Sertel. Together, they moved to Istanbul and started a newspaper, one contributor to which was the celebrated Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, also born in Thessaloniki. Sabiha’s professional career in Turkish journalism came to a premature end when, after the death of Atatürk, she and her husband came under attack as the result of their strong criticism of the government for its pro-Nazi stance. They would spend the rest of their lives in self-exile in various European cities. Sabiha Sertel died and was buried in Baku, Azerbaijan.
As we make our way down Aghiou Nikolaou Street towards the Church of Aghios Dimitrios, I notice the small chapel of Aghios Efthymios for the first time. Its ktetor, or patron, my guide informs me, was Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes, a noted general who served under Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. Papadopoulos spoke at length about this man and how he funded the decoration of the chapel’s walls as part of his appeal for divine help in fathering a child. But nothing prepares me for the horrific story of the church beside it. In the late 13th century, the militarily weak Byzantine empire came under attack from the King of Serbia, today considered a saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church, Stefan Milutin.
Unable to defeat him, the Byzantines resorted to diplomacy and looked to arrange an alliance by marriage. But they’d need a Byzantine bride to save the empire and stop Milutin's army from reaching the gates of Constantinople. They found her in the person of the emperor’s daughter, Simonida. She was aged just five, and I can picture her, adorned as a bride, arriving here at the Church of Aghios Dimitrios (where the wedding ceremony is generally assumed to have been held) to meet the fierce Milutin. The saddest part of the story is that, according to Byzantine sources, the warlike monarch immediately consummated the marriage; this act would render Simonida unable to bear children. When her mother died, the young bride returned to Constantinople,
but she was soon forced to go back to Milutin, staying with him until his death in 1321, after which she spent the rest of her life as a nun.
After hearing this story, I'm in low spirits indeed. To lift them, Papadopoulos plays a song on his phone, a popular old rebetiko piece by Vassilis Tsitsanis: “She may have been seduced by seashores and sunsets, which keep her poor heart enslaved forever.” It’s a favorite of mine, but I know nothing about the woman behind the sensuous voice until the guide explains it's Stella Haskil, a Sephardi Jew, born in Thessaloniki in 1918. We head down to the area of Athonos Square with its ouzo bars and small tavernas, where she probably appeared for the first time, like
so many other singers and musicians in the city. She stood out thanks to her inimitable voice and, shortly after the liberation in 1944, began to make a name for herself in Athens, alongside great composers of the rebetiko and urban popular genres who wrote songs specifically for her, including Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras, Manolis Chiotis and Markos Vamvakaris. She left her mark on the history of Greek recorded music with 135 songs, but sadly died at just 36 years of age.
Now we’re making our way to Aghia Sofia Square. I don’t know if it’s because of all the tales I’ve been hearing, but I can certainly imagine the literary cafés of the not-too-distant past that once stood here, frequented by some of
the city’s most famous figures. Among them was Chrysoula Argyriadou, née Pentziki (1901-1998), whose pen name was Zoe Kareli. Despite living in the shadow of her younger brother, the author Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis, she still won first prize in the State Poetry Awards (1974), became the first woman of letters to be elected to the Academy of Athens (1982), and was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic (1985). Papadopoulos wants to talk about her poem “Human” (from the collection Antitheseis, 1957) and how she became the first Greek woman in the modern era to explore gender issues in her poetry.
I, a woman, a female human, sought Your face always; it was, till now, a man’s, and I cannot know it differently.
finally settling in Thessaloniki. However, she was later found and beheaded in the central square of the city; her body was dismembered and thrown in the sea.
It was here, at the Octagon, that archaeologists discovered the Small Arch of Galerius. At the top, on either side, there are two tondi, one depicting the emperor and the other Valeria. Her face and the jewelry that would have denoted her imperial status have been erased while, in a later intervention, a mural crown has been added on her head. It would appear that she’s been transformed from an empress to an abstract personification of the city,
removing all memory of her person.
The tour leaves me with a sense of disquiet about just how much pain the women of the city have suffered. But at the same time, I’m grateful for the chance to overturn the condemnation of memory, restore the standing of women, and learn more about them. Papadopoulos and I both agree that Thessaloniki should have at least one landmark for the woman after whom it was named, one artwork in commemoration of the commendable women associated with the city. If this isn’t vital to ensuring the validity of the historical narrative, then what is?•
Our walk ends in front of the Octagon, at the back of Navarino Square. “Here, let's remember a woman who suffered what in Latin is called ‘damnatio memoriae,’ that is, condemnation of memory. In other words, efforts were made to eradicate all traces of her, as if she’d never existed.” Empress Valeria (who died in AD 315), of whom Tasos is speaking, was the wife of Galerius, the Roman emperor whose life is commemorated all over the city, for example by the Rotunda, the Arch of Galerius and the Galerian Complex. Valeria’s marriage was arranged by her father, Diocletian, after which she spent her life confined to the palace and never gave birth. When Galerius died in 311, she wandered the East for some time before info • Thessaloniki Walking Tours organizes themed walks in the city of Thessaloniki as well as cultural trips all over Greece and to selected destinations abroad, both on pre-scheduled dates and by request. Rates begin at €35 per person and all tours are in Greek and English. (Tel. (+30 ) 2310.424.916, 6978.186.901, 6944.476.126, info@thessalonikiwalkingtours.com
On its 60th birthday, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is opening its storerooms to celebrate the fascinating array of artifacts, events, artistic works and technological advances that make it such a cultural dynamo.
BY JOHN LEONARD
Left: The new Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, designed by architect Patroklos Karantinos, constructed in 1961-62.
Above: The discovery of seven tombs at Derveni (ancient Lete) in 1962 revealed extraordinary riches, including the Derveni Krater, a masterpiece.
Right: The unique bronze Derveni Krater, now cleaned and restored to its former brilliance.
SINCE THE BEGINNING, GREAT ARTISTS PAST AND PRESENT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE SPOTLIGHT. INAUGURAL SHOWS COMMEMORATED NINETEENTHCENTURY PAINTER NIKOLAOS GYZIS AND THE MORE “MODERN TRENDS” OF NINETEEN OTHER GREEK ARTISTS.
Above left: Celebrated painter Yannis Tsarouchis with friends and the Director of the museum, Katerina Romiopoulou (to the right), at his popular 1981 exhibition.
Above right: The Las Incantadas statues, “In the Kingdom of Alexander the Great," Louvre, 2011.
Left: Comic book heroes came to the AMTh in 2010, with “50 Years of Asterix.”
Right: Archaeologist Manolis Andronikos guides Konstantinos Tsatsos, President of the Greek Republic, with his wife and government offcials, through the Treasures of Ancient Macedonia exhibition in 1978
Above: A gold medallion depicting Olympias, Alexander’s mother; Abukir Hoard, Alexandria, Egypt (AD 225-250).
Below: A warrior’s gold death mask and bronze helmet, of "Illyrian” type; Sindos, circa 520 BC.
FOLLOWING THEIR LATEST exhibition achievements, three words immediately come to mind that might best describe the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (AMTh): creativity, responsiveness and outreach. This remarkable museum is a city jewel, one that might be mistaken for a recent addition to the city’s cultural scene, thanks to its modern approach, but which actually has been a precious local institution for more than a century. The museum’s new temporary exhibition, “60 Years, 60 Moments” (October 27, 2022 - October 31, 2023), celebrates that long history.
Although 2022 marks the completion of six decades since the AMTh opened its current doors – the official ribbon-cutting for the museum building took place on 27 October, 1962 – the Museum’s colorful story actually began much earlier. In many ways, the AMTh’s history is a reflection of the eventful, even tumultuous history of its millennia-old, long-enduring host city. Until the early 1920s, across an area of the Greek mainland rich in archaeological remains from earliest prehistoric times through the reigns of Macedonian kings and the hegemonies of the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans, antiquities destined for the AMTh were gathered and stored in various locations, including the Dioikitirion (the present-day Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace); the Ottoman Idadie School (now part of the University of Thessaloniki); the French Army barracks at seaside Mikro Emvolo; the Rotunda; and the White Tower. In the years following the 1922 Smyrna evacuation, when Thessaloniki was inundated with refugees, the AMTh’s formative collections found a singular refuge within the Yeni Mosque, now repurposed as a museum. There, an extensive array of these objects were on display to the public from 1925 until the new archaeological museum opened in 1962.
In two large galleries, the “60 Years, 60 Moments” exhibition provides AMTh visitors a probing, comprehensive look
FRight: The golden oak-leaf crown and burial larnax of King Philip II of Macedon were discovered in Vergina.
ALTHOUGH A DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE STRUCK THESSALONIKI ON JUNE 20, 1978, LEAVING A DEDICATED STAFF WORKING FROM TENTS PITCHED OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM, THE EXHIBITION “TREASURES OF ANCIENT MACEDONIA” OPENED JUST SEVEN WEEKS LATER.
into both northern Greece’s impressive cultural heritage and the development of its leading museum, through sixty individual display stations laid out in in chronological order. Simple and complex, alternately archaeological, historical, scientific, artistic and technological in theme, these individual windows into the past offer a look at the fascinating array of artifacts, events, bequests, historical milestones, artistic works and digital advances that have made the AMTh the cultural dynamo it is today.
The display station focusing on the year 1962 makes it clear, right from the start, that the AMTh’s museological approach has always been about richly blending the past and present. The new building itself, with its central courtyard and colonnaded porch, designed by architect Patroklos Karantinos and constructed in 1961-62, represents a harmonious combination of Classical Greek architecture and modernism. The inaugural presentations likewise pointed to a core importance placed on archaeological sites and artifacts, artistic expression, both ancient and contemporary, and the repatriation of Greek cultural heritage.
A particular strength of the AMTh has long been its timely and visually striking exhibitions. In 1962, the Olympian gods must have been smiling down on AMTh planners, as the discovery earlier that year of seven luxurious tombs at Derveni, the necropolis of ancient Lete northeast of Thessaloniki, allowed the Museum to present to an enthusiastic public the now-famous site’s extraordinary riches – including a unique bronze masterpiece, the Derveni Krater – as part of its introductory exhibitions.
Other exhibitions soon followed, including the Museum’s first presentation on prehistoric Macedonia and Thrace (1965), featuring objects dating from the Neolithic to the Early Iron Age, and its extensive display of ancient glass and ceramic vases (1965-66), dating from about 700 BC through the Byzantine era. In June of 1978, when a devastating earthquake had struck Thessaloniki, a dedicated staff working from tents pitched on the museum grounds toiled on, and the exhibition “Treasures of Ancient Macedonia,” presenting amazing examples of ancient metalworking, opened just seven weeks later.
The AMTh’s far-reaching collaborative capabilities have been demonstrated through numerous in-house or traveling shows, including “Alexander the Great, History and Legend in Art” (1980), for which artifacts were sent to Thessaloniki from European and American partner institutions. Afterwards, this impressive collection, featuring the Derveni Krater and the golden burial larnax and oak-leaf crown of Philip II, was sent out as “The Search for Alexander” (1980-1983) to seven major US cities. Following their return, the royal treasures from Vergina were installed in a new wing at the AMTh (1984). Later, ancient Macedonia and the kingdom of Alexander the Great were the focus of a Paris exhibition (2011) in conjunction with the Louvre. Another internationally successful exhibition, “Macedonia from Mycenaean Times to Alexander the Great” (1988), visited Australia, Montreal, Hanover, Copenhagen, Marseilles, Rome, Buenos Aires and Florida.
At home, the AMTh has played an active role in Thessaloniki’s various civic cultural festivities, contributing special archaeological and art exhibitions to the city’s 2,300-year birthday celebration in 1985, as well as organizing or assisting with presentations and
The Derveni Papyrus (ca. 340 BC), Europe’s oldest book, the first Greek entry in UNESCO’s "Memory of the World” register (2015).
educational programs in 1997 when Thessaloniki was named the European Cultural Capital. In 2018, during the European Cultural Heritage Year, the AMTh assembled more than a hundred artifacts for “Copying (in) the Past: Imitation and Inspiration Stories,” which showcased 5,000 years of Greek art and the fundamental impact of ancient Greece on European art and culture.
Often overlooked is the degree to which the AMTh has served as both an archaeological museum and an art gallery. Since the beginning, great artists past and present have been given the spotlight. Inaugural art shows commemorated nineteenth-century painter Nikolaos Gyzis and the more “modern trends” of nineteen other Greek artists, while a 1981retrospective, attended by 30,000 visitors, focused on Yannis Tsarouchis. In the last fifteen years alone, 80 art exhibitions involving 364 artists from 45 countries have been hosted at the AMTh.
Humor, and an appreciation for popular art is reflected in the museum’s 2010 traveling exhibition “50 Years of Asterix; the Gallic Hero in the AMTh.” Today, such a combination
of historical perspective and artistic playfulness continues to shine through in the current show, where the Cabinet of Curiosities at Station 57 (note that the “5” is mounted upside-down!) displays unknown or oddly intriguing objects from the AMTh’s storerooms, bringing to mind the early development of modern museums from
the eccentric private collections of individuals. A subsequent display of the names and actual signatures of the museum's directors, along with two delightful art installations, one of stacked-up AMTh publications and one of rows of personal coffee mugs belonging to staff members, remind us of the hardworking people behind the scenes who make it all happen.
Along with Derveni and the Archaic and Classical-era necropolis of Sindos, the latter a subject of a temporary exhibition, the 60 Years exhibition highlights other iconic archaeological sites and significant finds previously celebrated at the AMTh. These include ancient Akanthos in Chalkidiki, first excavated and presented in1973; the inscribed Roman road marker that explains the naming of the Via Egnatia highway, found in 1974; and the mid-4th c. BC tomb of an affluent, high-ranking Macedonian officer at Katerini, uncovered in 1977. The thrilling discovery of Philip II’s magnificent royal tomb at Vergina also came in 1977, while the Odeion in Thessaloniki’s Ancient Agora began hosting public events again in 1997.
INNOVATION IS A HALLMARK OF THE AMTH, WITH ITS USE OF ARCHAEOMETRIC, NON-INVASIVE, PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ANALYSES IN ITS CONSERVATION LABORATORIES AND THE INTRODUCTION OF MORE DYNAMIC, THEMATIC, ANTHROPOCENTRIC, MUSEOLOGICALLY STATE-OF-THE-ART EXHIBITIONS.© COURTESY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKI ARCHIVES, PHOTO: ORESTIS KOURAKIS
Little-known historical facts about the AMTh are also revealed, such as the covert crating-up and burial of museum antiquities in protective trenches at the Yeni Mosque in 1940. It wasn’t until 1947-51 that the Museum’s buried artifacts were re-excavated, while certain gold and silver items hidden in the vaults of the National Bank of Greece in Athens weren't returned until 1967. Later, in the final decades of the millennium, as construction work proceeded on HELEXPO’s International Exhibition Centres and other modern buildings, the archaeological wealth of the AMTh’s immediate neighborhood was brought to light, including a Neolithic settlement and thousands of graves dating from the Hellenistic period through to the Early Christian era.
Over the years, as the current exhibition reveals, the AMTh has greatly benefitted from public voluntary assistance and the generosity of key donors. The Friends of the Museum service group was founded in 1985, although valuable material contributions were already coming in, such as the 2,700-coin private collection of Georgios Papailiakis (1976), and the Stamatios Tsakos Collection of Neolithic figurines and other valuable artifacts (2000).
1968 was a particularly good year for the recovery of items and the enrichment of the museum's collection. Minoan, Mycenaean and Cycladic artifacts were seized from the black-market dealer Stefan Martin Gericke when he attempted to cross the Greek/Yugoslav border. In 2007, a golden myrtle-wreath crown from ancient Macedonia was returned by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Innovation is a hallmark of the AMTh, with imaginative children’s education programs; experimental pottery-making workshops; use of archaeometric, non-invasive, physico-chemical analyses in its conservation laboratories; and the introduction in 2007 of a more modern, dynamic and anthropocentric approach to exhibitions, often in dialogue with other Greek and foreign cultural institutions. In 2019, the museum began hosting its own book club; during the COVID lockdown, this initiative, along with a specially devised program of internet-based activities, kept the AMTh’s virtual visitors in active contact with the institution.
The 60 Years | 60 Moments exhibition does a particularly good job of documenting the remarkable evolution of the AMTh. Among the changes that are the modernization of its approach to the recording, classification, lab analysis, and conservation of its collections in 1973; and the complete renovation of its organization, museological approach and infrastructure that took place between 2001 and 2006. Research, publication, innovation and cultural entrepreneurship all came together to better elucidate the realities of ancient daily life and to link that world with our present-day existence. In expanding its displays, new open-air exhibits were also created outside, in the Museum’s colonnaded porch (1983) and surrounding gardens (2009, 2014).
Since 2006, the AMTh’s embrace of digital technology and interactive exhibits have added a further dimension to the visitor experience. Milestones include an initial collaboration with the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas in 2010 and the launch of the e-SKAPANI project in 2020, with
3D monitoring, digitized treatment of archaeological finds, and virtual reality “tours” of the Roman-era Galerian Complex, letting museumgoers see it as it was in the time of Emperor Galerius (early 4th c. AD). Other advances have included numerous EU-sponsored programs, such as the RFID digital tagging of all museum displays (2020) to allow visitors to interact with objects through virtual tours and games. Soon, as part of the “Museum on the Go” project, visitors will also be able to download an AMTh phone app, in twelve languages, to access exhibits, excavation sites, digital maps, and an audio guide for use both inside the building and outside on city tours.
As an important center of learning, the AMTh has hosted numerous scholarly lectures and gatherings, involving more than 1,000 specialists to date. It also pursues an active publishing program that has produced more than 50 in-house titles. All in all, the many displays of the current 60 Years exhibition affirm the Museum as a place for everyone to appreciate. From its recognition by the city as an historic architectural monument to its diverse collections and broadly appealing displays and from its adoption of everything from access ramps and of Braille to digital tech for the hearing-impaired and “tactile tours” for children and adults, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is clearly an invaluable cultural asset of the city and an integral part of the very heritage it has done so much to preserve.•
Right: Reconstruction of a Roman villa, with ancient mosaics in “Field, House, Garden, Grave,” an open-air exhibition.
BY LEON NAR
© FOUNDATION FOR THE MUSEUM OF THE MACEDONIAN STRUGGLE
Clockwise, from top left: Group portrait of members of the Maccabi Jewish sports club on a bicycle trip in Salonika, in 1933. Aime Levy at the piano in her home, 1936. The marriage of Ida Modiano and Leon Mallah, 1938. Jewish youth on a sailboat in Salonika harbor, 1929. Members of the Maccabi boy scouts, 1935. Young women in a sewing and embroidery class with Miss Asperidov work outside, circa 1936 - 1937.
SAADI LÉVY STREET; Modiano Market; Carasso Arcade; Saoul Arcade; Mizrahi Street; Villa Bianca; and Villa Allatini: these are just a few landmarks of the once vibrant Jewish Community of Thessaloniki…Should the task of safeguarding the memory of a decimated community fall primarily to its remaining members or to society as a whole? How many visible traces still attest to the culture of the Jews who inhabited Thessaloniki for centuries? Are these fragmentary snapshots enough? Can they recreate a unified image?
The struggle to do so is difficult largely because a distorted understanding of the truth resulted in people for decades interpreting the events that affected Thessaloniki during WWII according to their own political and national logic, making it impossible for them to grasp what had really happened. For years, memory was in danger of being erased in Thessaloniki.
“The abundance of real suffering,” Adorno writes, “tolerates no forgetting.” Thessaloniki must remind those living in and visiting the city of the presence of hundreds of historic sites, monuments and remarkable figures connected with the glorious history of the Jewish community: the dozens of synagogues that were destroyed, the enormous Jewish cemetery (with over 300,000 graves), the old train station where the penultimate page in the drama of the community’s destruction was written, and the industries that changed the socioeconomic history of the city at the end of the 19th century (including the Olympus brewery owned by the Mizrahi and Fernandez-Diaz families,
which later became the Fix factory).
There were dozens of schools, cultural socities and philanthropic organizations, including the Joseph Isaac Nissim School and the Allatini Orphanage, and Ladino-language newspapers as well, and other many other enterprises testifying to the dynamic presence of Jews in the city.
Nearly 80 years after the premeditated slaughter of most of the Jews of Thessaloniki, we are now witnessing the passing of that generation of men and women who weep, remembering the return of their few Jewish friends to the city, and the demise of those very few survivors who, scarred by their harrowing experiences, returned and tried to build a new life that still included their own customs and habits. Those very few, including my grandfather – who completed his military service in the Greek army at the end of the 1930s, fought on the Greek-Italian front alongside 11,000 other Jewish Greek comrades-in-arms, survived the Nazi death camps, and returned once more to Thessaloniki – often faced a climate of contempt, even from many institutional players in the city. Many have wondered why those who returned to Thessaloniki never spoke of what they had experienced until decades later. They wanted to banish the image of death from their minds; they didn’t speak because their fortunes had been plundered; they didn’t speak because certain official entities allowed a synagogue to operate as a taverna for years; they didn’t speak because the community’s ancient cemetery had been entirely destroyed… Fortunately, many true fellow citizens supported them and softened the sting of this unfortunate reality.
Today, the problem isn’t merely that we will soon no longer be able to learn firsthand about the past. It's also that, at the same time, as the witnesses to the greatest crime ever committed are disappearing, the voices of others
are growing louder, others who keep denying this history. They deny, in fact, a crime whose perpetrators have repeatedly admitted their guilt. They deny the numbers tattooed on the arms of our grandmothers, deny that our grandfathers lost their entire families in extermination camps, deny the deaths, deny the humiliation. Fortunately, there is opposition to all this: the records of the collective memory of Thessaloniki, Greeks and foreigners, who insist on taking care of “lost” places and rebuilding the past in this “city of ghosts.”
The picture had already started to change during the 1980s. The decade saw an explosion of publications – the testimonials of survivors. The extermination at the concentration camps had already been fully substantiated by written sources, but only these first-person testimonials could give a sense of the complexity of the traumatic experience. The role and the inherent dignity of firsthand testimony were re-established. Seeing today’s doubts and denials of the genocide of the Jews, I wonder if all the efforts of the 1980s and 1990s were so much wasted breath: so many books, so many conferences and so many films
that reenacted the drama and broke box-office records. That was the peak of global interest, as if the societies of Europe were struggling to heal that open “civilizational wound.”
It’s not easy, of course, to trace the historical route of so many “missing.” The urban fabric in Thessaloniki has suffered so much destruction and deterioration that it is difficult to recreate historical memory and bring the past alive again. Today, however, we can discuss these issues openly, and I want to believe that the shadows of denial hanging over not just Thessaloniki but the entire country are weak and belong to a small minority.
And yet they frequently make their presence felt. A recent example is the vandalism of the monument of the old Jewish cemetery at Aristotle University. One might say that news of “another incident of vandalism of the monument” is somehow routine, but this was not. Sometimes a moment comes when the perpetrators go beyond simple desecration and vandalism and dare to dream of the complete obliteration of the particular monument and of others (evident from the extent of the destruction they caused). The perpetrators dream, it seems, of the disappearance of the Jewish presence from Thessaloniki, even if that presence is just in the form of a monument! Perhaps they dream of repeating the act of their ideological ancestors, the destruction of the Jewish cemetery, an outrage and a sacrilege that went unpunished. The news about vandalism of this sort certainly does not constitute something routine.
On the other hand, it may seem that there is something routine in the way various actors in the city now routinely condemn that vandalism. As for those that may want to destroy the memory of the graves that confirm the continued existence of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, memory will remind them that the dead are more
AS THE WITNESSES TO THE GREATEST CRIME EVER COMMITTED ARE DISAPPEARING, THE VOICES OF OTHERS ARE GROWING LOUDER, OTHERS WHO KEEP DENYING THIS HISTORY.
powerful than they are; human society is stronger than their barbarity. And it's also worth noting that as recently as a few years ago, we didn’t even have the universal condemnation of these acts. Fortunately, the rich history of the Jews of the city didn’t end with the genocide, despite the irreparable harm that the community suffered. The explosion of new writings in recent years about the history and the genocide of Greek Jews may have created the impression that these issues have been adequately covered by academic research, but we have not yet thoroughly examined the difficulties, often insurmountable, that the very few
FORTUNATELY, THE RICH HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF THE CITY DIDN’T END WITH THE GENOCIDE, DESPITE THE IRREPARABLE HARM THAT THE COMMUNITY SUFFERED.
survivors of the Nazi atrocities faced on their return. Only in the past few years has attention been paid to the obstacles in the reintegration of Thessalonian Jews and the more urgent problems they faced, including, for instance, the premeditated destruction of the enormous Jewish cemetery.
In the past few years, all these issues have come again to the fore, partly because of the planned construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece in Thessaloniki. Most people agree that the museum will need to confront and assess every aspect of antisemitism and not confine itself to an appeal to the emotions or to the
1917. The city on fire.
1872
circa 140 BCE
The first Jews arrive in Thessaloniki from Alexandria in Egypt.
1376
1394
The first arrivals of Ashkenazi Jews, who come as refugees to the city after persecution in Hungary and Germany.
A group of Jews from Provence settle in the city; later (14231430), the number of Jews arriving from Italy – Sicily in particular –grows.
1492 Between 15,000 and 20,000 Spanish Jews settle in the city.
1655 Sabbatai Zevi and approximately 300 families create a community of Jewish Muslims, the dönme.
late 19th century
More than 70,000 Jews reside in Thessaloniki, comprising approximately half the city’s population.
recollection of nostalgic moments.
The city, and indeed the country as a whole, needs a center that will consider the role played by refugees in the city over time, examine the relationships between Jews and the other inhabitants of Thessaloniki and the Balkans, and look at the contributions of important figures who left their mark on daily life in the city. We need an institution that will invite visitors to examine historical evidence, study the history of the other Jewish communities, and reconsider the activities of institutions and other bodies, including the Federacion Socialista Laboradera (Socialist Workers’ Federation).
The museum must also serve as a research center, shedding light on the brilliant past of the Jews in Thessaloniki and making it possible for us to understand the void caused by their violent extermination. It must focus on the lives of ordinary people and reflect the idea that the Jews of Thessaloniki constantly feel different – at school, in the army and in their dealings with many public services. The city needs a space of memory that will promote identification, present empathy and heighten the sense of historical drama. After all, Thessaloniki is a city that has repeatedly had to come to terms with recounting the past. The prefix re- is
often a topic of conversation in the city; there are discussions on reconstructing, rebuilding and so many “re-s”. The city and the country need a museum that will address itself not just to Jewish visitors, a museum primarily for young visitors and not just for tourists, an innovative museum that won’t simply provide information but will instead reveal the rich history and cultural singularity of the Jewish community of the city. It would be fascinating, if possible, to measure the level of knowledge of visitors before coming to the museum and then gauge what they took away from it, looking at the individual experience, whether social, religious or other. •
1917 The August fire leaves 53,737 Jews homeless and destroys the community’s most important administrative, religious and educational buildings.
1931 During a pogrom, extremist elements burn down the Campbell district, a Jewish neighborhood.
A German corporal leads three Jewish men in forced calisthenics, 1942
War in 1940-1941
July 1942
12,898 Greek Jews serve in the armed forces (343 as officers). Their losses amount to 513 dead and 3,743 injured.
Black Saturday, on which Jewish males are summoned to Eleftheria Square and tortured, signals the beginning of the end…
March to August 1943
The Jews of Thessaloniki are deported to Nazi death camps in a number of rail transports.
1945
Of the 49,000 Jews who were deported, only 1,950 return.
Eleftheria Square. On July 11, 1942, the German occupying forces gathered Jewish males between 18 and 45 years to register them and send them for forced labor in different regions. Today that square hosts the Holocaust Memorial.
Old railroad station. Between March 15 and August 2, 1942, 46,061 Jews from Thessaloniki and other cities were sent by way of 19 train transports to the Nazi concentration camps. Very close to the railroad station was the Baron Hirsch Quarter, which had been transformed into a Jewish ghetto during the German occupation.
Holocaust Memorial at the new cemetery. The new Jewish community cemetery is dominated by the marble memorial to the 46,000 Jewish citizens of Thessaloniki who lost their lives during WWII. Many gravestones and bones of Jewish figures have been transferred from the old to the new cemetery.
Memorial at Aristotle University. In 2014, a monument was unveiled on the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in memory of the old now destroyed Jewish cemetery, which once contained over 300,000 graves and covered the entire footprint of the current university campus.
Jewish Museum. The building was constructed in 1904 – one of the shopping arcades built between 1880 and 1910 in the center of Thessaloniki to house various retail operations. This building was once home, among other things, to the Bank of Athens (1906-1925) and the newspaper L’Independent (1909-1941).
Monasteriotes Synagogue. This house of worship first opened its doors in 1927. After the Jewish population of Thessaloniki was deported, the building was used as a storage facility by the Red Cross, which saved it from destruction, allowing it a different fate from the dozens of synagogues in the city that were destroyed during the occupation.
Villa Allatini and Villa Bianca. Villa Allatini was built in 1888 by Vitaliano Poselli as the summer residence of the Allatini family. In 1926 it housed the newly founded University of Thessaloniki, while during WWII it was used as a military hospital. Villa Bianca was built in 1912 by Pietro Arrigoni. The family of its owner, Dino Fernandez-Diaz, was one of the most influential mercantile families in Thessaloniki.
Saul Arcade, or Cité Saul. Constructed between 1867 and 1879, this shopping arcade erected by Saul Modiano was almost completely destroyed in the fire of 1917; the only surviving portion of the building is the facade on Vasileos Irakleiou Street.
BY NATASHA BLATSIOU PHOTOS: BABIS GIRITZIOTIS, MARIKA TSOUDEROU
Opposite page: Descending into the Chionotrypa ice cave to take ice core samples.
Below: The expedition headquarters on the Plateau of the Muses, with the Stefani peak in the background.
WE HEAD TO THE “RESIDENCE OF THE GODS” WITH A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS SEEKING TO UNRAVEL THE SECRETS OF PAST CLIMATE CHANGE HIDDEN IN THE MOUNTAIN’S ICE DEPOSITS AND ALPINE SOILS.
IT’S A SUNNY AUTUMN DAY on Mt Olympus. The time is 09:00, and Thodoris Dosis’ mules are being loaded for the long ascent from Gortsia to the Plateau of the Muses. They will need to cover a distance of 12km and climb 1,800m through dense forest and steep alpine landscape to reach the Christos Kakkalos and Giosos Apostolidis refuges on the plateau. Unlike what they do during the summer season, the mules today are not carrying load of supplies for the alpine huts; they're hauling equipment for a scientific mission, including an ice corer, a generator, variable sensors, air-tight sample containers, sterile test tubes, computers and camping equipment. “What more will you ask me to carry?” Dosis asks his old friend Dr Michael Styllas.
The instigator of the scientific mission that is just about to begin, Styllas is overseeing the packing and loading. Credited with changing everything on Mt Olympus since taking over management in 2003, with his brother Alexandros, of the Christos Kakkalos refuge where he lives, this geologist-explorer is a renowned figure in the world of alpine sports and was one of the nine climbers in the first-ever all-Greek mission to Mt Everest in 2004. He has contributed to the revival of traditional climbing, established Mt Olympus as an international skiing mountaineering destination, and was also a frontrunner in promoting mountain tourism in Greece.
Despite the daily challenges of working at 2,650m above sea level,
IStyllas has remained a dedicated and inquisitive scientist. His interest in Olympus’ permafrost prompted him to study the evolution of the glaciers since Paleolithic times in a postdoctoral study at the Academy of Athens in 2019. For the past four years, he has been involved in the pioneering Vanishing Glaciers research project of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne. For this project, he organized and led 14 expeditions, during which he and his team climbed 35 mountains in 15 countries to collect precious samples of bacteria and other microorganisms living in glacier-fed streams. Now he’s back on his beloved Olympus as the mastermind of the most extensive interdisciplinary expedition ever conducted on the legendary Greek mountain.
A multifaceted scientific endeavor
PalΑeolus is an international research project which aims to reconstruct the paleoclimate and atmospheric circulation in southeastern Europe by studying an unexplored cave, Chionotrypa (“Snow-hole”), located below the highest summits of Olympus. The key objective is to study the cave’s permafrost to glean information about the
climate, ideally data related to the last 5,000 years. The team is led by Dr. Aurel Persoiu, an expert in speleology, paleoclimatology and geomorphology at the Romanian Academy of Sciences, and includes renowned scientists from different parts of the world, including Styllas.
The mules will have to ascend seven times over the next few days to bring up more than a ton of scientific equipment and camping, climbing and speleological gear. During our climb, it drizzles every so often, but the tall black pines (Pinus nigra), thirsty from the summer drought, hold the water for themselves, keeping gear, animals and people dry until we all reach the Petrostrouga refuge at 1,940m – the halfway point to the Plateau of the Muses. We all welcome the hot tea, food and warmth on offer here before we face sleeping the next few nights in tents in -10°C weather.
On this first night we get the first snow of the season. By the time we reach the plateau early on the following afternoon, there's just a light dusting left – a reminder that winter is coming. The next day, we set off on the slow ascent with a group of young climbers. It’s impressive to see how many people are nowadays allured by mountain pursuits. We finally reach Kakkalos Refuge and find that the mules are there, too. The scientific team is now complete. The scientists working intensively in the field do not look much like university lecturers. They kick off the expedition by unloading the animals, setting up their tents and getting their HQ, a sizeable igloo-style tent dubbed “the Dome,” in order. The Dome protects all the equipment and it's where the team gathers every evening to evaluate that day’s work and plan for the next one.
They get to work immediately. “Our plan is to drill the ice and retrieve an ice core that will be as long as possible. That means ‘as old as possible.’” It may sound like a simple process, but it’s arduous work. The first step is to
AT THE PETROSTROUGA REFUGE AT 1,940M, WE ALL WELCOME THE HOT TEA, FOOD AND WARMTH ON OFFER BEFORE WE FACE SLEEPING THE NEXT FEW NIGHTS IN TENTS IN -10°C WEATHER.
rig the cave for climbing and haul the drill, ice corer and generator up to that remote location on our shoulders. The team dons caving suits and safety gear – helmets and harnesses. Some carry drill pipes, while four team members take on the most laborious task: hauling the bulky 60kg generator through the narrow, steep pass. One misstep can cost precious equipment and injury.
Experienced speleologist Yorgos Sotiriadis has rigged the cave, drilled and placed all the anchors on the vertical wall so the team can make the descent. The equipment is carried to the base of the trail – and that’s when things get tricky. Ahead of us, we can see a vertical wall. The generator cannot possibly be taken any higher. It will need to be placed at a lower elevation and connected with a series of extension cords. For now, the generator is quiet and so is the drill, and the team has to leave the cave.
That night, back at HQ, the team examines alternative courses of action.
“The seventh and eighth centuries were the Middle Ages for the Eastern Byzantine Empire, and recent studies suggest that this [period]was related to intense and rapid climate change. At a time when people’s lives were intrinsically linked to agricultural production and, by extension, nature, these shifts caused intense and widespread poverty and diseases that wiped out almost a third of the population. Society changed incredibly fast, with no one left unscathed. The higher social classes collapsed in a domino effect that shaped an entirely new reality. I wonder how close we are to a new Middle Ages, with the climate crisis and the pandemic? History seems to be repeating itself. The question is, have we learned enough?”
With Sotiriadis, another two speleologists – geomorphology researcher Dr Christos Pennos, from the University of Bergen in Norway, and Dr Stavros Zachariadis, who holds a PhD in archaeology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – are focusing on geomorphology. They are working with a Norwegian counterpart, Professor Rannveig Ovrerik Skoglund, also from the University of Bergen, who is an expert on speleogenesis (or cave formation) in glacial settings.
“The cave is dynamic; it’s changing. The cave ice has retreated significantly since we first visited in 2013 due to climate change. This means that as the ice melts from the outer part of the deposit [i.e., close to the walls], you get gaps between the ice and the wall, which will enable us to get down even further,” explains Pennos. Their task is to place sensors that will record data on the temperature and humidity over time, as well as a camera that will record changes in the height of the ice. The camera, developed by the Hellenic Institute of Speleology, was donated to this expedition.
The technical obstacles are quickly dispatched over the next two days. The generator is fired up and the drill comes to life. It’s a big moment. The team has its first samples. The first ones of soft snow fail to satisfy, but those at 4m down are more rewarding, as they show the union between the snow and the ice. You can see all kinds of sediment in the transparent sample – possibly organic – that promises to be valuable to the research. The signs are hopeful. But a technical glitch pitches the drill back into silence just as Sotiriadis, looking disappointed, returns from a foray into the cave. All the evidence points to several deep caverns in the area, but no way to access them. The mapping shows a depth of 32m, of which 26m is covered in ice.
The ice sample is temporarily stored in the refuge’s freezer. A 10cm piece will be cut from it, split up, placed in sterilized sample containers and sent to laboratories in Greece and abroad. “Our aim here on Olympus is twofold,” notes Persoiu. “We want to analyze the water from the ice, which will give us evidence about climate change. We are also looking for information about the transfer of dust from the Sahara Desert, as climbers have reported the mountain being covered in a red veil at the end of the winter. Identification and chronology will allow us to ascertain any changes in the frequency and intensity of the southerly (Sirocco) winds that bring the dust from the desert.”
It all starts with assigning an age
to the ice. This means analyzing the organic matter trapped inside it, like pieces of wood, leaves or bat guano. Then the water from the ice is analyzed in terms of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes to decipher the changes in winter temperatures over the years and define the sources of humidity. Did the water vapor come from some cold, wet area in the northern Atlantic or from the warmer rainfall of the Aegean? Was the wind blowing at that particular time westerly or southerly? Similar studies using isotopes of strontium are being carried out to identify the provenance of Sahara dust.
In parallel with Persoiu’s research, University of Athens mineralogy professor Athanasios Godelitsas is studying the solid matter discovered in the ice. “Ice is a unique archive of information
you cannot easily find in non-glaciated parts of Earth. Solid particles trapped into the cave ice are the main focus of the research. What minerals are there? How old they are and where do they come from?” The liquid from melting the ice is filtered – much like coffee, but in a sterile environment – so solid particles can be collected. Depending on their size – from millimeters to nanometers – they are analyzed and identified through either an optical or electronic microscope. “The smaller they are, the harder they are to collect but the more interesting they are scientifically. Microscopic particles are usually transported in the air from distant places and yield interesting information, including their chemical composition. If, for example, one of these particles contains silica, aluminum and magnesium, it might be
“The only glaciers in this country have been identified in small caves. I assure you that it’s frightening for us cavers to witness the speed at which the ice is melting because it makes us picture the impact this will have on many natural systems. Climate change is a fact; unfortunately, it is also really trendy. Companies are even using it in advertising, making it hard for people to understand what it means in real terms for their lives. No one is talking about the impact this change will have on the number one resource: water. In Greece, up to 60% of the water we drink comes from karstic systems, meaning caves, and caves are extremely sensitive to climatic changes. The impact will be huge, and even more so in the Mediterranean systems that will be affected. This will clearly impact our country, and climate change will develop into a climatic crisis.”
“I began filming and exploring Olympus in 2013 and have climbed the mountain dozens of times since then. I’m also studying the myths and legends surrounding it. The aim of my new documentary, produced in cooperation with ARTE, is to connect elements of ancient mythology with observations and scientific data. These include, for example, the intense lightning activity; ancient winds and how they were associated with specific gods and monsters; the stars, the planets and the legend of the birth of the galaxy; and Olympus’ mystical and natural beauty, which makes it unique and, thanks to elements such as theThrone of Zeus, inspirational.”
FOCUS volcanic glass. A particle may have been transported around 3,600 years ago, from the Santorini volcanic eruption, and trapped here,” he says.
The findings in the ice will be confirmed by a parallel study being conducted by Styllas and Godelitsas on samples collected from alpine soils at the Plateau of the Muses and bedrock samples from the Mt Olympus alpine zone, which are being analyzed for traces of zircon, scandium, thorium, chromium and nickel. “The discovery of these elements will reveal the provenance of these geological materials and will create linkages with geomorphological and climatic changes over time,” Godelitsas says. “Do these materials stem from other human activities, such as the copper workshops of Pieria, for example? Or could they even confirm
myths like asteroid and meteor impacts in the area?”
There is great interest in the initial results of the research, expected by the end of the year. The team hopes to address the most important scientific question: to what extent is climate change a natural phenomenon or one caused by humans? Given the dearth of publications on the subject in Greece – with studies mostly limited to the Peloponnese and certain mountain regions – the survey on Mt Olympus is expected to garner vital new data on climate history. “People often ask what the future holds. Have we messed up a lot with the climate? We certainly have. We’ve added methane and carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere, which is measurable. But nature has its way of reaching equilibrium, so you can’t really know how much we’ve messed with it, especially on a local scale. You can only understand the qualitative and quantitative characteristics once you’ve recorded the natural pace of climatic change,” say Styllas. “You can say, for example, that dry winters are not abnormal. We have historical records saying that when Saint Dionysios was here in 1540 CE, the Enipeas River dried up. This tells us that there were extreme weather phenomena before the Industrial Revolution. Right now, we are looking at a plethora of divergent scenarios. The aim is to record natural rhythms at the local level and to make connections to what we know from history.”
The research does not end here. Styllas mentions the absence of a research center in Greece dedicated to the alpine environment – except for important work being done in Metsovo by the National Technical University of Athens – and talks of his experiences from four years of scientific missions to refuges in New Zealand, Greenland, Chile and Ecuador. “The area of Olympus has been a crossroads of civilizations. Paleolithic and Neolithic people had no concept of borders. Today, environmental change and degradation issues augment our joint history with the people of the southern Balkans and western Turkey. With this in mind, our next goal is to establish a research center for the alpine environment of southeastern Europe, one which will specialize in climate change, natural
disasters and sustainable mountain tourism development,” he explains. Walking with the scientific team on these autumnal days across the lofty slopes of Olympus, I catch splendid sights as I turn my head every so often: high peaks, fertile plains and the blue Aegean Sea, all in one frame. “Olympus is the antenna in the landscape you’re
describing,” says Styllas. “It receives African dust and Balkan smog, is likely affected by acid rain, and is an indicator of water sufficiency for agriculture and tourism. It’s also of enormous significance in history and in myth. In my opinion, we don’t need more tourists; we need more scientists to ensure a sustainable future for the area.”•
Dr Αurel Persoiu Head of the PalΑeolus research program“The project aims to reconstruct the climate in southeastern Europe over the past 5,000 years. We plan on drilling for samples in caves and in cave deposits – stalagmites and stalactites – as well as in lagoons in Romania, Slovenia, Croatia and Greece. In the lagoons, we're looking for sand blown to the coasts during powerful storms at sea, and in caves, we analyze the water from the ice. The research in Greece is focused on the caves of Falakro in Drama, in the Lefka (“White”) Mountains of Crete, on Mt Olympus, and at the watersheds of the Pineios and Nestos rivers, as well as at the Korission Lagoon in Corfu. By recreating the climate regionally, we can identify patterns that lead us to a regional model yielding evidence about atmospheric circulation, and find out to what degree the paleodata mimics the new data.”
Pick your pleasures - these four easy day trips offer a Macedonian mix of glittering waters, grand wines, rare birds and natural wonders.
BY AMBER CHARMEIJust outside the city, the beautiful wetlands of the Kalochori Lagoon are a paradise for birds and a serene haven for human visitors.
If you can break away from Thessaloniki’s urban attractions, even just for a morning or an afternoon, you’ll find delightful destinations within easy reach. A culture of pleasure joins cultural pleasures; here in the heartland of ancient Macedonia are some of Greece’s most important and impressive archaeological sites and museums. Meanwhile, amid the mountains and beaches, forests and wetlands, there are delights for nature lovers and oenophiles alike. Beneath wide plane trees at village cafés, time slows agreeably. And who doesn’t love a hot spring in the woods?
The thundering Karanos Waterfall in Edessa.
In 45 minutes, you can be in an avian paradise, binoculars in hand, at the Nea Agathoupoli bird-watching tower. This protected coastal wetland, abundant in food, is a haven for many species, both local and migratory. Pelicans are here in the warmer months, joining the gorgeous year-round residents; including swans, flamingos and herons. In cooler months, birds from northern territories come to spend the winter here in style; ducks of several different species arrive in thousands, joined by the endangered spotted eagle. December is the peak of activity, but spring brings Greece’s largest colony of gulls. For an up-close look, binoculars and telescopes are at the tower, along with enthusiastic expert guidance. The bird-watching tower is open Wed-Fri (plus two Saturdays a month), from 10:00-14:00. The opening hours mean you'll likely be here before lunch, which is perfect; the fun can continue just five minutes away at the bird-friendly seaside eatery, Psarotaverna Nikos, serving seasonal fish and other seafood fresh from local waters.
Another half hour brings you to Vergina and the museum and archaeological site of Ancient Aigai, the royal seat of Ancient Macedonia, one of the most profoundly moving experiences of history and culture to be had anywhere. Passing through a narrow entrance into the reconstructed burial mound, you’ll find a unique museum space of reverent semi-darkness, filled with objects of luminous beauty. Chief among them is the golden oak wreath of Phillip II and his elaborate larnax, hammered from over seven kilos of gold. The emotional impact upon seeing the royal tomb of Phillip II, displayed here in situ, may catch you by surprise, as will the poignantly articulate rendering of the abduction of Persephone on another royal tomb. The words of the great archaeologist Manolis Andronikos, displayed as you exit, will fire your imagination.
• Axios Delta National Park, Nea Agathoupoli Bird Watching Tower, axiosdelta.gr
• Psarotaverna Nikos, Tel. (+30) 23530.515.70 • Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai, aigai.gr
Or, in 45 minutes, you can be at ancient Pella, birthplace of Alexander the Great. Located on the coast in ancient times, Pella replaced Aigai as the capital of Macedonia. The large archaeological park reveals Pella’s elegant Hippodamian urban plan - its sensible grid of streets, a vast agora surrounded by workshops and boutiques, and sumptuous private homes with grand mosaics. It’s easy to imagine what life must have been like here as you wander through the large site. The items in the splendid on-site museum include beautiful artifacts and furnishings that suggest a refined lifestyle. A highlight is a is a fresco on a five-meter-high wall, painted in the First Pompeian style; its trompe l’oeil marble, faux structural elements rendered in plaster, and slice of ‘sky’ at the top convey the ancient city’s grandeur and sophistication.
Half an hour from Pella is Goumenissa, with its friendly town square ringed by plane trees and boasting a fountain flowing with cool mountain water at its center. Goumenissa is in the heart of prime wine country known mainly for the lush and likable reds and rosés of the local grape Negoska. Balancing the Xinomavro (magnificent, if sometimes called “complicated”), Negoska is an essential component of Goumenissa’s nuanced but enormously drinkable PDO red blends. Of the several excellent wineries, biodynamic Domaine Tatsis stands out. The austere building housing the winery is consistent with the company’s philosophy; it’s all substance here. Perikles Tatsis calls himself a viticulturist first and a winemaker second, an approach that serves him well. The “Old Roots” series reveals a deep respect for heritage and for the vine itself. Tatsis rescued many abandoned vines – some a century old – and moved them here. Tended with care, they produce fruit of exceptional character in yields considerably smaller than that of younger vines. Old Roots Xinomavro or Negoska offer a privileged taste of the region’s heritage, while “Pappou” (grandfather) is a blend of all the grapes together: locals call it a taste of childhood.
23430.430.60, ktimatatsis.gr
In an hour and a half, you can be in Aristotle’s hometown Somehow, all these glittering beaches have managed to outshine Chalkidiki’s most significant destination; on a lush peninsular headland along a tranquil stretch of the western coast is ancient Stageira, the birthplace of Aristotle (384322 BC). Stageira is an unusual and exciting archaeological site; wild and green, with minimal intervention and discreet signage, it feels almost untouched. There’s plenty to see, including the walls of the acropolis – so unusual in their complex and polychromatic construction; the ruins of the stoa; the foundations of a grand 6th-century temple; and workshops and homes. It’s thanks to Aristotle himself that there’s much of anything to see; during his long absence from Stageira (he left for the Academy in Athens when he was 17), Phillip II of Macedon all but destroyed the city during his conquest of Chalkidiki. When Aristotle finally returned north two decades later, it was to tutor Phillip’s son, Alexander the Great. In the philosopher’s honor, Phillip restored the city of his birth, and life in Stageira continued.
If the weather’s sunny, one of the seaside tavernas in adjacent Olympiada will do nicely for lunch. Otherwise, plan for a cozy lunch in Arnaia on the way back. This slightly longer lovely route is worth it either way – Arnaia is one of Chalkidiki’s most picturesque mountain villages. Refresh yourself with the water gushing from the plane tree in the square before wandering the cobbled alleys and visiting the 1821 Church of Aghios Stefanos. A fire in 2005 led to reconstruction that revealed magnificent finds from the early Christian era through the 17th century. The older ruins are visible beneath the church’s now-transparent floors. Visits to Arnaia traditionally end on a sweet note; exceptional local pine honey is available at shops around the square.
The view out to sea from ancient Stageira.
info Ancient Stageira Tel. (+30) 23710.220.60, 2310.285.163
In an hour and a half, you can be at Greece’s largest waterfall. Driving west across the fertile plains of Pella, you’ll eventually spot a cliff rising dramatically in the distance. At the top is charming Edessa, most famous for its fabulous 70-meter Karanos Waterfall. A path brings you behind a great curtain of water, crashing into rocky pools below as it makes its way down to the plains.The rushing water charges the air with negative ions, filling you with energy and optimism. That mood carries on through the town, as the waters of the Edessaios River flow like music through Edessa’s seven canals. Lush banks, tall trees, and 200 bridges, large and small, complete the enchanting townscape. The air must affect the residents too, because they’re delightful: Edessa is a warm and hospitable town, a favorite of Greek visitors who come for good food, dreamy views, and beautiful traditional architecture. In the Varosi quarter at the cliff’s edge, you can visit the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, with its magnificent late 14th-century frescoes. Because the artworks are fragile, the church is rarely used for services; its bare interior invites contemplation.
There’s more water half an hour away. Steam rises thickly into the trees overhead from Pozar’s thermal springs. Thermal waterfalls fill a natural pool beside more waterfalls and a river. There’s also a large swimming pool and other indoor bathing facilities, including many private baths for small groups.Everything stays open until 21:00, and the outdoor waterfall bath and the private indoor baths stay open until 02:00 (04:00 on Saturdays), making a visit here a popular late-night activity.
Pozar's warm springs are a year-round delight.
The Kourtis vineyards in Pieria and, in the background, majestic Mt. Olympus.
NORTHERN GREECE is a thrilling wine region stretching from the boundaries of Thrace in the east to the western outskirts of Macedonia. And while most wine enthusiasts may be familiar with the impressive success of the vineyards in Drama and Kavala, the first places in Greece that invested in blends of international and native varieties, and later in varietal Xinomavro wines from Naoussa and Amyndeo, there are a number of new things to get excited about in three other regions as well.
In Goumenissa, Kilkis, in the northern part of Macedonia, just an hour's drive from cosmopolitan Thessaloniki, the countryside is stunning, with gently rolling hills that reach 450 meters in elevation. The area has been producing wine since the late 19th century and currently has approximately 300 to 400 hectares of planted vineyards. Here, a fascinating terroir for Xinomavro is emerging, but another local hero is on the rise, too, a deep-colored grape variety called Negoska that plays an integral part in the Goumenissa PDO blend, adding color, alcohol and tannins while lowering overall acidity.
"It is an area with a prosperous future," says Chloe Chatzivaryti, a talented winemaker who, while following in her father's footsteps at Chatzivaryti Winery, has brought a new approach to viticulture to the family enterprise, emphasizing natural winemaking and planning to fully convert to biodynamic farming. "Negoska is a challenge, as it's hard to balance the high tannic load with its low acidity. That's why it's often blended," she says.
Below: Taking a tasting sample straight from the barrel with a wine thief at Estate Chrisostomou in Pieria.
NBottom: The winemaker Chloe Chatzivaryti at the family winery in Goumenissa.
A FASCINATING TERROIR FOR XINOMAVRO IS EMERGING, BUT ANOTHER LOCAL HERO IS ON THE RISE, TOO, A DEEP-COLORED GRAPE VARIETY CALLED NEGOSKA.
Clockwise from top left: A bottle of Xinomavro from Magoutes Vineyard; the winemaker Maria Dimitriadi of Navitas Winery in Pieria; old vines in Siatista that produce Xinomavro for Magoutes Winery.
Another important change came to Goumenissa when one of the leading Greek wineries, Biblia Chora, invested in the region, acquiring Titos Eftihidis Winery and renaming it Mikro Ktima Titos. "Goumenissa has lots of potential" says producer Vasilis Tsaktsarlis of Mikro Ktima Titos. "We want to make the region great again, by investing a lot in the individuality of Negoska," he says, adding that progress towards single-variety success for that grape will
need meticulous viticulture, controlling yields and sourcing fruit from old vines. Other noteworthy Goumenissa estates are Aidarini Winery, producing classically structured reds, Domaine Tatsis, a pioneer in natural and biodynamic wines, of course, the renowned Boutari Wines, which first invested in the region way back in the mid-'70s. Moving west, there is an unsung terroir between the cities of Kozani and Grevena that could have been a PDO but was lost in the
mists of Greek legislation. Siatista is home to some of the best, if as yet unheralded, sweet wines in Greece. Some of the first references to these wines, known as “iliasta,” date to the early 19th century. These wines are still being produced in the traditional manner today, by drying the grapes indoors rather than by sun-drying, just as is done for Tuscany's Vin Santo. The drying period lasts two months or longer, depending on the desired sugar levels in the wine.
In the region of Siatista, Dyo Filoi is a winery currently focused on sweet wines but increasingly investing in Xinomavro, Moschomavro, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Its neighbor Magoutes Vineyard makes thrilling wines from Xinomavro and the delicately scented local variety Moschomavro. Here, the winemaker Dimitris Diamantis has plans for expansion; at present, the vineyards of Siatista have shrunk to a total area of 350 hectares, with ancient vines of 70-100 years old making up a significant part ( some 70%) of the planted vineyards, which can be found as high up as 900-950 meters above sea level. "My vision is to help save Siatista's traditional indigenous varieties. The main problem is that, for most people here, viticulture was done on an amateur basis; most locals were traditionally engaged in the local fur business," he says. "Another problem was those big companies that showed interest in the region wanted to plant international varieties. They uprooted very old vines in favor of varieties like Sagrantino and Rondinella," he says.
The region of Pieria in the southern reaches of Macedonia sits in the shadow of Mt Olympus and on the edge of the Pierian Mountain Range, where the terroir is influenced both by the mountains and by the sea. More than a dozen wineries are bringing out the best that the region offers, forging an identity for the area based partly on indigenous varieties. Kitrvs Winery, in the lowlands of Pieria, makes deliciously fruity yet complex Malagousia and experiments with interesting international varieties such as Aglianico and Verdicchio. Kourtis Winery is an artisanal estate producing wonderful wines from both local and international varieties, including Vidiano and Trebbiano. Its Oinovion label blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Xinomavro and Agiorgitiko. The total annual production of this winery is 20,000 bottles at most. Estate Chrisostomou, on the other hand, produces close to 50,000
Chatzivaryti Goumenissa Chloe Chatzivaryti Spin Negoska a idarinis Goumenissa tatsis Goumenissa Mikro ktiM a Goumenissa M agoutes Xinomavro Parcel Selection dyo Filoi Kelari Tapnou kourtis winery Trebbiano ChrisostoMou Moussaios Red navitas Xinomavro k itrvs Malagousia
bottles from 11 hectares in the Pydna area. Their fruity Moussaios Assyrtiko has mineral notes and ages very well; the red Moussaios, a blend of Xinomavro and Limniona, has a full bouquet, and is well structured and delicious.
The latest addition to the area is Navitas Winery. There, Maria Dimitriadis and her expert team focus on organics to render clear expressions of Xinomavro and Assyrtiko, fruity and pure for the former and crystal clear, with a lean and saline character, for the latter. Total production is no more than 10,000 bottles.
There are, of course, more wineries and winemakers doing fine work in the area. Nadir Winery, Papagiannoulis Winery and Pieria Erateini all produce wines that reflect this promising area's unique terroir.
Despite a wine tradition dating back to ancient times, these areas are still evolving, drawing strength from what nature has given them. Time will tell just where they fit in on the Greek wine scene but, based on present evidence, they certainly bear watching.•
• Xinomavro Octopus cooked in red wine, with orzo and tomatoes, because the wine goes well with the acidity of the tomatoes. Another great choice, and a classic in its own right, are lamb chops, which cry out for tannins and acidity to "cleanse" their fat. For a mature bottle of Xinomavro, a truffle risotto is perfect, as the wine delivers similar aromatics.
• Mainland Assyrtiko For the full-bodied, creamy Assyrtiko from this region, a prime grilled fish or even white meat, such as lamb fricassée. Cream-based dishes that include white meat, such as chicken or pork, will also work well.
• Negoska Less acidic dishes than for Xinomavro. Meat dishes and other hearty food make good matches.
Located only a few meters from the White Tower, Canteen is an ideal spot for all-day culinary options based on traditional Mediterranean cuisine, with coffee and energy snacks in the morning, light meals and pasta dishes or creamy risottos for lunch, and dinner in a vibrant atmosphere with premium steaks and creative dishes on the evening menu. For the perfect food and wine pairing for your meal, choose from an extensive list of wine options, with several selections also available by the glass.
• 7 Dimitri Gounari, Tel. (+30) 2310.228.520. Find them under Canteen on Facebook, or on Instagram @canteen_skg
The iconic brand Tod’s has joined fashion forces with the equally iconic Palm Angels for "Tod’s x 8 Moncler Palm Angels" project. Combining vintage aesthetics with more modern notes, the unisex collection features two of Tod’s best-known products, the Gommino and the W.G., reinterpreted by Palm Angels for Moncler Genius in new, must-have renditions. Inspired by classic American sports, mountaineering and American pop culture, the collection also reflects superior Italian artistry. Francesco Ragazzi, Palm Angel’s creative director said: “Behind a brand like Tod’s, theres dedication, research, and craftsmanship of a technically skilled team who apply their passion to everything they do.”
• tods.com
Honored with prestigious accolades, including the Greek Toque d’Or and Gourmet awards, the famed Marina Seafood Restaurant in Potidea is one of the best seafood restaurants in the country, promising every gourmet a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience. The menu features classics such as divinely prepared lobster or shrimp pasta, fish carpaccio and tartare, and perfectly grilled fish fresh from the Greek sea. To accompany these dishes, the impressive wine list has something for every taste, including some of the most renowned wines from Greek vineyards.
• Marina, Potidea, Halkidiki, Tel. (+30) 23730.41570, (+30) 23730.41825, marina-fish.gr
Beloved for exceptional quality and deliciously soothing aromas of its products, and for the endless creative inspiration it exhibits, L’Occitane En Provence recently gathered loyal fans at six different sales points to present two new product ranges. Collectible Christmas sets, “Green Chestnut” & “Shea Golden Latte,” wowed the celebrities, influencers and journalists who attended. Guests also got to try L’Occitane’s high-analysis Face Diagnosis Device which, in just a few minutes, provides users with valuable information regarding their skin’s hydration levels, elasticity, sebum, pores, melanin, wrinkles and sensitivity. After assessing results, a L'Occitane expert consultant informed users of the ideal skincare program for them.
• loccitane.com
Sushi has become an international favorite, and a stop at the Koi Sushi Bar in the heart of Thessaloniki is now a delicious local custom. Premium ingredients, affordable prices, first-class service and a relaxed atmosphere in a modern space with casual decor have established it as an unmissable landmark on the city’s gastronomical map. Enjoy authentic Japanese flavors, either on-site in the restaurant’s friendly environment or in your own private space via take-out or delivery.
• 3 Mitropolitou Iosif, Tel. (+30) 2310.232.008
Seamlessly blending classic chic with contemporary cool, this new multispace has “trendy new hotspot” written all over it. Along with specialty coffee to kickstart the day or brunch for late starters, the gastro bar also serves up delectable Asian-inspired bar food made with fresh Mediterranean ingredients. Apart from its long, polished wooden bar, Looen’s has several corners with soft lighting, ideal nooks for enjoying excellently mixed cocktails or wines from the extensive Greek and international menu. The bar, housed in a beautifully refurbished classic building on one of the city’s most vibrant streets, also hosts live DJ music nights.
• 28 Katouni
With 50 years of expertise in luxury hospitality, bluegr Hotels & Resorts has been a pioneer in redesigning Greece’s hospitality map and has raised standards of excellence and progress in the field. This year the group has received a well-deserved five-star accreditation, the High Distinction, from the International EFQM Certification Institution, a globally known management model that recognizes the best businesses in the world. This certification is a further leap forward from bluegr’s four-star EFQM certification in 2018; it recognizes the group’s ongoing role as an ambassador for Greek hospitality. • bluegr.com
As its name suggests, the Tekila bar-restaurant loves nothing more than a truly exceptional, authentic and versatile tequila! That’s why the bar hosted an event in November with the CAZADORES Tequila Global Brand Ambassador and top mixologist Manny Hinojosa as its guest of honor. Guests sampled classic tequila cocktails like Paloma, Margarita and Cantarito in their most authentic and artfully mixed rendition. Mouthwatering Mexican dishes such as tacos, chili con carne and quesadillas were served, too. The original recipe for CAZADORES had its 100th birthday in 2022, making it the oldest in the world. Hinojosa describes it as “a delicious, well-balanced tequila with tropical notes of roasted pineapple, coconut, and hints of vanilla.”
• cazadores.com
A wonderful way to get to know Thessaloniki, argued the late Rika Vayianni in this popular 2015 article, is to just sit back and let the city come to you.
The area known as Exoches was once a cosmopolitan hub of activity. Today, some of its most impressive surviving structures house important cultural institutions and charming cafés.
From the unfortunate death of a playwright to a great unsolved mystery: ten strange but true stories from northern Greece's rich past.
A musical guide to Thessaloniki, from its glorious past to its superb present.
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