GREECE IS | THESSALONIKI | 2017-2018

experience culture, gastronomy & more

T H E SSALONIK I

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 e d iti o n

ISSN: 2529-041X

ISSUE#25

10 - 48

W e l c o me

A city in constant transformation, Thessaloniki boasts a fascinating combination of cultural wealth and youthful vibrancy that is earning it new fans.

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D isc ove r

Traces of the Macedonians, Romans, Christians, Ottomans, Jews, and Asia Minor and Black Sea refugees that have shaped this ancient city are still evident.

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Walk around, see the landmarks, meet the American Farm School, catch a screening at the film fest and check out the city’s graphic design scene.

In a city where food is a religion and the choices are abundant, we have simplified things with a list of musts for brunching, lunching and dining.

Ex plore

Tas te

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

welcome

AIR OF OPTIMISM There’s an electric atmosphere and a renewed sense of opportunity up here in the North.

B Y t h e G R EE C E I S t e am

Centuries seem to merge in an intricate urban collage. Art Nouveau apartment buildings overlook 15th-century Ottoman-era markets, and the ruins of a Roman Agora are illuminated by the glow from the silver screen. In the Byzantine era, Thessaloniki came second only to Constantinople while for the Ottomans, it was a major western port. It was a place of refuge, a haven for the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain and later for Greeks fleeing Smyrna and the Black Sea. The very definition of cosmopolitan, this is a city that has welcomed wave upon wave of different cultures, each of which added their best attributes to a rich, expansive mix.

Today, the anticipation of important and much-needed infrastructure projects that are expected to significantly improve the quality of life – including the subway system and a new metropolitan park – creates a refreshing sense of optimism, similar to the elation that came with the unveiling of the ever-popular New Waterfront. Moreover, Thessaloniki can always rely on its energetic student presence for vitality. On the surface, this translates into an intellectual café culture and a famously engaging after-hours scene. But it is more profoundly felt in the city’s dynamic cultural landscape. Street art, alternative theater,

music and performance art all find a receptive environment here. Spaces like Coo and Les Yper Yper cultivate an ongoing cultural dialogue by hosting events and performances. A strong presence of street sports, music and art comes together at the annual Street Mode Festival, now entering its 10th year.

The energy and optimism that characterize the city also inspire change. The initiatives of the creative experimental group Thessaloniki Differently blur the boundaries between performance art and community activism.

On the cultural events front, Thessaloniki boasts a packed calendar punctuated with world-class events, including the International Film Festival, the Biennale of Contemporary Art, and countless more happenings on a smaller scale that all bring people together. Not that they need an excuse to gather with friends here; Thessalonians are extremely sociable by nature, and their interpersonal enthusiasm spills out into the streets, making their hometown the kind of place where it can be hard to find a restaurant table on any given evening. It’s no real mystery how this relatively small city has made it onto more than one Top 10 list of the best nightlife cities and emerged as one of the coolest, up-and-coming city break destinations in Europe.

Sometimes clichés are true – Thessaloniki really is for lovers. t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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Contents Greece I s - ISS U E # 2 5 T H E S S A L O N I K I , 2 0 17 - 2 0 1 8 E D I T IO N

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10. THE COOL FACTOR What makes Thessaloniki so exciting.

70. WHISPERS OF GHOSTS Thessaloniki’s Jewish legacy.

18. MEN AT WORK Big projects, coming soon.

76. FROM THE ASHES How a bold new city rose up from the flames of the Great Fire of 1917.

24. INSIGHT The city’s secrets revealed.

30. 72 HOURS Our guide to a perfect city break.

42. ASK THE LOCALS 44. agenda

Discover 50. game of thrones An introduction to the main characters and key locations in Macedonian history.

Experience 84. sites & sights Tracing 2,000 yeasrs of history through the city’s landmarks.

94. CENTER STAGE Exploring the area around the Roman Agora.

104. THE UPPER TOWN Ano Poli is Thessaloniki’s most cohesive and colorful neighborhood.

ISSN: 2529-041X

published by:

Exerevnitis-Explorer S.A. Ethnarchou Makariou & 2 Falireos, Athens, 18547, Greece Tel. (+30) 210.480.8000 Fax (+30) 210.480.8202

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editor-in-chief: Giorgos Tsiros (editor@greece-is.com) commercial director:

Natassa Bouterakou

114. 21ST-CENTURY FARMING The century-old American Farm School is an invaluable institute, supporting the agricultural sector of Greece and the greater Balkan region.

122. GEARING CREATIVITY Thessaloniki’s design scene has evolved from a handful of pioneering individuals to a strong group of thriving innovative firms.

134. FILM BUFFS REJOICE All you need to know about the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

Taste

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140. A LOVE AFAIR WITH FOOD This is a city where eating is an art form and every dish is prepared with pride.

146. BRuNCH MANIA On the menus in Thessaloniki, every day seems like Sunday.

150. EATING OUT Some of our favorite restaurants in various food and budget categories.

ON THE COVER: Illustration by Blind Studio, blindstudio.gr commercial inquiries:

Tel. (+30) 210- 480.8227 Fax (+30) 210-480.8228 Ε-mails: sales@greece-is.com emporiko@kathimerini.gr

public relations:

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Greece is – thessaloniki

is a yearly publication, distributed free of charge. It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without the written permission of the publisher.

welcome CIT Y LIFE

The Cool Factor Emerging from the recent crisis, Thessaloniki has discovered a new vitality that is making it one of the most exciting destinations in Europe today.

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© PERIKLES MERAKOS

ravelers tend to regard Thessaloniki as a charming and laidback city with a vibrant nightlife, great food, a youthful profile and a refreshing sea breeze. And yet, there is more that makes Greece’s second biggest city so cool: its landmarks, including magnificent buildings like the Rotunda and the White Tower, its port – among the biggest in southeastern Europe and an absolute sight at sunset – and the seafront promenade, providing an instant power boost to residents and visitors alike.

When you combine all this with the city’s significant Ottoman, Byzantine and Jewish monuments, the nostalgic atmosphere of the old town in Ano Poli, the easy distances to cover on foot, the stylish hotels and the quaint delis, the

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friendly nature of the locals, and then top it all off with the world’s best pastry pie, it’s clear that Thessaloniki is one of those cities made to be loved.

It is also a city that tries extra hard to entice its residents to get out of the house. Not a weekend goes by without a packed cultural agenda of art exhibitions, events or festivals. During our visit, for example, hotels were at 95 percent capacity, and that was well before the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, one of southeastern Europe’s biggest cinema events, and before the 6th Biennale of Contemporary Art, two events that bring in thousands of visitors. On Aristotelous Square, an impressive reenactment in miniature of the 1917 fire that razed the downtown area, drew a crowd of 35,000 people in just two hours. And

Every sunset at the port is an opportunity for residents and visitors to pause for a moment.

password: Halara* A great way to get to know Thessaloniki is to just sit back and let the city come to you, in any way it sees fit. *Means “Take it easy�

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what’s coming up? The biggest piano festival in Greece; a festival of short films by young directors; a staging of “Swan Lake” by a leading Chinese ballet company; the Thessaloniki Animation Festival; tours of historic buildings under the city’s Open House initiative; an international architecture convention; and Philoxenia, the country’s biggest tourism expo. And that’s just October and November.

A tourism satisfaction and hotel services survey conducted recently by the Thessaloniki Hotels Association found that what attracts visitors most are the city’s plethora of entertainment options, its lively cultural scene and the easy-going attitude of its people. What’s more, visitor satisfaction just keeps rising every year, as do overnight stays: these grew from 450,000 in 2011 to 1.15 million in 2016, and then exploded to 2.15 million this year so far, thanks largely to the Airbnb market boom and a number of new youth hostels, boutique hotels and B&Bs. Another factor earning Thessaloniki additional points as a destination is an international trend towards cities that are smaller, more manageable than major urban centers, and that provide visitors with many options for authentic, “likea-local” experiences. More flights and cheaper fares have also contributed: this summer saw a record high of 80 connections to international destinations (although this number drops by half in the winter season).

Thessaloniki’s presence on the international tourism map was reinforced by the election of Mayor Yiannis Boutaris, a forward-thinking entrepreneur-turned-politician who designed a modern, cosmopolitan tourism strategy. Thessaloniki was included in the 100 Resilient Cities network, a Rockefeller Foundation initiative, and began sending representatives to international business, cultural and tourism conferences. Later, the city also developed specialized types of tourism, including gastro-tourism. This year’s two-day Beer Festival, showcasing the products of 120 new Greek microbreweries, drew 12

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Thessaloniki owes much of its youthful energy to its 150,000-strong college student community.

Getting into the groove at the annual Street Art Festival.

This city has built a whole culture on coffee beans.

Take it easy, smile, socialize!

© THOMAS ANDREAS PARPOULAS, ANTHONY BLACK, PERIKLES MERAKOS

The new waterfront has reconnected the people of Thessaloniki with the sea.

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70,000 participants; 50,000-plus attended the Street Food Festival. MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism has also made significant inroads: among other events this year, Thessaloniki hosted the Input International Public Television Conference while last year it held the World Chefs Congress & Expo and the World Universities Debating Championship. It also recently bagged the 2018 Balkans & Black Sea Cooperation Forum, and EuroPride 2020 – a groundbreaking development in light of Greece’s rather conservative social mores.

Thessaloniki has not been spared the effects of the economic crisis that has squeezed Greece these past few years, but it seems lately to be exuding a particularly positive vibe. “The Greek answer to Paris that you’d never thought to visit” is how UK-based newspaper The Telegraph described it, while last winter the Financial Times published an article titled “Postcard from Thessaloniki,” pointing out that “the city’s tourist industry is thankfully dormant in winter, leaving you to live more like a Greek than as a guest.”

In June, the French magazine MasterChef praised Thessaloniki’s cuisine. Tributes 02

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

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01. Ypsilon, the latest entry in the list of Thessaloniki’s creative spaces.

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

02. Tango in the night.

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to the city are currently in the works at Russian broadcaster My Planet as well as on the Travel Channel, while the French daily Le Figaro is also preparing a major feature on Thessaloniki.

Yet another plus about this city is that its human dynamic – which includes some 150,000 students – has not given in to the crisis doldrums. Thessaloniki boasts dozens of creative entities, such as Elektronio (producing hand-made electric tricycles), the team behind the annual DEVit web development conference, and Make, an innovative design laboratory that takes on custom projects. “Beyond the PAOK-Aris soccer rivalry, beyond the spicy soutzouki meatballs and the nightlife, Thessaloniki is a city that has been creatively fighting the crisis for the last six or seven years,” says Make’s founder, economist Dimosthenis Vavatsis.

The Kipos3 urban community gardens project is another example of innovation,

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

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01. Eleftheria Gavriilidou, landscape architect of an innovative urban community garden.

02. Dimosthenis Vavatsis founded Make, an object design lab.

created by landscape architect Eleftheria Gavriilidou and agronomist Maria Ritou (postgrads from Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University) on a 600-sq.m. plot donated by the municipality so that 30 families can grow their own organic fruit and vegetables. “It’s also a new type of park, a place to meet, to have a coffee, to chat with your neighbor. It is a space that redefines the values of city living. We saw it as an experiment,” says Gavriilidou.

Food is another intrinsic part of what shapes Thessaloniki’s identity as a destination. “It is Greece’s second city but its gastronomic capital. Its bars and restaurants refuse to let tough times spoil a good night out,” wrote the UK-based newspaper Guardian in 2015. What’s more, the city is increasingly investing 16

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in this reputation for good food; an example of this is the Thessaloniki Food Festival, which includes discounted evenings at selected restaurants, promotional gift baskets filled with local products, and food-oriented events.

Their website, foodfestival.thessaloniki.gr, is worth checking out.

“Our city is among the cheapest in Europe for eating out,” says Christos Exarchopoulos, one of the three founders of the SoulFood Thessaloniki event, which was launched last year. “You can get a great meal for €15. Culinary tourism is going strong; at every festival we receive 5,000 to 10,000 guests from all over the Balkans.”

It’s not all about food, though.

There’s always something going on outdoors as well, whether it’s a night-time marathon race, the Reworks Festival – a major music event – or the Taratsa (which means “rooftop”) International Film Festival. The PIC-NIC Urban Festival is another important event; for the past five years, attendees have brought

their blankets and food baskets to the Roman Agora for film screenings and live music.

“Thessalonians love being outdoors.

They prefer a street festival to an event at a big hotel, and the closer to the sea the better,” says Giannis Albanis, director of the Wine Producers’ Association of Northern Greece, which organizes VorOina, an annual wine and spirits festival. Turnout was poor when the event was held at hotels; now that it’s moved outside, it attracts around 3,000 to 4,000 visitors a year. “Instead of asking the public to come find us at some hotel hall, we found it at its favorite spot, the port.”

Beyond all these events, however, Thessaloniki’s greatest attraction lies in things its residents often take for granted. Where, for example, can you find an ancient agora just a few steps from an Ottoman mosque, or a Byzantine church alongside trendy shops and cafés?

And in all this, there’s the city’s people, open-hearted folk with great energy that make you want to come back.

W E L C OM E n e w p r o j e c t s

Men At Work

From the long-overdue modernization of its airport to the prospect of a brand new metro system finally reaching completion, the city has many reasons to feel good about its future.

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Thessaloniki International Airport

For years, visitors’ arriving at Thessaloniki’s rather shoddy and depressing airport were underwhelmed by the experience. However, the airport’s new operator, Fraport Greece, is putting into motion a modernization program that will radically improve operations and capacity. This includes the construction of a new terminal, the renovation of the existing one and significant increases in the number of check-in desks, baggage claim belts and gates. In all, the plan promises to make travel to and from Thessaloniki easier and more pleasant.

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Eleftherias (LIBERTY) Square

Currently a public parking lot, one of the city’s most historically significant public squares has been slated for a radical makeover, with the architectural tender completed this year. According to the winning proposal by Themis Chatzigiannopoulos & Partners Architects, the 11,400-sq.m. square, which was built in 1870 as the city’s official entrance for seaborne visitors, will be transformed into a park with tall trees, landscaped greenery, walking paths and ground-level lighting. The showcase piece will be a 30m-tall “selective sundial” that will indicate markers commemorating major historical events associated with the square, such as the entry of the liberation army in 1912, the Great Fire of 1917, the arrival of refugees from Asia Minor in the 1920s and the public humiliation of Jews in the summer of 1942 by the Nazi occupiers. The design will also highlight a section of the Byzantine wall on the square’s northern perimeter. t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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Thessaloniki SUBWAY

Already 11 years in the making, Thessaloniki’s first subway line will be 9.6k long, with 13 stations serving an estimated 250,000 passengers a day and reducing traffic in the city center by 63,500 vehicles. There will be 18 driver-less trains and the stations will be equipped with platform screen doors. Extensions are also being planned to cover the entire city, including the airport. An added bonus is that digging for the subway has brought to light important sites from the city’s Byzantine past, and hundreds of thousands of artifacts as well. Its completion will see three major archaeological sites open to the public, as well as in-station museums that will ultimately change the character of the city center.

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UNDERGROUND TREaSURES For more details on the discoveries made during the construction of the subway system, scan the QR code.

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Pavlos Melas Metropolitan Park

After the success of Thessaloniki’s waterfront promenade makeover, architectural duo Prodromos Nikiforidis and Bernard Cuomo are taking on another project that is expected to exponentially improve the quality of life in the city: the transformation of the 35-hectare Pavlos Melas military base (established in the late 19th c. and abandoned a decade ago) into a metropolitan park with cultural, athletic and leisure facilities. More than 2,500 additional trees, including olive, plum, walnut, cherry, loquat, almond, fig and quince trees, will be planted in the park, and the base’s buildings of historical architectural significance will be renovated and function as museums and cultural venues. The first part of the project, slated for completion by the end of 2019, includes the creation of walking paths, shaded seating areas, refreshment stands and artistic installations, while the rest of the project is expected to be completed within 10 years’ time.

Holocaust Museum

Designed by Germany’s Heide & Von Beckerath and Israel’s Efrat-Kowalsky Architects (who also worked together on the Berlin Central and Regional Library), the Holocaust Museum of Thessaloniki “is the fulfillment of a historic responsibility for the city,” according to mayor Yiannis Boutaris, who set the project in motion. Co-funded by the German state and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the museum will be located at the site of the old railway station where thousands of the city’s Jews were loaded onto cattle trucks for the one-way journey to Nazi death camps almost 75 years ago.

The complex will consist of a six-story, 31m-tall glass and metal tower, a lower circular building and a public square.

There will be a memorial as well as exhibitions devoted to the city’s Sephardic culture and history. The project is slated for completion in 2020.

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Investing in the future, preserving the environment

6-8 Fragon, Thessaloniki, 54626 - Tel. (+30) 2310 508 800 • Fax (+30) 2310 508 787 • Email ota@otenet.gr

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W E L C OM E I n s i g h t

A city becoming Thessaloniki’s leading modern chronicler lays bare the city’s soul.

BY GIO R GO S S K A B A R D ONI S

No man will be without a homeland, as long as Salonica exists,” wrote Nikephoros Choumnos, the Byzantine scholar and statesman (Grand Logothete) of Thessaloniki, as early as the 14th century AD. This sentence captures the essence of a city located midway between the East and West, at the intersection of cultures; a city that is a geopolitical keystone, a bustling crossroads, a haven for the poor and persecuted; and the only European city to boast an urban population for an uninterrupted 2,500 years.

Thessaloniki was founded by Cassander, the King of Macedonia, in 315 BC. He consolidated the population of 26 surrounding settlements within the walls he raised around the new city, which he named after his wife, the sister of Alexander the Great and daughter of King Philip II. The dazzling palaces and public edifices he erected were instrumental in its metamorphosis into the most important port city of the Macedonian Kingdom.

In 168 BC, Thessaloniki succumbed to Roman rule, after the defeat of Perseus, the King of Macedonia. The Romans, too, erected resplendent monuments and turned the city into the business, cultural and administrative heart of the Balkans. In 58 BC, the brilliant Roman orator, Cicero, was exiled to Thessaloniki; in AD 42, after the Battle of Philippi, Anthony and Octavian baptized it the “free city,” with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto. In AD 50, Paul the Apostle visited the city; then, between AD 298 and 305, Galerius Caesar selected Thessaloniki as one of the seats for the Roman Tetrarchy. Again, eminent buildings, palaces and temples were built: the Roman walls,

“Youngsters by the sea,” a photograph by prolific mid-20th century Thessaloniki photographer Socrates Iordanidis, from the archives of the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography. t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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© GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE, MENTIS BOSTANTZOGLOU/MUNICIPAL ART GALLERY OF THESSALONIKI COLLECTION

W E L C OM E I n s i g h t

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01. 1947: A fishmonger weighs his wares at the harbor.

02. Summer fun in Peraia, on the outskirts of Thessaloniki, sometime in the interwar years.

03. Alexander the Great and His Sister, the Mermaid, 1984 oil painting by celebrated artist, playwright and political cartoonist Chrysanthos Mentis Bostantzoglou (pen name “Bost”).

04. 1916: A German warplane, put on public view after being shot down by a French airman, becomes the focus of interest on the waterfront.

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the Palace Complex, the Octagon, the Hippodrome, the Theater-Stadium, the Roman Agora, the Arch of Galerius, the Mint, the colonnade later known as “Las Incantadas,” along with the chief Roman highway, the Via Egnatia. About AD 330, Constantine the Great declared Thessaloniki the second city of the Eastern Byzantine Empire and, until 1430 when it was seized by the Ottomans, exquisite temples and new Byzantine walls were raised. All the while, the city braved all manner of adversity. It was besieged and overrun by Ostrogoths, Slavs, Saracens, Normans and Franks; the latter captured the city during the Fourth Crusade. It became the capital of the kingdom of the Lombards, ruled over by an Italian king, Boniface of Monferrat. Following that, we have the rise of the Zealot movement of 1342-1349, the arrival in Thessaloniki of the first bands of Ashkenazi Jews

from Central Europe in 1387, and the Saints Cyril and Methodius christianizing the Slavic people and promulgating the Cyrillic alphabet.

Under Ottoman rule, the Muslim districts in the upper part of the city flourished. Throughout the city, new buildings went up, including mosques, military administration offices, the White Tower, the Trigonio Tower or the Tower of the Fall, The Fortress of Vardar, the Eptapirgio Castle (Yenti Koule), the Baths of Paradise and the Bedesten.

Liberated by the Greek army in 1912, the city was soon beset by adversity again: the Balkan Wars, World War II, the German Occupation – during which 96 percent of the Jewish population perished – and the Greek Civil War. But this is a city that has withstood 25 centuries; it holds in its hallowed heart the traces of Romans and ancient Macedo-

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nians; a thousand years of Byzantium; the wounds made by barbarian spearheads; and Frankish and Ottoman houses of worship. From center to periphery, it is laden with riches comparable only to those that lie restlessly in wait under the earth. As these treasures surface – which they do, continually – they bear incontrovertible witness to all that the city has

lived through; they proclaim its dignity in the face of the most recent wave of barbarity, a sea of concrete and incivility.

Thessaloniki is at once immutable and volatile, extraordinary and mundane. A city both walled in and open, protean and Byzantine, skittish and bold, Machiavellian and naïve. Multitudinous and manifold, its secret pathways disappear

The dazzling palaces and public edifices erected by Cassander were instrumental in Thessaloniki’s metamorphosis into the most important port city of the Macedonian Kingdom.

into decades shadowed by notorious murders and burnished by breakthrough innovation. The city is a multitude – multidimensional, multifocal, multipolar; a sacred and profane palimpsest buried deep under a surface frivolity; a crossroads marked by perpetual returns; a yawning maw of resignation and pride; a tale both convoluted and cyclical, echoing the most ethereal, ghostly, and multifarious of webs, the finest of nets, the thickest of snares. Thessaloniki is always in the process of becoming: it crumbles and bleeds and then rises up out of the ashes, whole. It is not an easy city to comprehend. Like a wicked woman, she’ll bleed you dry; she’s cunning, hopelessly beautiful, complicated. Those familiar with the city will tell you that the simple coffee shop in front of you was once the headquarters of Dagoulas, chief of the security battalions under the Gert h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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© THESSALONIKI HISTORY CENTER ARCHIVES

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man occupation: before that, a Dervish opium den and a Byzantine tailor shop; and before that, a Macedonian bath house. When you know this, you cannot help but see things in a new light. For the archaeology of the future, nothing is off limits, yet there is one thing it cannot touch or tarnish: the poet, that “primeval creature,” who spends the night roaming through this occupied yet always free city.

Let us not forget that Thessaloniki is defined and determined not only by her own intrinsic value but also by Constantinople’s watchful eye; the blessing of her neighboring Mount Athos; of Pella, the capital of Macedonia; of Vergina; and of Olympus, the mountain of the Gods.

Within an equally small span of the compass, the city cohabits with: Aristotle’s and Potidaea’s Chalcidice, the point of origin of the Peloponnesian Wars; the great Kasta Tomb at Amphipolis and Thucydides’ Paggeo gold mines; Kastoria with its 200 Byzantine churches; Veria; and the island of Thassos. Two hours to the north, we find Sofia; two to the east, Samothrace and the Sanctuary of the

Great Gods, Olympia and the Cabirian Mysteries. This land, teeming, complex, ensnares you in its endless labyrinthine stories shaped by hopelessly tangled plots that dissipate only to return in different forms. An assortment of façades and mysteries, fiends and cherubs, glory and ignominy, reticence and uplift; rumors and shadows, arias and shrieks, kings and slaves. You see them often, looming wraith-like in the morning mists of the waterfront. Empty striped uniforms worn by the Jews come and go, floating on air. Suddenly you hear, in passing, the heavy footsteps of Saint Gregory of Palamas receding around the corner; the faraway strum of Tsitsanis’ chords; hallelujahs, uttered centuries ago, but still vibrant until they slip away into Dimitrios the Besieger’s concealed tunnels, or drift into the din of the fish taverns in Modiano Market. Thessaloniki is many cities in one, inexhaustible. A home to the homeless, a nesting place for every sparrow, a wineskin in the smoke, the open secret that is the smoking-room of the Poets.

1. The city from above, as it appears on an old postcard.

2. Street cars and pedestrians pass under the Arch of Galerius, 100 years ago.

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Thessaloniki is at once immutable and volatile, extraordinary and mundane. A city both walled in and open, protean and Byzantine, skittish and bold, Machiavellian and naïve.

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ARISTOTELOUS STREET, BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY.

welcome 72 HOURS

DO IT ALL, BUT "HALARA" We've put together a three-day itinerary that hits all the high notes without leaving you beat.

B Y A L E X A N D R A T Z AV E L L A & N E N A D I M I T R I O U

proxenou koromila

© PERIKLES MERAKOS, JESSICA MORFIS

Mon FrÉre

DAY 01 15:00 CAFÉ SOCIETY

DAY 01 12:00

ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE

Your official “check-in” to the city takes place in its largest, most “European” square, envisioned by French urban planner Ernest Hébrard a century ago as a center of commerce and social life, and a “gateway” to the sea. Your first acclimatizing stroll will take in the bustling, outdoor Kapani Market on Menexe Street; Athonos Square, with its traditional tavernas and its herb and spice shops; the Modiano Market (soon to undergo a radical makeover), with its grocery stores and ouzo bars; and Komninon Street, with its bright flower shops.

And if fashion is your thing, you’re in the right place: Tsimiski, Mitropoleos and Proxenou Koromila streets have everything, as you can see by the attention-grabbing window displays of Max Mara and attica department store. Hungry? Stop at The Last Slice (1 Proxenou Koromila) and choose from 25 different kinds of pizza.

LAST SLICE PIZZA ORIZONTES, ELECTRA PALACE HOTEL

In Thessaloniki, the key word is halara (“take it easy”), a sentiment clearly in evidence at the hundreds of cafés. At the popular Efimerida (11 Filikis Eterias), the vibe is youthful. At the French-style Mon Frére (6 Karolou Dil), you can enjoy delicious pastries, while the always bustling, all-day Apallou (51 Mitropoleos), with its loud music and fashionista clientele, is great for people-watching. Perhaps you’d prefer to sip your coffee in an old Turkish bath? If so, make your way to the Aigli Yeni Hamam (3 Aghiou Nikolaou).

If you want to mingle with students and play board games, head for Playhouse (2 Aghias Sofias). And if you’re a connoisseur of good coffee, in the landmark building that houses The Blue Cup (8 Salaminos), you can choose from among single-origin specialty coffees prepared by experienced baristas. All these caffeine stations are within a ten-minute walk from Aristotelous Square.

Apallou

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DAY 01 17:00

Jewish Museum

JEWISH PAST

© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU

Time to discover some of the city’s rich history, beginning at the Jewish Museum (11 Aghiou Mina), housed in a century-old landmark building. A visit to the hall dedicated to the Holocaust, with objects from the Nazi crematoriums, is a particularly moving experience. The audio tour is recommended; headphones are available at the entrance. Two minutes’ walk from the museum at 6 Edessis, is the Bensousan Han, an early 19th-century inn that once provided lodging for travelling merchants and today hosts cultural events and exhibitions. The restoration of the building has preserved the patina of the past and the atmosphere is eerily evocative; you have the feeling that the former owner – Samuel Bensousan – may step out of the semi-darkness at any moment to welcome you.

Nama

© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU

w e l c o m e 7 2 hours

DAY 01 23:00

STAYING OUT LATE

Gorilla

© JESSICA MORFIS

If you feel up to it, it’s worth exploring the nightlife of Valaoritou Street, the surrounding alleys and the historic neighborhood of Frangomachalas. For unusual cocktails, choose Gorilla (3 Verias). For a smoke-free environment and a great selection of spirits, including rare whiskeys and rums, head towards the seafront and the bar Vogatsikou 3 – its name is also its address. Both bars are among the hippest watering holes in the city. Cheers!

DAY 01 21:00

DINE LIKE A LOCAL

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Vogatsikou 3

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

Where’s the best place for your initiation into the delights of Thessaloniki’s celebrated cuisine? That question may prompt much debate, but we propose Nea Folia (4 Aristomenous, Tel. (+30) 2310.960.383). For 40 years, countless patrons have drunk from its barrels. Today, the eatery retains a cult atmosphere, charming and in no way pretentious. The cuisine is northern Greek, traditional, but with interesting twists.

Meat in lemon sauce, rabbit stew, small plates of food (mezedes) featuring local products and good wine will keep you satisfied and at the table for hours. With the bill – which rarely exceeds €30 for two – comes a dessert on the house. If you’re in the mood for something fresh and modern, try the brand-new Nama (1 Olimpou, Tel. (+30) 2313.088.241), located in a quiet residential neighborhood, next to the Church of the Holy Apostles. You’ll be greeted with warm bread sprinkled with fresh herbs and paprika, and while the decor may not be remarkable, the cuisine is: succulent pot roasts and amazing sauces, imaginative Greek food for the soul, prepared by creative young chefs working in plain sight in the open kitchen. As for what to put in your glass, there’s a selection of bottled wines – at very reasonable prices – to go with your meal.

© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU

w e l c o m e 7 2 hours

DAY 02 11:00

A WALK THROUGH THE CENTURIES

Anoteron

DAY 02 09:30

BOUGATSA TIME

The obvious choice for your first breakfast in Thessaloniki is… the famous bougatsa! At Anoteron (61 Aghiou Dimitriou), these baked miracles have been ready for you since dawn: crispy pastry outside, soft and buttery inside, with a filling of cheese, minced meat or semolina custard (try all three!). Alternatively, on Aghias Sofias Street, enjoy breakfast at the patisserie-brasserie Blé, which offers dozens of different types of bread, traditional pies from all over Greece as well as mouthwatering French pastries and American-style cakes.

A Roman mausoleum or temple similar in design to the Pantheon in Rome, later consecrated as a Christian basilica, then converted into a mosque, before being re-dedicated as a Greek Orthodox church, the Rotunda is an amazing monument that bears living testimony to the city’s complex past; it also provides an ideal starting point for your sightseeing tour. To stand in the restored interior beneath the enormous (30m high) dome is a mystical experience. Trivia: the minaret, a remnant of the Ottoman period, is the only one to have survived in Thessaloniki. After your visit here, make your way up to Kassandrou Street where, at number 91-93, surrounded by drab apartment buildings, stands the Alaca Imaret (lit. “multi-colored hospice”), a mosque built in 1484 which is now used as a municipal cultural venue.

The face of its minaret was once decorated with colorful, lozenge-shaped stones and, on the walls of the mosque, you can still see inscriptions with quotes from the Koran. Nearby (150m) is the Church of Aghios Dimitrios, the patron saint of Thessaloniki, with its underground bathhouse (which later became a crypt) where Dimitrios was martyred and buried.

Close by, as you head towards Olimpou Street along sidewalks flanked by apartment blocks, small fashionable coffee shops and attractive arts and crafts stores, you'll come to the site of the Roman Agora (2nd c.) with its restored Odeon. Here, don’t just remain on the surface: the reconstructed Cryptoporticus, a covered passageway stretching for 138m, leads to an underground museum with exhibits covering 17 centuries of history.

© sakis gioumpasis

BlÉ

Rotunda

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Bit Bazaar

DAY 02 14:00

FOLLOW THE NOISE Leaving behind the quiet of the museum, about 300m east of the Roman Agora, you will be greeted by music from a gramophone and the characteristic smell of old wood at the Bit Bazaar, the bustling flea market operating since 1928 and still alive thanks to the efforts of the latest generation of dealers and traders. At the approximately 50 small shops, bric-a-brac hunters will find themselves in seventh heaven, although “serious” antique collectors may be disappointed.

Modiano Market

Edodimon

Grocery of Thessaloniki

DAY 02 15:00 MEZE SAFARI

Your stomach need wait no longer. Just a 10-minute walk will bring you to the Modiano Market (1925), which was recently purchased by a large real estate developer and will soon undergo a makeover. Until then, the ouzo bars and other eateries in its arcades will continue to pay tribute to the local meze culture. Table surfaces disappear under a sea of small dishes of spicy salads and spreads, mussels, tiny fish and other seafood, sausages and fritters. Everything comes together over tsipouro, ouzo and lively conversation, often accompanied by street musicians. At the Grocery of Thessaloniki (12 Komninon) you’ll find small-batch products, a wide range of sauces and jars of everything imaginable, olive oil and vinegar, salted fish and canned items. A little further along, Edodimon (26 Vasileos Irakleiou) has cheeses and cold cuts from all over Greece. Tip: Since you’re already in the area, pick up some moreish sunflower seeds at Harilaos (24 Vatikiotou) or some pumpkin seeds at Iraklis (59 Olimpou). They’ll come in handy later on.

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© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU, GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE, KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS, ALEXANDROS AVRAMIDIS, PERIKLES MERAKOS

w e l c o m e 7 2 hours

DAY 02 17:30

SEAFRONT LEISURE

Thessaloniki owes its identity to the sea. Few cities can claim to have such an exciting seafront. We suggest you start your walk from the port’s Pier A, where old warehouses have been converted into modern cultural venues, including the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, the Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography. If it’s a nice day, the area outside is great for relaxing by the sea or for sipping a coffee at Kitchen Bar, the popular all-day hangout. Strolling south along the waterfront on Nikis for about 20 minutes, you’ll come to the iconic White Tower, which hosts a multimedia exhibition on the city’s history in its museum and boasts an incredible view of the Thermaic Gulf from its viewing platform, 34m above ground level.

From here begins the most beautiful seafront stretch, the Nea Paralia (New Waterfront). Its redevelopment, completed in 2013, endowed the city with a 3.5k-long recreation zone that features themed gardens, playgrounds, wooden decks and countless places for sitting and taking in the sea view (as far as Mt Olympus) or for people-watching. Here, everyone finds an opportunity to take some time out. A selfie in front of the renowned “Umbrellas” sculpture, a work by George Zongolopoulos, is a must. The hour-long walk is made even more enjoyable by snacking on those sunflower or pumpkin seeds you bought earlier, just like the locals.

And don’t forget, you can do this route on a bicycle, too (go to thessbike.gr for information on Thessaloniki’s bike-sharing system). t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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Maitr & Margarita

Uberdooze

Mavri Thalassa

DAY 02 23:00

THESSALONIKI BY NIGHT

DAY 02 21:00 DINNER

The Nea Paralia has probably whetted your appetite for seafood. Hop into a taxi and in 10 minutes you’ll be in Kalamaria, at the city’s famous fish restaurant Mavri Thalassa (3 Nikolaou Plastira). It used to be a small coffee shop run by the present owner’s grandfather, who arrived in Kato Toumba as a refugee. It was he who brought the recipe for boiled fish in a thick lemon soup, which remains their signature dish. On the other hand, you could stay in the city center and dine at the cozy bistro Maitr & Margarita (2 Verias), where you’ll find a convivial atmosphere and exceptional value-for-money Greek cuisine based on quality ingredients sourced from small producers.

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Visiting Thessaloniki and not getting at least a taste of its nightlife is inconceivable.

So: try Thermaikos Café Bar (21 Nikis) for your first (or last) tipple in a vintage atmosphere; this is an all-time classic hangout for locals, and a real experience for visitors.

Uberdooze (Danaidon & Sfetsiou) offers loud beats from Greek and foreign DJs in a creative space which at night is transformed into a fashionable club. Dentro sto Bar (25 Vasileos Georgiou) is a good choice for live music from some of the city’s many great bands, while Duende (16 Kalapothaki) grooves to jazz, blues and soul. And, last but not least, Prigipessa (5 Filikis Eterias) is the place to pay homage to rebetiko music (what some call the Greek blues) and the legacy of the great songwriter Vassilis Tsitsanis, who wrote some of his finest pieces in Thessaloniki during the German occupation. It won’t matter that you won’t understand a word of the lyrics because you’ll still be carried away by the atmosphere: the regulars, aged 18 to 80, all sing along to plaintive numbers written a century ago, and someone is bound to get up and dance in the small spaces between the tables.

DAY 02 04:00

GOT THE MUNCHIES?

Whatever you’ve been up to, a hot, freshly baked bougatsa is the best snack before curling up in bed. Giannis (106 Mitropoleos) takes special care of night owls, adding hazelnut cocoa spread in addition to icing sugar and cinnamon. And if you wash it down with chocolate milk, then you have officially become a local.

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

© JESSICA MORFIS

w e l c o m e 7 2 hours

w e l c o m e 7 2 hours Š NICOLAS OIKONOMOU

DAY 03 11:30

BRUNCHING

There’s no need to get up early to make it in time for breakfast, since you are in the brunch capital of Greece. One of the best-known places is Estrella (48 Pavlou Mela), popular chiefly for its invention of the bougatsan, which combines the semolina custard filling of the bougatsa with the outer structure of the croissant. You will find many other brunch eateries around here (for more suggestions, see p. 146).

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Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

Museum of Byzantine Culture

DAY 03 13.30 MUSEUMS

Museum of Byzantine Culture

Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art

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© VANGELIS ZAVOS, ALEXANDROS AVRAMIDIS

Archaeological Museum of thessaloniki

Thessaloniki boasts a fascinating museum neighborhood, where centuries are only minutes apart. A convenient starting point is the award-winning Museum of Byzantine Culture (2 Stratou), housed in an architecturally impressive building designed by Kyriakos Krokos, where you’ll find all kinds of objects on display: from early Christian architectural and mosaic fragments and a stepped marble pulpit from the city’s first churches, to sculptures, pottery, farming implements, jewelry, icons and ecclesiastical prints, plates, embroidery, books and silver and gold objects. Ask for a tour (included in the admission price) and round off your visit in the lovely courtyard of the great “B”café-restaurant. Next stop, less than half a kilometer north, is the beautifully minimalist Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (6 Manoli Andronikou), where you’ll find excellent thematic displays that cover prehistoric times, ancient daily life, the rise of cities, religious worship and funerary customs. Mosaics, sculptures, golden artifacts and the seemingly solid gold Derveni Vase are just some of the highlights. For your contemporary art fix, the collections of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (154 Egnatia) contain more than 1,800 paintings, sculptures and works of video art

by Greek and foreign artists. At present, the museum is one of the main venues for the 6th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art.

Trigonio Tower

DAY 03 15:30 ANO POLI

For a perfect ending to your Thessaloniki city break, we saved arguably the loveliest, most authentic part of the city. Ano Poli (Upper Town) is a maze of small squares and stone-paved alleys lined with brightly painted houses. Also known as the Old Town, this district hosts two excellent choices for lunch. Established in 1914, Taverna Igglis (32 Irodotou) is one of the city’s oldest tavernas serving authentic Greek cuisine that also tickles the taste buds of tourists. Radikal (61 Stergiou Polidorou), on the other hand, epitomizes the fresh approach to Thessaloniki’s restaurant scene, from its renovated jewel of a building to its creative mix-and-match cuisine.

Before leaving Ano Poli, don’t forget to make a stop at the Trigonio Tower to take the most amazing panoramic photos of the city.

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© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU

EXTRA DAY AXIOS TOUR If you have a bit more time, why not check out the amazing wildlife and beautiful scenery to be found along the Axios River?

W E L C OM E T I P S

Ask the Locals

Coffee spots, favorite stops and where to go to when it’s wet.

1

2

My favorite café

Where to go on a rainy day

ANASTASIOS DIOLANTZIS

For a leisurely morning coffee, I go to Frankie in the Rogoti Arcade.

The brew is great, and so is the atmosphere.

www.reworks.gr

4 Rogoti

Music Director and Founder of Reworks International Music Festival

B Y al e x a n d r a t z av e lla

I put my raincoat on, grab a cup of coffee to go from the Blue Cup, and head to the seafront.

8 Salaminos

VASILIKI KARTSIAKLI

Archaeologist, certified tourist guide and co-founder of the alternative tour company dot2dot www.dot2dot.gr

VANGELIS SOULITSIOTIS

Founder of Uberdooze, creative space & dance club facebook.com/ubr12/

In Aristotelous Square, you’ll find Palermo, a café with décor and music inspired by the Belle Époque.

8 Aristotelous Square

2 Stratou

Tabya is a multi-purpose space in a restored building that dates from 1912; You can get a coffee or drink, see art, read a book or buy records.

14 Melenikou

zoi tsokanou

Conductor and artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra

I head to the café at the Museum of Photography for its great views over the harbor.

Warehouse A, Port of Thessaloniki

www.tsso.gr

ACHILLEAS PLAKIDAS

Owner/bartender, The Bar Testament www.thebartestament.com

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A walk through the 11 rooms of the Museum of Byzantine Culture is a little like time-traveling. The museum’s low-key café restaurant B is also a must.

A rainy day is an opportunity to catch a movie at Ciné Vakoura (8 Ioannou Michail).

Afterwards, I stop at Café Theatro (2A Vasileos Georgiou), above the Royal Theater, for wine with a view.

Zogia Café offers more than 200 different teas and a rich library for laidback rainy-day reading.

54 Alexandrou Svolou

I like the French-style café Mon Frère which, in the mornings, always smells of freshly-made pancakes and coffee. 6 Karolou Dil

I take my laptop to Mahalo Civilized Food, where I order what they call “Grandma’s Basket,” a whole collection of treats.

5 Verias

© ILLUSTRATION: PHILLIPOS AVRAMIDES

3

4

5

My guilty pleasure

A good shopping tip

A hidden gem

The best biftekia (Greek-style burgers) in town are from Takis’ grill-house, on the west side of town.

33 Koletti

Don’t leave town without tasting Yiannis’ scrumptious bougatsa!

106 Mitropoleos

End the night with a visit to Laikon, in the Ladadika neighborhood. As you stand in line for your food, the words you’ll hear again and again are “pancetta” and “kebab.”

The city’s record shops are well stocked and up-to-date, and their staff all know their stuff. My favorites are Stereodisk (4 Aristotelous Square), Lotus (7-9 Skra) and Playground (27 Nikiforou Foka).

The piers at the far end of the port form part of the best industrial area of Thessaloniki, right on the sea.

2 Concept Store is a real gem in the center of town. It hosts a café and a shop that sells vintage restored and/or updated furniture.

From the small Church of John the Baptist next to the Aghia Sofia Church, you can access a system of underground chambers once used as Roman baths and later as Christian catacombs.

2 Rempelou

On days when the street markets or flea markets are closed, I like to spend ages browsing through the home design objects at 2nd FlooR.

24 Politechniou

50 Proxenou Koromila

There’s sinfully delicious seafood available at the tavernas along the seafront in Aretsou, Epanomi and Nea Michaniona.

A visit to the Modiano and Kapani markets will give you a real taste of old Thessaloniki, while a stop at From Thessaloniki (21 Gounari) is ideal if you’re looking for a memorable handcrafted souvenir.

My treat to myself is either an authentic profiterol from Choureal (7 Paleon Patron Germanou) or a big scoop of homemade Madagascar vanilla ice cream from Vanilla Gelateria (129 Mitropoleos).

I always go by Mots, a small jewelry shop with minimalist geometric items created by Maria evangelogianni.

4 Verias

39 Pavlou Mela

There’s a hidden park known as the Kipoi tou Pasa, the Gardens of the Pasha, with pines and some unusual buildings in Ano Poli. The architect responsible for the structures, whose bold designs are reminiscent of Gaudí, remains unknown.

Wander through the alleys and past the half-concealed historical churches of Ano Poli before stopping at Tsinari for ouzo and meze.

72 Alexandras Papadopoulou

Verias Street is always full of surprises. From antique shops to restaurants to little art galleries and places like Electronio, which makes handcrafted electric bicycles, this street has everything.

Make sure you stop in for a cocktail at Gorilla Bar.

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W E L C OM E a g e n d a

A PACKED SEASON

The city’s art scene tackles history, religion, homeland, nutcrackers, Russians and more.

B Y X E N I A G E O R G I A D O U & di m i t ri s a t h ina k i s

IMAGINED HOMES To 14.01.2018 Wearing 3D glasses, I explore an imaginary, middle-class apartment of Greece in the 1970s and suddenly hear a ... horse. “Where is it?” I ask a volunteer at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki. “Turn to your right,” she replies.

I look from the virtual apartment into the virtual square and I see the horse galloping.

This particular video installation by local artist Babis Venetopoulos is just one of scores of works by more than 100 artists from all over the world that are on exhibit in Thessaloniki until mid-January. The Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art is once again placing the city on the map of international cultural destinations. This edition, the 6th, is titled “Imagined Homes” and features sculpture, installations, painting, photography and video art addressing the notion of “homeland” today, not only in terms of the urgency of the refugee crisis but also with an emphasis on the concept of “home” in its multiple manifestations: as a memory, an expectation, a dream.

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Centered around four main venues – the State Museum of Contemporary Art, the Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and the Mount Athos Center – the visual arts scene is further served by a parallel program at all of the city’s museums, and accompanied by a Performance Festival as well. The exhibition at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art has an added emotional value, for here works of the Thessaloniki Biennale converse with a selection of works from the cancelled 5th Canakkale Biennial, from the museum’s own permanent collection and from the “Shared Sacred Sites” exhibition. Perhaps the most intriguing exhibition, however, is at the State Museum of Contemporary Art, where works from the biennale share space with the piece “Siluetas de Alma” by Cuban-American performance artist Ana Mendieta (1948-1985), and, of course, with the – unrivaled outside of Russia – Costakis Collection of works by important artists of the Russian avant-garde, including Kazimir Malevich, Lyubov Popova, Gustav Klutsis and Ivan Kliun.

• www.thessalonikibiennale.gr

FIGURINES@ATMH

©MVN CONSULTANTS

NUTCRACKER@THESSALONIKI CONCERT HALL

© 2017 ePHORATE OF ANTIQUITIES OF KOZANI

W E L C OM E a g e n d a

TEMPLON@MUSEUM OF BYZANTINE CULTURE

THE REBIRTH OF A CITY

• “The End of Our Old City: Thessaloniki, 1870-1917.”

National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Villa Kapandji, 108 Vasilissis Olgas, www.miet.gr

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MATTERS OF FAITH

© COLLECTION OF VORRES MUSEUM

15.11.2017 - 18.02.2018 From the demolition of its coastal wall in 1870 to the aftermath of the devastating fire in 1917 which resulted in the city’s rebirth, Thessaloniki underwent a momentous change – from the Ottoman period to modern Greece and from traditional wooden structures to imposing mansions of reinforced concrete. The tangible evidence of this transition – rare photographs, original urban development plans and maps, postcards and aquarelles by British and French soldiers who served on the Macedonian Front during WWI – has been gathered from a large number of collections in Greece and abroad.

SHARED SACRED SITES@MMCA

MINI MASTERPIECES

To 30.04.2018 Of enormous importance in archaeological research, small figurines were ubiquitous in the ancient Greek world: amulets, toys, decorative and sacred objects, and zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures have been found in

sanctuaries, grave sites and settlements. This exhibition of 672 figurines sheds light on their evolution, their significance and the “messages” they carry from the depths of time.

“Figurines. A Microcosmos of Clay.” Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, 6 Manoli Andronikou, www.amth.gr •

To 31.12.2017 The existence of shared sacred sites is not uncommon in the Mediterranean, which reveals the permeability of the frontiers between religious communities. Despite theological differences, Christians, Jews and Muslims share many common features in terms of beliefs, rites, holy figures and locations. Thessaloniki is ideally placed to tell the story of “shared sacred sites,” both in view of the fact that the three major monotheistic religions have all flourished here, and because the city today finds itself once again at the crossroads of migration. This exhibition, split between three venues, reveals both historical and contemporary aspects of “sharing the sacred” through archival materials, photographs, films and contemporary art.

•

“Shared Sacred Sites in the

© ©ARCHIVE OF ALEKA GEROLYMBOU- CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE

© COURTESY THE ESTATE OF ANA MENDIETA COLLECTION, LLC AND GALERIE LELONG & CO., NEW YORK

W E L C OM E a g e n d a

ANA MENDIETA@STATE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

THE END OF OUR OLD CITY@MIET

Balkans and the Mediterranean.” Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, 154 Egnatia (www.mmca.org.gr); Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Warehouse A, Pier A, 3 Navarchou Votsi (www. thmphoto.gr); Yeni Mosque, 30 Archeologikou Mousiou

the most popular works of the classical repertoire. In this production at Thessaloniki Concert Hall by the Guangzhou Ballet, one of the foremost classical ballet companies in China, the Christmas fairytale will be retold on stage in strikingly vivid colors.

27.10.2017 - 28.02.2018 GATES OF FAITH

In Orthodox churches, the iconostasis or templon marks the boundary between the holy sanctuary and the nave, symbolically serving as an “interface” between two realms, the human and the heavenly.

Masterpieces of wood carving and religious painting, meticulously crafted over months or even years, have been brought together from private collections, museums, churches and 48

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monasteries in an exhibition that traces the evolution of the templon from the 19th century to the present.

• “Templon: Sacred figures, invisible gates of faith, 20th and 21st centuries.” Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki: 2 Stratou, www. mbp.gr

14.12 - 17.12.2017

CHRISTMAS classic

“The Nutcracker” ballet was first performed at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg in December 1892. Based on the dark fairytale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, the premiere was not well received. The score by Tchaikovsky was praised, but the choreographers and dancers were roundly criticized. Today, it is among

• Thessaloniki Concert Hall, 25th Martiou & Paralia, www.tch.gr

To 14.01.2018

PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

A small pool of blood has formed on the pavement.

Right next to it, hidden inside a car, the young video artist Ana Mendieta is filming the reactions of passersby to the sight of the blood. This is the 1973 “Moffitt Building Piece,” one of the first films by this Cuban-American artist,

made as a form of protest against the rape and murder of fellow student Sarah Ann Ottens. Mendieta’s multifaceted work – performance, video art, sculpture, photography, painting – explores issues relating to identity, space, violence and female sexuality and claims a prominent place in the feminist history of art.

This tribute to her work, within the framework of the Thessaloniki Performance Festival, features photographs and videos from an artistic career cut short by Mendieta’s own death, in controversial circumstances, in 1985.

• “Ana Mendieta: Siluetas de Alma.” State Museum of Contemporary Art, 21 Kolokotroni, Moni Lazariston, Stavroupoli, www.thessalonikibiennale.gr

discover THE SSALONIKI

A MOSAIC MADE OF TIME

Vibrantly relevant throughout the centuries, Thessaloniki proudly displays its rich heritage of empires, religions and cultures.

Church of the Acheiropoietos, mosaic details. From the book Mosaics of Thessaloniki: 4th-14th century (2012, www.kaponeditions.gr).

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Mosaic depicting a deer hunt, from the House of the Abduction of Helen (325-300 BC).

D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

GAME OF THRONES 50

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© FRANK & HELEN SCHREIDER/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE

Descended from legendary Perdiccas, an adventuring Argive prince who spearheaded a new dynasty in northern Greece, the ancient Macedonian juggernaut, under Alexander, drove Greek culture deep into Asia.

BY JOHN LEONA R D

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D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

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orthern Greece, dominated in ancient times by the powerful kingdom of Macedonia, especially under the rule of the Argaead dynasty (ca. 700-305 BC), is an historically and culturally rich region that for over 2,000 years has been a source of pride, discussion and controversy. Who were the ancient Macedonians? Despite occasional contemporary claims that they were not Greeks, the literary and archaeological evidence is definitive.

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In the 5th c. BC, Herodotus, the “father of anthropology,” had already recorded an oral tradition from Macedonian sources concerning their history and lineage. He writes that Perdiccas I departed the Greek city of Argos (late 8th c. BC), entered Illyria and then Paeonia, but was not allowed to remain. He therefore returned south to settle in “the Gardens of Midas” in the shadow of Mt Vermion, where he founded his royal seat at Aigai (Vergina). The Macedonians’ de-

scent from the Argive Temenids is similarly mentioned by Thucydides and Aeschylus later in the 5th c. BC, at a time when no great contact existed yet between Macedonia and Athens.

Herodotus also records an early dispute over the Macedonians’ origins, when Alexander I attempted to participate in the Olympic Games in 504 or 500 BC. His fellow competitors complained to the judges that he was not Greek, but after a pause to consider his claim of Ar-

give ancestry, they confirmed his Greek ethnicity and allowed him to participate.

A lead curse tablet unearthed at Pella in 1986 shows that, by at least the mid-4th c. BC, the Macedonians were speaking and writing in a distinct northwestern dialect of Doric Greek.

With the rise of Archelaus I (who ruled 413-399 BC) and most notably Philip II (who ruled 359-336 BC), Macedonian authority and cultural interconnections expanded to the east, west and north.

Archelaus also began importing great artists from the Greek south, including Euripides, while Philip made Attic Greek the official language of his court and brought in Aristotle to provide his son Alexander III with a proper Greek education.

This was the world in which Alexander the Great grew up and came to rule (336-323 BC). He inherited an empire that stretched from his mother’s native Epirus to the mineral-rich mountains of

Thrace, and from Paeonia to the southern borderlands around Mt Olympus. During his extraordinary Asian Campaign, he vastly expanded these imperial holdings, setting the stage for a posthumous, unparalleled zenith in Greek culture and influence. With the arrival of the Romans (mid-2nd c. BC), a new power took over the Greek East. Macedonia became a crucial link in Rome’s network of imperial control and in the westward spread of Christianity.

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Museum of the Royal Tombs of Vergina: A teacher shows her students the museum’s photo of the fresco portraying The Rape of Persephone, in which Pluto carries the goddess off to Hades.

D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

KEY

PLAYERS Through the centuries, a colorful band of characters – kings, commanders, philosophers and plotters – has ensured that ancient Macedonia retains its place in the forefront of Greek history.

BY JOHN LEONA R D

Alexander the Great

Alexander III (ruled 336-323 BC) took Macedonia and the Greek world in general to stunning new heights. As a youth, Alexander displayed bravery, cunning and ambition, impressing his father and other elders. Assiduously trained in warfare at Pella and tutored by Aristotle at nearby Mieza, he went on to marshal all of Greece; lead his army deep into Asia, winning battle after battle; spread Greek learning, language and culture throughout the known East; and promoted a progressive commingling of cultures that ultimately may have contributed to his army’s disintegration. Alexander’s good looks, military prowess and zest for life made him a true, timeless “superhero.”

(Bust of Alexander the Great as the Sun God. Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, 3rd-2nd c. BC).

ALEXANDER THE GREAT Read all about the greatest star in Macedonia’s constellation of important figures.

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Aristotle

The son of a doctor from Stageira in eastern Chalkidiki who had previously served the Macedonian royal court, Aristotle himself was tapped by Philip II to tutor Alexander and the sons of other nobles. A great thinker who is now considered the Western world’s “first scientist,” Aristotle educated his pupils in subjects including Homeric literature, morals, religion, logic, art, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric and medicine. His own studies and writings cover all of these areas and more. Trained under Plato in Athens, he later founded his own school of philosophy, the Lyceum, where he reportedly instructed his students while strolling around its courtyard. (Marble head of Aristotle 1st-2nd c.

AD, Musée Du Louvre, Paris).

Philip II

The reign of Philip II (359-336 BC) was marked by further expansion of the Macedonian kingdom. An ambitious, battle-hardened military man with the scars to prove it, Philip suppressed numerous threats from neighboring regions, consolidated his empire and sought to gain control further to the south, invading Thessaly and imposing his power on Delphi and Olympia. At Pella, he was married multiple times and fathered Alexander III (“the Great”) – upon whose character and later achievements he seems to have had a profound effect. He was finally assassinated by a disgruntled male lover at Aigai, where he was subsequently entombed within the Great Tumulus. (Head of Philip II, carved in ivory, from his tomb, Museum of the Royal Tombs at Aigai-Vergina).

The fourth and most famous wife of Philip II was Olympias (AKA Polyxena or Myrtale). The name of “Olympias” was, in fact, commemorative and given to her after her husband’s racehorse won the “keles” event at Olympia in 356 BC. Originally a Molossian princess from Epirus, Olympias was a wild, ambitious character who handled snakes and fiercely guarded her son Alexander’s prospects for ascendancy to the throne. Olympias, who reputedly conceived Alexander following a visit from Zeus disguised as a serpent, ruthlessly eliminated her son’s rivals and even masterminded her husband’s assassination. True or not, her legend lives on. (Olympias depicted on a gold pendant of the Roman era, Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum).

Cassander

A distant relative of Alexander, Cassander was one of the prince’s “classmates” under Aristotle. He was also the son of Antipater, a regent of Macedonia (321-319 BC) following Alexander’s death. Cassander, too, became regent (317-297 BC) and, like his father, ruthlessly schemed for this supreme authority – cold-bloodedly eliminating his key rivals, including most of Alexander’s closest kin: his mother Olympias, his widow Roxana, and his son Alexander IV, as well as the latter’s half-brother Heracles. Cassander wed Thessalonike, Alexander’s half-sister, after whom he named the newly founded city of Thessaloniki (ca. 315 BC). In attempting to reverse Alexander’s imperial actions and further suppress his memory, he also re-established Thebes.

Galerius

Although a dark figure in the history of Macedonia, the Roman emperor Galerius (ruled AD 305-311) left behind various legacies that are today sources of cultural pride and religious reverence for Greeks.

In choosing Thessaloniki as a base, Galerius beautified the city with major constructions, including an elaborate palace equipped with relief-sculpted archways, a marble-veneered octagonal reception hall, a hippodrome and a massive Pantheon-like temple (the Rotunda). Nevertheless, as an antiChristian, he also persecuted a young noble named Dimitrios (ca. AD 306).

This martyred, posthumously muchvenerated promoter of Christianity drew many pilgrims to Thessaloniki and became the city’s patron saint. (Gold medal, ca. AD 310)

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© GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE, VISUALHELLAS.GR

Olympias

Fyrom

Prespa Lake

Pella

Florina Albania Kastoria Lake

Lefkadia (Mieza)

Vergina (ancient Aigai)

Dion

Via Egnatia

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Strymonas River

© VISUALHELLAS.GR, SHUTTERSTOCK

Bulgaria

Philippi

Amphipolis Thessaloniki D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

SITES & SIGHTS From the nation’s second city to the museums and the archaeological splendor of Vergina, Pella, Dion and Philippi, northern Greece offers a rich panorama of fascinating historical destinations.

B y J ohn L eonard

Please note:

Winter hours apply from November 1st to March 31st.

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INFO A 3-day combined ticket for five major museums and sites of Thessaloniki (Archaeological Museum, Museum of Byzantine Culture, White Tower, Roman Agora, Galerius Palace Complex) costs €15 (€8 in winter). For more information on the city’s landmarks, turn to page 84.

The Arch of Galerius (Kamara) illuminated in the foreground and the Rotunda in the distance, both once part of the Roman imperial palace in Thessaloniki (4th c. AD).

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THESSALONIKI archaeological traces of the main marketplace (agora) and Galerius’ once-lavish palace, while Byzantine and Ottoman times are recalled in the city’s towers and defensive walls, domed mosques and public baths, as well as in the splendidly decorated churches and narrow, twisting lanes of Ano Poli (the Upper Town).

At the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (AMTH) and the Museum of Byzantine Culture, visitors will find excellent thematic displays that cover prehistoric times, ancient daily life, the rise of cities and imperial dynasties, religious worship and funerary customs. Mosaics, sculptures, gold artifacts, elegant icons and decorative elements from Early Christian churches are just some of the highlights. Reminders of Thessaloniki’s once-thriving Jewish community are preserved among Roman-era sarcophagi outside AMTH, at the Jewish Museum and at key spots around town.

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

These days, the “jewel in the Macedonian crown” is Thessaloniki, originally a Hellenistic city founded by Cassander some 2,300 years ago. It was the third capital to be established, after Aigai and Pella, as the ancient Macedonians continued to seek ever-better access to the sea – an important highway for naval, commercial and civilian transport.

Strategically located on the coast and astride a major east-west land route, Thessaloniki was coveted and/or conquered by the Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Ottomans, Bulgarians and Greeks. Periods of both great success and repeated hardship mark the long history of this port city, which was finally annexed by Greece in 1913.

Today, historic monuments, museums and inscribed memorials shed intriguing and sometimes disturbing light on Thessaloniki’s rich, multi-ethnic past. Roman life and imperial rule are brought to mind by the

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D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

LEFKADIA, MIEZA

Interior of the Macedonian Judgment Tomb or the Great Tomb of Lefkadia, 4th c. BC

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In the area of Lefkadia and Kopanos are four fine examples of aristocratic, “Macedonian-type” chamber tombs. These multi-roomed, subterranean family crypts, accessed by ramps, were constructed of limestone blocks with barrel-vaulted roofs. Their stucco facades and colorful frescos are distinguished by an eclectic style assembled from various Classical elements, designed as a tribute to Greek domestic and temple architecture, mythology and history.

The two-storied Tomb of the Judgment (325-300 BC) had four Doric half-columns flanking its entrance, with metopes depicting the Centauromachy. Painted between the columns was the deceased Macedonian noble’s decent to Hades, escorted by Hermes and overseen by two judges. Above, there was an Ionic frieze showing Greeks/Macedonians fighting barbarians/Persians, six Ionic half-columns and a triangular pediment.

The Tomb of the Palmettes (300-250 BC) featured an Ionic façade with a polychrome entablature and pediment, and large palmette antefixes adorning the roof. The antechamber’s ceiling was frescoed with more palmettes, water lilies and twisting tendrils, perhaps an allusion to the underworld landscape of Lake Acheron.

The contemporary Kinch Tomb contained a fresco of a Macedonian knight spearing a Persian soldier, while the interior of the Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles (200-150 BC) was painted with fourteen seemingly 3-D Ionic piers, draped garlands, armor panoplies and Macedonian shields, all in green, red, blue, brown and black.

At nearby Mieza, the so-called School of Aristotle (Nymphaion) occupied a cave complex beside a shady river, augmented with a pi-shaped Ionic stoa. Philip sent Alexander here to be tutored by Aristotle, beginning about 343 BC.

INFO

90k from Thessaloniki • Lefkadia, Naoussa • Tel. (+30) 2332.041.121 • Open daily 10:00-18:00, Fri by appointment only (in winter, all visits by appointment only).

• Admission is free.

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D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

AIGAI (VERGINA) A unique cultural monument not to be missed is the archaeological site and museum at Aigai (Vergina), the original Macedonian capital. Aigai’s small theater was already notorious in antiquity as the scene of King Philip II’s shocking assassination in 336 BC by his resentful ex-lover Pausanias. Although this was an ignoble end for a great king and highly successful military commander, Philip’s “fast” lifestyle, overweening arrogance and abrupt fall at Aigai opened the way for his soon-to-be “Great” scion, Alexander III. Aigai also served as a royal burial ground, where the largest tumulus, excavated by Manolis Andronikos in 1977, was purportedly found to contain the lavishly interred remains of Philip II. Specialists agree this mound, now restored above one of Greece’s most impressive museums, was the final resting place of

Philip and of Alexander the Great’s son, Alexander IV; however, as with all archaeological narratives when analyses are completed and further data become available, Philip’s story today is taking on fresh complexity. As scholars continue debating, they leave us with intriguing questions. Was Philip buried in Tomb II or next door in Tomb I? If Philip is not in Tomb II, is it possible that its occupant was his son, Philip III Arrhidaeus? Was the ambitious Cassander behind the elaborate burials of Tomb II, perhaps even including Alexander’s personal armor to signify a definitive end to the Argaead dynasty and the launch of his own Antipatrids? However the mystery may ultimately be resolved, Vergina’s extraordinary museum captures all the dramatic essence of what it meant to be an ancient Macedonian.

The elegant Doric-style façade of Tomb II at Aigai (Vergina), traditionally attributed to Philip II, with its fresco of a royal hunting scene (4th c. BC).

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The golden larnax, containing the cremated remains of perhaps Philip II, from Tomb II at Vergina (Museum of the Royal Tombs at Aigai).

INFO

70k from Thessaloniki, 8k southeast of Veria • Aigai, Imathia • Tel. (+30) 2331.092.347 Open Mon 12:00-20:00, Tue-Sun 8:00-20:00 (winter hours Tue-Sun 9:00-17:00).

• Admission for the archaeological site & museum €12 (€6 in winter) • Combined admission: €14 (valid for three days and includes entry to: Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai, the Archaeological Museum of Veria and the Byzantine Museum of Veria). • www.aigai.gr

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The sanctuary of Isis Lochias at Dion.

The narrow corridor leading to the sanctuary’s entrance was filled with water and symbolically represented the Nile River in Egypt.

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D IS C O V E R H I S T O R Y

DION In Macedonia’s well-watered southern borderlands, at the foot of Mt Olympus, lies Dion, a place of great religious reverence and cultural importance, said to be the birthplace of Zeus’ son Macedon.

Shrines were established here, dedicated to Zeus and the Muses, as well as to Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus and Isis.

Philip II and Alexander the Great often frequented Dion which, in military terms, was essentially a frontier fortress surrounded by thick walls and heavily garrisoned

by Macedonian troops. Philip selected Dion as the site for his own Macedonian athletic games, like those at Olympia, dedicated to Zeus. Dramatic contests, also held during this nine-day festival, likely included performances of Euripides’ Archelaos and the Bacchae, which the playwright wrote while in residence at Pella. Alexander, too, favored Dion; it was

here that he mustered his troops and staged extravagant celebrations before departing for Asia in 334 BC. Later, he erected proud memorials at Dion for his fallen comrades.

With the Romans’ seizure of Dion in 169 BC, and their decisive defeat of the Macedonians at Pydna the following year, the town became a colony under the auspices of Octavius (later Augustus). It was highly regarded for its stone-paved streets, ornate public baths, theater, music hall, basilicas and wealthy private residences, exemplified by the so-called Villa of Dionysus. Today, Dion represents a pleasant archaeological park beside the Vaphyras River, with tree-lined paths interconnecting its occasionally flooded sanctuaries. Its museum is filled with exquisite statuary and other traces of the fine life once lived within its walls.

INFO

89k from Thessaloniki • Dion Archaeological Park, Pieria • Tel. (+30) 2351.053.484 • Open daily 8:00-18:00 (winter hours 8:00-15:00) • Archaeological Museum of Dion • Tel. (+30) 2351.053.206 • Open daily 8:00-20:00 (winter hours Tue-Sun 8:30-15:00) • Admission: €8 (€4 in winter) • www.ancientdion.org

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PELLA

© DEAGOSTINI/GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE

At Pella, looks can be deceiving! What now appears as a remote ruin amid an agriculturally rich plain was once a bustling major seaport and new royal seat for Macedonia, founded in the late 5th c. BC. Here was where Philip II masterminded the expansion of his kingdom, where Alexander the Great was born and raised, and where, after Alexander’s death, Cassander ruthlessly plotted to eliminate the remaining Argaeads, confirming his grip on Macedonian power. Pella was a prosperous city – at its height the largest in Macedonia. The remains of its palace, large agora, grid-planned avenues and affluent houses with colonnaded courtyards can still be seen today.

A visit to Pella means also walking in the footsteps of Alexander’s closest companion Hephaestion, his ill-fated officer Cleitus the Black and his teacher Aristotle. Other visitors were renowned writers, artists and thinkers, including the playwright Euripides; the historian Hieronymus of Cardia; the master painter Zeuxis; the poets Agathon, Timotheus and Aratus; and the Stoic philosopher Persaeus of Citium, who came in place of Zeno. Pella attracted top mosaicists, who oversaw a far-reaching development from geometrically designed pebble floors to finely tessellated scenes like painted canvases; among the themes are stag or lion hunts and Dionysus riding on a cheetah.

In the 1st c. BC, Pella underwent major changes. It suffered a damaging earthquake, became a Roman colony, and eventually slipped into decline, perhaps largely due to the silting-in of its port. Today, Pella is one of Macedonia’s most active, promising archaeological sites, with a new, state-of-theart museum that thematically presents the life of this fascinating city.

INFO

46k from Thessaloniki • 35th kilometer of the Old National Road, Thessaloniki - Edessa, Pella • Tel. (+30) 2382.031.160 • Archaeological park open daily 08:00-18:00 (winter hours 9:00-15:00). Museum open daily 08:00-20:00 (winter hours 9:00-15:00) • Admission: €8 (€4 in winter) • www.pella-museum.gr

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Relief showing the scene of the outdoor libation, 330315 BC, fragment of a votive stele in marble dedicated to Hephaestion from Pella (Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki).

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The two headless sphinxes above the entrance to the Kasta Hill Tomb.

(Below) The marble head of the east Sphinx, a sculpture of exquisite craftsmanship unearthed in the third chamber of the tomb.

DISCOVER HISTORY

© GREEK CULTURE MINISTRY

AMPHIPOLIS At the top of the Aegean stands Amphipolis, another important, heavily fortified military base used by Alexander the Great for mustering his Asia-bound troops.

Strategically located at the nexus of nine traditional land routes, the original settlement of “Ennea Hodoi” came to be hotly contested among the local Thracians, Athenians, Spartans and Macedonians during the 5th c. BC. The Athenians, trying to establish a colony here in 465 BC, lost as many as 10,000 settlers, killed by neighboring tribesmen. They tried again, more successfully, in 437 BC – only to be attacked thirteen years later by the Spartans, whose leader Brasidas fell in battle and was later given a hero’s burial by the inhabitants.

The Macedonians, under Philip II, seized the port town in 358 BC, developing it as a stepping stone to the mineral riches of Thrace and the Asian frontier. Following Alexander’s death (323 BC), Cassander ordered Queen Roxana and her young son Alexander IV held prisoner in the fortress, where they were eventually poisoned. Amphipolis later served as the capital of Roman Macedonia, while in the 5th and 6th c. AD it became a flourishing Early Christian community, with five churches and a bishop’s palace.

Recent excavations on Kasta Hill, by the 28th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, have revealed a Macedonian-style tomb (late 4th c. BC) encircled by an enormous wall (158m diam.) of white Thasian marble. Who – among the five burials (newborn - 60+ years) discovered in the tomb – was the main occupant? Mystery prevails for the moment…

INFO 98k from Thessaloniki, Amphipolis, Serres • Tel. (+30) 2322.032.474 • •

Open daily 8:00-18:00 (winter hours Tue-Sun 8:00-15:00) Admission for archaeological site & museum €6 (€3 in winter).

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PHILIPPI Philippi, like Amphipolis, lay beside the Via Egnatia, the major east-west Roman highway, along which flowed a steady human tide of troops, officials, merchants and common travelers. Macedonia and Thrace were a key link in the long journey between Rome and Byzantium/Constantinople. Philippi, established ca. 360 BC as “Krenides” by colonists from Thasos, was taken over by Philip II only four years later and renamed. Philip wished to control not only the highway but the newly discovered gold mines at nearby Asyla as well, which he exploited to great economic advantage.

Under the Romans, Philippi became the scene, in 42 BC, of an historic showdown between Julius Caesar’s assassins and his avenging heirs, Marc Antony and Octavian (Augustus). After winning the battle,

the latter set about transforming Philippi into an affluent veterans’ colony that capitalized on its strategic position and rich local resources. This pagan city, in need of spiritual guidance, drew the interest of the apostle Paul, who first arrived at Philippi in AD 49/50, then returned for a second visit in AD 56/57. In the wake of his persuasive teachings, the Early Christian community of Philippi flourished, and much material wealth was directed toward the development of its religious infrastructure. Two millennia later, the site of Philippi offers an extraordinary expanse of elaborate ruins, including a fortified acropolis, large agora, a now-partly-reconstructed theater and numerous sanctuaries, churches, baths, shops, public buildings and common dwellings, as well as luxurious mosaic-floored bishops’ residences.

INFO 160k from Thessaloniki

•

Remains of early Christian Basilica (called Basilica B), 4th c.

AD, ancient city of Philippi.

• Philippi, Kavala • Tel. (+30) 2510.516.470 Open daily 08:00-17:00 (winter hours 8:00-17:00) • Admission for the archaeological site & museum €6 (€3 in winter).

DE AGOSTINI / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE/GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE

DISCOVER HISTORY

D IS C O V E R J E W I S H L E G A C Y

Whispers of Ghosts Although only a small fraction of Thessaloniki’s once-vibrant Jewish community remains, the city known in the past as “the Mother of Israel” is full of traces of this aspect of its glorious past.

by L e on Na r*

L

et me take you for a walk down Thessaloniki’s epic road, the main boulevard of the district of Exoches, which still echoes with the voices of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, a community which is gradually vanishing but whose members have left an indelible mark on the city.

No one can say for sure when the first Jews settled in Thessaloniki. They may have arrived from Alexandria, Egypt, around 140 BC. What is certain, though, is that during both the Roman era and the Byzantine period, the Jews of Thessaloniki had Greek names and had adopted the Greek language. This ancient community, which came to be known as the “Romaniotes,” differentiated itself linguistically, culturally and socially for the first time in 1492, after the mass settlement of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain.

This was at a time when Thessaloniki, along with most of Greece, was under Ottoman rule. The Sephardim introduced their own culture and customs, as well as their own language – a Judeo-Spanish tongue called “Ladino” that is still spoken today. Sultan Bayezid II welcomed them 70

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Patrons of the Allatini Jewish Orphanage pose with some of the children in March, 1936.

© ARIS GEORGIOU

D IS C O V E R J E W I S H L E G A C Y

Founded in 1925, the Monastirioton Synagogue is the oldest in the city and the sole Jewish house of worship to survive the Nazi occupation.

cordially, regarding them as an important addition to Thessaloniki’s working force; many were, after all, experienced merchants and craftsmen.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, new waves of Jews expelled from Portugal, Italy, Sicily and France, together with refugees from North Africa, all settled in Thessaloniki and, by 1553, the city had become a leading Jewish center of Europe, with around 20,000 Jewish residents. With the passing of centuries, the Jewish population continued to increase. In 1891, thousands of new refugees, victims of the pogroms in Czarist Russia, further boosted the city’s Jewish numbers. By the second decade of the 20th century, Thessaloniki Jews constituted the largest population group in the city.

Prior to Thessaloniki’s liberation from Ottoman rule in 1912, the Jews lived in 72

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harmony alongside the Ottoman Turks, Orthodox Greeks and Slavs that made up the city’s other religious and ethnic groups. At the same time, they also fostered a community of their own within the city. A major factor in the financial and intellectual well-being of that community was the establishment in 1873 of the Alliance Israelite Universelle school, which offered a harmonious combination of religious and secular education. The goal of the Alliance was, among other things, to contribute to the emancipation and the spiritual progress of all Jews around the world. This was something that they believed could only be achieved with a secular, Westernized form of education. Assimilation as a conscious, cultural choice represented a new and particularly enticing counter-proposal to their own established practices. Nonetheless, the

Sephardim of the city did not cease to be deeply traditional and to conserve those cultural elements that had kept their community united throughout the centuries.

After the Ottomans surrendered the city in 1912, things did not change dramatically for the Jewish community, despite some isolated anti-Semitic incidents that were contained after intervention by the Greek authorities. The Jews, however, had mixed feelings about the new state of things: they feared that the city’s liberation might hurt their civil and religious privileges, despite a declaration from King George of Greece that Jews (and all other minorities) were to have the same rights as the Orthodox Greek population.

Another event that marked the Jewish community of Thessaloniki was the Great

© KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS

D IS C O V E R J E W I S H L E G A C Y

A ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial Menorah, a modern monument dedicated to the memory of the 50,000 Thessaloniki Jews killed in World War II death camps.

Fire of 1917, which obliterated most of the town and left more than 50,000 Jews homeless. The fire destroyed the administrative offices of the community, the office of the Chief Rabbinate, various welfare institutions, thirty synagogues and 11 schools, including the Alliance Israelite Universelle. In the face of this catastrophe, the community nonetheless worked to provide schooling, healthcare and other services for its members.

Despite these efforts, for many Jewish victims of the fire, the only solution was emigration.

Most who left chose Paris, a decision easily explained if one considers the fact that quite a few Jews from Thessaloniki had received a French education, mostly thanks to the Alliance. The first wave of Thessaloniki Jews reached Paris in 1921; within the next six years, a total of 3,500

people had moved there. The arrival of Orthodox Greek refugees from Turkey in 1922 after the Asia Minor catastrophe and the subsequent reinforcement of the Christian character of the city forced even more Jews out of the city, and a new wave of Thessaloniki Jews decided to settle in Paris after 1927. This group probably decided to do so after some encouraging articles in Jewish newspapers expressing the view that France ensured ideal working conditions. By the early ‘30s, however, France was struggling financially and many of the Greek Jews there were considering returning to Greece.

More than 200 did eventually return, bringing with them the news of the notso-favorable living conditions they’d left behind. At the same time, many Jews felt compelled to emigrate, especially after the Campbell Riot of 1931, during which

ultra-right extremist elements burned to the ground the entire Campbell neighborhood, a largely Jewish district.

Of course, a number of Jews had left Thessaloniki for various reasons a long time before these events. Among them were the ancestors of the Dassault family (descendants of the Allatini family), who are today repeatedly referenced by the world media in connection with Air France, Dassault Aviation (a leading producer of aircraft both civil and military, spacecraft design and systems that include design, defense and ground telemetry capabilities) and, of course, the well-known French newspaper “Le Figaro,” which the family owns. Jewish families like the Allatini, the Mordoch, the Modiano, the Fernandez and the Mallah – from which the former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is descended – t h e s s alo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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Villa Modiano is home to the Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace.

The neo-renaissance building was constructed in 1906.

Jewish families like the Allatini, the Mordoch, the Modiano, the Fernandez and the Mallah – from which the former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy hails – were instrumental in the history of the city.

were instrumental in the history of the city and their names still grace streets, bus stops, villas, hospitals, factories and central arcades. It’s a blessing that some of the buildings, in particular the mansions and the headquarters of these families’ industries, remain today to remind us that, before their owners – distinguished industrialists, merchants and bankers – left the city for good, they lived here and flourished.

The occupation of Greece by Axis forces marked the beginning of the end for the remaining Thessaloniki Jews. The Germans entered the city on April 9, 1941 and, a few days later, Jews were banned from cafés, pastry shops and other public spaces. The Germans occupied the 74

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Hirsch Hospital and many Jewish homes, imprisoned the members of the Community Council and looted the Community offices and the richest Jewish libraries.

In July of 1942, orders were issued for all adult male Jews between the ages of 18 to 45 to present themselves at Eleftherias (Liberty) Square. There, after being subjected to indescribable humiliations, they were registered and taken away for forced labor. From February of 1943, Thessaloniki’s Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David and to live only in designated neighborhoods, i.e., ghettos. In March of that year, the first rail convoy departed for the extermination camp of Auschwitz/Birkenau; other convoys followed. Only a small number

Tombstones and other stone objects from the Jewish cemetery that once lay to the east of the city walls.

managed to escape deportation and enter the resistance. These fighters would return to Thessaloniki after the city’s liberation in 1944 and, together with the few concentration camp survivors, would attempt to create a new life for themselves amid the ruins.

As those who witnessed the Holocaust and survived depart from us one by one, Thessaloniki needs to make sure that it keeps the glorious history of its Jewish community alive. Our biggest problem, however, is not that we are left with no first-hand witnesses of the greatest crime ever committed against mankind; it is that the voices of those who doubt that this crime was ever committed are growing louder. On the opposite page, you will find important sites that bear compelling testimony, as long as people listen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thessaloniki-born Leon Nar is a versatile writer who also teaches Greek literature at Anatolia College. His books include Thessaloniki 1912-2012, The Future of the Past, with photos by Yorgis Yerolymbos (Kapon Editions).

1. THE Old Railway Station Old Railway Station Square, Stathmou Street, new west entrance.

2. Holocaust Memorial Eleftherias Square, Nikis & Eleftheriou Venizelou.

3. Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki 13 Aghiou Mina. Tel. (+30) 2310.250.406. Open Mon-Fri 10:00-15:00, Wed 10:00-15:00 and 17:00-20:00, Sun 10:00-14:00, Sat closed.

Admission €5 (includes entry to Monastirioton Synagogue). www.jmth.gr

4. Modiano Market 24 Ermou & Vasileos Irakleiou & Komninon.

5. Malakopis Arcade 7 Syngrou.

© ILLUSTRATION: ASIMINA MITROTHANASI

6. Monastirioton Synagogue 35 Syngrou. Open Mon-Fri 10:00-15:00, Wed 10:00-15:00 and 17:00-20:00, Sun 10:00-14:00, Sat closed. (Winter hours: by appointment only.)

7. The Old Jewish Cemetery Memorial University Campus, Observatory Park, at the central gate entrance.

8. The Hirsch Hospital (Now Ippokrateio Hospital) 49 Konstantinoupoleos.

9. Casa Bianca (Now the Municipal Art Gallery)180 Vasilissis Olgas & Themistokli Sofouli. Tel. (+30) 2313.318.538.

Open Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Thu 10:00-20:00.

Aerial view of the eastern part of the center of Thessaloniki following the Great Fire, which only partly reflects the magnitude of the disaster.

(Below) If Artistotelous Square were laid out like a street, as it appears in this 1997 panoramic photo by Yorgis Yerolymbos, its stylistic uniformity would be even more stunning.

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© THESSALONIKI – MOMENTS OF HISTORY, NATIONAL HISTORICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS 2016

The Great Fire of 1917 changed Thessaloniki forever; calamity became opportunity, as a bold new city plan was implemented

ASHES

BY A l e x a n dr a Y e roly m b o s *

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he devastation of a city is a tragic event, with painful consequences to the social and economic life of its population, to the progress of local development, to the expectations of its residents and to their daily lives.

Large-scale destruction almost inevitably unleashes reparative processes which, in other circumstances, would require different timeframes and methods. The history of cities shows that modernizing interventions and the complete redesign of the urban landscape have followed every great catastrophe.

This was also true in the case of Thessaloniki. It is, however, something of a paradox that two major events in the city’s history, namely the Great Fire of 1917 and the redevelopment of the historic center in the interwar period, were subsequently almost forgotten, perhaps because times were so difficult and events (the mass influx of refugees from Asia Minor, the German occupation, the Holocaust, civil war and emigration) so painful.

The old town and the traditional layout Up to 1869, the city was still enclosed within Byzantine walls that stretched for eight kilometers, retaining the spatial form it had acquired in the 7th century.

Inside the walls, the inhabitants lived in

separate neighborhoods according to religion and ethnic origin, in contact with each other but not integrated.

The Mediterranean climate favored outdoor collective living while, as in other towns and cities of the eastern Mediterranean, workshop and market activities developed away from the residential areas. The streets of the commercial district, full of traditional products from the East, were covered by awnings that provided protection from the sun and rain.

By bringing legislation and institutions more into line with Europe and granting equal rights to non-Muslims, Ottoman reforms had a significant impact on the form and layout of towns and cities, which attracted new urban social strata, including administrators, entrepreneurs, traders and company employees.

Within the framework of the Ottoman reforms, the face of the city began to change in 1869 with the demolition of the coastal wall and the creation of an extensive waterfront. As the city opened up, new districts were created to the west and east of the center within the walls.

According to the 1913 census, the city’s population was 157,889, comprising 61,439 Jews, 39,956 Orthodox Greeks, 45,867 Turks, 6,263 Bulgarians and 4,364 “foreigners.”

The high population density in an already aged housing stock, frequent fires, economic fluctuations and the ab-

A caravan of people with their modest belongings passing the smouldering remains of the Church of Aghios Nikolaos Tranos, the city’s largest church.

“Bitter Bread That Water Wouldn’t “It was an indescribable scene, one might say Biblical, were it not for the sewing machines and broken mirrors... thrown into the narrow alleyways...”. This was what Henry Collinson Owen said about the great blaze that consumed so much of the city; when he first saw smoke coming from the Turkish quarter during tea time, though, the British journalist wasn’t particularly alarmed – small fires were fairly common.

Ironically, the conflagration started near a square once called Horhor Su, meaning “Where Water Flows.” Not that day, though 78

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– the water had been diverted to the soldiers of the Allied armies quartered nearby. A northwesterly wind known locally as the Vardaris was blowing hard. It hadn’t rained since June.

As the fire spread, Owen noted how: “... the streets filled with wailing families, the crash of falling houses as the flames tore along, swept by the wind... a slow-moving mass of pack-donkeys, loaded carts... people carrying beds (hundreds of flock and feather beds), wardrobes...” The crowds made their way to the harbor, where soldiers helped

them to board British ships. It wasn’t, however, all chaos – newsreel footage shows fashionable women (the women of Thessaloniki have always been known for their style) strolling along the promenade against a backdrop of smoke. Hours later, the seafront was a wall of flame so intense that the fire jumped to boats docked there.

After the fire, the poorest camped illegally in the burned-out ruins. Some buildings, like the Church of Aghios Dimitrios, were not rebuilt for decades. Writer Giorgos Ioannou grew up alongside them: “The more the structure

© THESSALONIKI – MOMENTS OF HISTORY, NATIONAL HISTORICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS 2016

Wash Down” took shape again, the colder it seemed. The impression that never completely faded... was that the ruins had been more spiritually moving.” That which didn’t burn, melted – locksmith Judas Solomon, skilled at getting melted safes open again, did a brisk business.

One stroke of fortune was that it was the Jewish Sabbath, so parts of the city were relatively empty. There was not a single recorded death. It was, however, the end of life as they knew it: centuries of multicultural heritage were lost – mosques, hans, synagogues. The beer halls and

cabarets – the city has always loved a good time – were gone, too. The poignant Ladino lyrics of David Saltiel’s El Incendio de Salónica describe what life was like for the 72,000 left homeless: “Tanto povres como ricos todos semos un igual/ Ya quedimos arrastando por campos y por kishlas…. Mos dieron pan amargo ni con agua no se va…” (“Rich and poor alike, we all became one/ We were left out in the fields and barracks....

They offered us bitter bread that water wouldn’t wash down…”).

The city was united in grief. Representatives

from each of the three religious communities called for the acquittal of Paraskevoula Adam and Domna Savvoglou, popularly thought to have been frying eggplant when a spark from their stove started the fire. It could have happened to anyone. ¯ A m b e r C ha r m e i INFO Archaeologist Tassos Papadopoulos of

Thessaloniki Walking Tours shared these insights during a tour about the fire. Excerpts also taken from Salonica: City of Ghosts – Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950 by Mark Mazower (Vintage Books).

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A reconstruction of Ernest Hebrard’s 1919 plan for rebuilding Thessaloniki’s historic center, produced by Aristotle University students (under the supervision of Professor Alexandra Yerolymbos) on the basis of surviving sections of the original drawings as well as photographs.

sence of any social housing dramatically exacerbated the housing problem and the poor sanitary conditions in the city.

Slums had developed in the western districts outside the walls and in parts of the historic center. Next to the “camps” of the poor and the refugees, a number of “Europeanized” districts appeared with new types of buildings and new architectural forms.

The 1912-1922 period The incorporation of most of northern Greece into the Greek state was accompanied by extensive depopulation in towns and cities, particularly in Eastern Macedonia. Only Thessaloniki constantly received new inhabitants, resulting in a sharp increase in its population.

The Great Fire that broke out on Au80

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gust 18, 1917 marked a turning point in the history of the city, since it completely destroyed a housing stock that had been shaped over the centuries. The fire indiscriminately ravaged the stone-built new districts on the waterfront and on Aghias Sofias Street, the medieval covered markets and the sprawling, densely inhabited and labyrinthine slums that occupied the greater part of the historic center. Some 9,500 buildings went up in flames and more than 70,000 people (52,000 Jews, 11,000 Muslims and 10,000 Christians) were left homeless.

Financial institutions, businesses, administrative offices and the most important cultural and religious institutions of the ethno-religious communities and their archives (including 16 synagogues and the seat of the Chief Rabbi, 12

mosques and three churches, among them the centuries-old Church of Aghios Dimitrios) were completely destroyed.

Strangely enough, no fatalities were reported.

The fire essentially erased the “oriental” aspect of the city’s character and eliminated the traditional characteristics that had survived despite previous efforts at modernization. The plan devised for Thessaloniki by an international planning committee, under the supervision of its chairman, the French architect Ernest Hébrard, provides an interesting insight into urban planning at the time.

The city within the walls was redesigned from scratch, as if it were a blank canvas, without any of the various constraints normally imposed by time, historical events or ownership.

© Haris Giakoumis collection, from “Ernest Hebrard, 1875 – 1933, Potamos Publications, Athens, 2001

Ernest Hébrard, French architect, urban planner, and archaeologist, served as chief of the International Planning Committee for Thessaloniki.

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© “Ernest Hebrard, 1875-1933”, Potamos Publications, Athens 2001

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The International Planning Committee for Thessaloniki and other important figures at a dinner held in 1918.

The plan and the modern city Despite extremely difficult conditions, most of the Hébrard plan was implemented. It introduced wide boulevards within a hierarchical road network, brought together public services, created a civic center (around Aristotelous Square), established a rational organization of spaces for production and consumption, gave city blocks and land plots a regular shape, highlighted the wealth of monuments dating to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, preserved certain picturesque neighborhoods and set aside open spaces for squares and parks.

The plan envisaged a doubling of the population within a peripheral green zone, beyond which the city would not be allowed to expand. Separate plans were also made for the soon-to-be-founded University of Thessaloniki, for workers’ districts, and for industrial zones.

The committee also made an important contribution to the development of a new type of collective housing, the apartment building, while the notion of “horizontal property” appeared for the first time. The planners’ intention was that the population would not surpass 82

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350,000 and any numbers in excess of this figure would be housed in other towns and cities of the region.

The city acquired new port installations, networks and infrastructures; straight wide roads ready to accommodate the constantly increasing number of cars; and building regulations that mandated the use of a new material – concrete – for the erection of four-story and five-story buildings.

The rationalization of the various commercial, religious, medical and administrative functions, and the business principles on which the planning of the city was based, clearly modernized the city’s appearance, but it also resulted in the disappearance of valuable, even unique characteristics, which – however – nobody cared about at the time.

Most of the institutions – chiefly non-profit – which had traditionally existed in the historic center (such as the numerous synagogues, mosques and türbe mausoleums, post-Byzantine churches and chapels, inns, orphanages and nursing homes) were not re-established in the center, and only some were moved to the newer districts of the city.

The plan for Thessaloniki after 1917 is historically important because it intro-

The plan for thessaloniki after 1917 is important because it introduced a renewed form for the modern Greek city, one which responded to the demands of the new industrial society.

duced a renewed form for the modern Greek city, one which responded to the demands of the new industrial society and to the optimism of the technocrats who held power. Limited government resources, exceptional occurrences (the influx of refugees) and the incomplete urbanization of Greek society did not, however, allow the state to bear the cost of modernizing other towns and cities, nor for civil society to undertake relevant initiatives.

Despite the extremely adverse historical conditions that followed the first years of reconstruction, Thessaloniki – by taking advantage of disaster – did not miss the opportunity to renew itself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandra Yerolymbos is professor emeritus of architecture and urban design at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. This article is based on ideas and themes included in work published by her in 1985, 1997, 2008 and 2016 and was first published in the magazine Parallaxi.

experience T H ESSALONIKI

endless options

Timeless, graceful, fun-loving and cosmopolitan, Thessaloniki generously offers its visitors experiences to remember.

Photo: Perikles Merakos.

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THE KEYs TO the city

From its scenic waterfront to its towering hills, Thessaloniki’s center offers visitors the chance to explore Roman ruins, centuries-old churches, inspiring museums and elegant architecture old and new.

B y J oh n L eo n a r d & A M B E R C H AR M E I

1. Arch of galerius 144 Egnatia

4. CHURCH OF Aghios Dimitrios 83 Aghiou Dimitriou Tel. (+30) 2310.270.008 • Open daily 6:00-22:00 • www.inad.gr •

2. Rotunda

Aghiou Georgiou Square Tel. (+30) 2310.204.868 • Open daily 8:00-20:00 (winter hours 9:00-17:00).

• General admission: €2 (€1 in winter).

• •

3. cHURCH OF THE Acheiropoietos

56 Aghias Sofias • Tel. (+30) 2310. 227.369 • Open 7:30-13:00 & 18:30-19:30 (winter hours 7:30-13:00 & 17:3018:30).

•

7. villa kapandji

108 Vasilissis Olgas • Tel. (+30) 2310.295.170 •

•

5. Eptapirgio castle Ano Poli • Tel. (+30) 2313 310400 • Open Tue-Sun 8:30-15:00.

• Admission is free •

6. White tower

Nikis Tel. (+30) 2310.267.832 • Open daily 8:00-20:00 (winter hours 8:30-16:30).

• General admission: €4 • www.lpth.gr •

8. Aristotelous Square 9. Archaeological Museum OF THESSALONIKI

6 Manoli Andronikou Tel. (+30) 2313.310.201 • Open daily 8:00-20:00 (winter hours 9:00-16:00).

• General admission: €8 • www.amth.gr • •

• Open daily 8:00-20:00 (winter hours 9:00-16:00).

• General admission: €8 (€4 in winter) • www.mbp.gr

11. OTE Tower • •

154 Egnatia - HELEXPO Tel. (+30) 2310.256.460

12. THESSALONIKI Concert HalL

25th Martiou & Paralia Tel. (+30) 2310.895.800 • www.tch.gr • •

•

10. museum of byzantine culture • •

2 Stratou Tel. (+30) 2313.306.400

Please note that winter hours apply from 01/11 to 31/03.

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© ALEXANDROS AVRAMIDIS

The Arch of Galerius (4TH CENTURY) Now standing alone, a solitary monument of Thessaloniki’s Roman past, the Arch of Galerius (“Kamara”) once formed an integral part of the elaborate palace of the emperor Galerius (who ruled AD 297-311), erected in the late 3rd and early 4th c. AD. This relief-sculpted triumphal arch, originally consisting of a main span and two smaller flanking arches, marked the point where the Romans’ east-west highway across northern Greece, the Via Egnatia, passed directly through the emperor’s residence. Decorating the arch’s main piers are intricately carved panels with propagandistic scenes confirming Galerius’ authority, as he battles Persians, offers sacrifices and stands beside his fellow imperial tetrarchs.

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© SHUTTERSTOCK

E X P LO R E L A N D M A R K S

The Church of the Acheiropoietos (5TH CENTURY) Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Church of the Acheiropoietos was built ca. AD 450, on the site of a Roman bath. Traces of its original 5th-century mosaic decoration and of a 13thcentury fresco are still visible. The church was constructed with “Theodosian” capitals and other architectural elements crafted in a Constantinople workshop, features which indicate the close ties between Thessaloniki and the Byzantine capital. The material used is white Proconnesian marble from the Sea of Marmara. With the Ottomans’ takeover of Thessaloniki (1430), the Church of the Acheiropoietos was the first of the city’s Christian churches to be converted into a mosque. In 1922-1923, the building was used to shelter Greek refugees from Asia Minor.

(4TH CENTURY)

Long considered an original feature of Galerius’ palace, perhaps a temple, the Rotunda appears instead to have been built by Constantine the Great in AD 322-323, according to recent studies

by Greek archaeologists and art historians. This new interpretation suggests the Rotunda was designed as Constantine’s third mausoleum; its mosaics – today considered equal in splendor to those of Ravenna – depicted not saints and martyrs, but the emperor himself and his courtiers, juxtaposed with Christian motifs to symbolize the Roman imperial and Early Christian worlds coming together. Later, the Rotunda became Thessaloniki’s first Christian church (late 4th c. AD) and, eventually, an Ottoman mosque (1591).

The Church of Aghios Dimitrios The present 20th-century Church of Aghios Dimitrios (Demetrius), patron saint of Thessaloniki, hides its earliest historical secrets deep within its crypt.

Built over a Roman-era bath complex, the first church here was a small chapel (mid-320s AD) dedicated to the memory of the recently martyred Dimitrios, an early follower of Christianity, persecuted by Emperor Galerius. His body was reportedly dropped down a well in the baths, where he had clandestinely met other fellow Christians. As his fame spread, and ever more pilgrims arrived to pay their respects, the chapel was replaced by a larger church (7th c.) that survived until the city’s devastating 1917 fire.

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

The Rotunda

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Eptapirgio Castle (14TH-15TH CENTURY)

At the top of the city stand the Trigonio Tower, with panoramic Thessaloniki below, and the Eptapirgio (“Seven Towers”) Castle, also known by its old Turkish name Yenti Kule, which, despite its present-day tranquility, ranks as one of the city’s most storied and colorful monuments. Originally part of Theodosius I’s renovation (late 4th c. AD) of Thessaloniki’s Hellenistic/ Roman city walls, Eptapirgio became an enclosed castle in the 12th century; then the Ottomans’ headquarters after 1430; and finally a notorious prison (late 19th c.), often referenced in Greek Rebetiko songs, and a black hole for political prisoners. It remained in use until 1989.

© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU, SAKIS GIOUMPASIS, CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU, KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS

The White Tower (15TH-16TH CENTURY) Thessaloniki’s most iconic historical monument, the White Tower, once a prison and place of execution, was erected by the Ottoman Turks in the late 15th century. It replaced an earlier Byzantine defensive tower that stood within a small, octagonally-walled sub-fortress at the city’s southeastern corner – where the massive eastern city wall descended from the Ano Poli (Upper Town) to meet the sea. Known by various names through the centuries, including the Lion’s Tower, the Blood Tower and the Janissary Tower, the White Tower took its present designation in the late 19th century after one of its prisoners whitewashed it in exchange for his freedom.

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The Kapandji Villas (Late 19th-century)

People sometimes confuse the two Kapandji Villas – the brothers Mehmet and Ahmet, of the influential Kapandji family, each built themselves a villa, both in a bold eclectic style and both by architect Pierro Arrigoni, on Vassilisis Olgas Street. The Villa of Mehmet is the better known, because of the various roles it has played throughout the 20th century: it was home to Eleftherios Venizelos from 1914 to 1917, provided lodging for refugees from Asia Minor after that, and hosted a boys’ high school later on.

The National Bank of Greece restored it to splendor. It is now the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank (MIET), hosting fine exhibitions and free public events.

Aristotelous Square (1917) Imagine Paris and the hum of conversation from café tables, then add the pigeons from Piazza San Marco and throw in a view of Mt Olympus, and you have Aristotelous Square. Urban, cosmopolitan, and at the same time thoroughly Greek, it’s a brilliant synthesis of color and motifs reflecting the city’s Byzantine heritage, augmented with a grand succession of arcades reminiscent of the rue du Rivoli. The buildings lining the square are by various architects (Vokos, Konstantinidis, and Triantafillidis for the Electra Palace Hotel, and Jacques Mosset for the building housing the Olympion, for example) – and are diverse in detail, yet united by the common rhythm of Ernest Hébrard’s original city plan. And the square itself is just the right size – big enough for public celebrations, but not so big that you can’t spot friends across the way.

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Detail of the Derveni Krater (330-320 BC).

© ALEXANDROS AVRAMIDIS, VANGELIS ZAVOS

THE ARCHAELOGICAL MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKI (1962) To make better sense of Thessaloniki’s ancient antiquities the AMTH should not be missed. Where once there existed a rather typical exhibition of archaeological artifacts, the completion of major renovations in 2006 marked the dawn of a new era for this extraordinary museum. Today, visitors are treated to engaging, thematically arranged permanent displays and creative temporary exhibitions that cover relevant modern topics as well. The museum’s displays, through their thoughtful organization, detailed information panels, original illustrations and historic photographs, tell a story which reveals the rich history of Thessaloniki and its surrounding region, from the Prehistoric era to Late Antiquity.

An ivy crown made of gold, from the Nea Apollonia area of the regional unit of Thessaloniki (4th century BC, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki).

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MUSEUM OF BYZANTINE CULTURE (1994) Its existence decreed immediately after Thessaloniki’s annexation into the modern Greek state in 1913, and originally slated to occupy space in the 5th c. AD Church of the Acheiropoietos, the Museum of Byzantine Culture finally opened to the public in 1994 with its own building, designed by Kyriakos Krokos. Its eclectic displays are truly impressive: from Early Christian architectural and mosaic fragments and a stepped marble pulpit from the city’s first churches, to sculptures, pottery, farming implements, jewelry, icons and ecclesiastical prints, plates, embroidery, books and radiant silver and gold objects. Get a taste of everyday, military, religious and imperial life in Greece in Byzantine and later times.

Detail from a mosaic floor depicting the South Wind, personified as a young man (first half of the 5th c.).

A view of the interior of the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki.

E X P LO R E L A N D M A R K S

OTE TOWER (20TH CENTURY)

M2 CONCERT HALL (21ST CENTURY) In 2000, Thessaloniki’s already thriving cultural scene was further enriched with a new world-class venue. The Concert Hall, a landmark at the eastern edge of the waterfront promenade, hosts a range of major cultural events – ballet performances, symphonic concerts, plays and operas. Its sleek modernist sibling next door – the M2, by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki – has multiple spaces: the Amphitheatron Hall, which seats 500; the Flat Hall (adaptable for events on a more intimate scale); and a rooftop terrace that serves as an outdoor screening room in the summer. Enjoy the stunning views from the Allegro bar/restaurant on the top floor.

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© SAKIS GIOUMPASIS

The bold bright futurism of the OTE (the Greek Telecommunications Company) Tower stands out in a city of Byzantine opulence and Ottoman mystery. It also stands tall – at 76m, it’s one of the tallest structures in Greece.

In the open expanse of the grounds of the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, the tower has a strong sculptural presence, which is how architect Alexandros Anastasiadis characterized it when he designed it in the late 1960s. In the intervening decades, it has also acquired a layer of retro charm. From the slowly rotating café/bar on the fourth floor (one revolution takes about an hour), you can enjoy a full panoramic view of the city.

© KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS/SOOC

E XPLORE DOWNTOWN

Center Stage Rich in monuments and memory, the area around the Roman Agora is once again the most happening stretch of town.

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Attending a performance at the Odeon of the Roman Agora makes for a truly extraordinary evening out. t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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T

he tiled domes on the roof of the 15th-century Bey Hamam make for a strange and beautiful setting for a morning coffee – all nostalgic among the pine trees. Just on the other side of Egnatia Street, with its thick traffic, lies contemporary Thessaloniki – elegant Aristotelous Square leading to the international shopping thoroughfare of Tsimiski Street, and then on to the waterfront and its mostly modern cafés. Here though, above Egnatia, it’s another world, cosmopolitan in the truest sense. This is a neighborhood with a pedigree.

Thessaloniki’s many moods stylishly converge around the Roman Agora.

This atmospheric, architecturally complex swath of town is diverse in all senses of the word, yet decidedly low-key.

A richer slice of urban landscape would be hard to find. It’s dense with memory and with landmarks – historic, spiritual and cultural – spanning the city’s centuries. The Bey Hamam, with its rooftop café, is in the southeast corner of Dikastirion Square. From here, you can see the Roman Agora with its Odeon and Cryptoporticus, the hub of city life from the 2nd to the 4th centuries AD. Right in this area, somewhere between the Bey Hamam and the Roman Agora, stood Thessaloniki’s equivalent of the Caryatids, more commonly known by the Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, name of Las Incantadas (“the enchanted ones”). Erected in the

01

01. History comes served with coffee on the beautiful rooftop terrace of the Palio Hamam Café/Bar. 02. Stopping for a sip or two at Bord de l’eau is always a good idea, day or night.

03. The Roman Agora’s Cryptoporticus was fronted by an ancient shopping street that ran along the north side of what is today Filippou Street.

04. From tarnished silver to old vinyl, the shops on Tositsa Street deal in nostalgia.

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02

03

04

© NICOLAS OIKONOMOU, SAKIS GIOUMPASIS

Thessaloniki’s many moods stylishly converge around This atmospheric, architecturally rich swath of town.

2nd or 3rd c. AD, they were carted off to the Louvre by Emmanuel Miller (a sort of a French Lord Elgin) in 1864.

Across the park, partially sunken below street level, is the 11th-c. Church of the Panaghia Chalkeon (The Virgin of the Coppersmiths), surrounded by its rose garden.

All these places are relevant to the contemporary life of the city. Older gentlemen remember coming to the Bey Hamam for a traditional steam bath. It only closed its doors in 1968. Las Incantadas are not forgotten – the playground where they once stood is named “I Magemenes” (as they are called in Greek) in their memory. Everyone still flocks to the Roman Agora for occasional concerts and cultural events. And the Church of the Panaghia Chalkeon is named so because when the church was built this was the neighborhood of the coppersmiths (it would become the Mosque of the Coppersmiths in the Ottoman era). Today, half a block away on Kleisouras Street, you can still get a handcrafted copper briki (“pot”) for making Greek coffee, made by third-generation coppersmith Pavlos Papoutsidis. He hopes his own grandson will take over the shop one day.

At the end of Kleisouras, on Venizelou Street, stands Chatzis’ pastry shop, a local institution that has been on this street since 1908. Guardians of authenticity, they spare no effort to make their Constantinople-style syrup pastries and creams. They also serve boza – made from fermented millet, this was the first t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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soft drink of the Balkans. The present owners are themselves descendants of a bozatzis, a peddler of the refreshment who carried a stamna (a clay vessel that kept the liquid cold) strapped to his back, right here on Sabri Pasha (since renamed Eleftheriou Venizelou) Street. Boza truly is a taste from a lost world.

Eleftheriou Venizelou is one of the main streets of the neighborhood. Once crowded with street vendors, it hasn’t left its past entirely behind. Now and then you’ll find an old gentleman set up on the sidewalk with bundles of oregano and dried sage. The first kiosk on your right as you come up from Egnatia sells antiques along with the usual soft drinks and cigarettes. Sabri Pasha was a main shopping thoroughfare, widened at the initiative of the pasha, leading all the way to the waterfront from the Konak (Governor’s residence). Now the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace, this thoroughly European building was erected in 1891

by Thessaloniki’s favorite turn-of-the-century architect, Vitaliano Poselli. This was a major hub long before that, however: the Hamza Bey Mosque of 1468 (also known as the Alkazar after the cinema it housed in the mid-20th century) is at the intersection with Egnatia. The old caravanserai – an inn offering rooms for travelers and stables for their animals – was right here, too.

The neighborhood’s history and authenticity is a rich source of inspiration for its present. The Caravan Bed & Breakfast, very nearly on the site of the old caravanserai, taps into this spirit of ur-hospitality.

The inviting eclecticism of the lounge – open to all for coffee and cocktails – comes from more recent decades, comprised of the owners’ families’ furniture as well as industrial design pieces.

Up the block at 2 Concept Store, you’ll find more gorgeous examples of Greece’s 20th-century design heritage. Rediscover the definitive cool of the mid-century in beautifully restored pieces of furniture which the store-owners have rescued from oblivion and are offering for sale in their showroom, or just have a drink in 98

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Loux Café recalls the past elegance of the neighborhood.

their well-appointed café-bar. The establishment also hosts excellent exhibitions of art and design in its downstairs space.

A block down on Egnatia, at the back of an arcade in an office building, you’ll find a cool blue oasis of style at Bord de l’eau, by day a great coffee spot and by night a place where DJs spin and cocktails abound. But the main attraction is what it calls its “design factory,” where third-generation jeweler Yiannis Gounaridis crafts surreally beautiful things. His sterling rings from the “Animalism” series will certainly catch your eye.

Heading back towards the Agora leads you through one of the city’s favorite atmospheric corners, the Bit Bazaar. In a courtyard accessed from Tositsa Street

and spread out along the street itself, the paliatzidika (“junk shops”) make for nice browsing. The antique black-and-white postcards on Tositsa near the bazaar entrance are a bargain at a euro apiece. If your stroll has put you in a vintage mood and you want to dress the part, visit the Vaudeville Room, a high-ceilinged, prewar apartment filled with choice clothing, accessories and jewelry from the 1930s to the1980s, sourced from London, Budapest and now Berlin (some of the furniture here is from the guys at 2 Concept Store). Right up the street on Olimpou, you can try a strong serving of tradition at Tsarouchas. The city’s oldest patsatzidiko, it specializes in the collagen-rich elixir of patsas, tripe-and-veal trotter soup, which

© PERIKLES MERAKOS

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the authentic character of the area appeals to a younger generation, too, with new businesses that draw inspiration from its different eras.

is famous for keeping hangovers at bay.

(There are also plenty of more conventional home-style dishes for the less adventurous.) By night, this corner of the neighborhood is full of students who flock to the many small, casual places to share wine by the carafe.

These broad shaded streets are some of Thessaloniki’s loveliest. The area between Aghios Dimitrios and the ever-chic Aristotelous Square, with parks that afford open vistas all the way to the sea, once offered some of the city’s most elegant living. The neighborhood fell out of fashion in the late 20th century, but grand neoclassical and art deco façades preserve its original tone. Filippou Street, just east of the Agora, has a fine stretch of them, starting at No. 39.

The neighborhood’s authentic character appeals to a new generation on this side of the park, too, with businesses that draw inspiration from its different eras. Near the northeastern corner of the Roman Agora, the high ceilings and black-and-white interior of the Loux Café capture an early 20th-century elegance, while the nearby café/bar Frederiko is all mid-century polychrome charm. Clothing designer Eleni Chasioti’s collections of bespoke and ready-to-wear nostalgia are inspired by the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, making them right at home in the historic building housing her atel100

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Fragments of the past are used to create a contemporary aesthetic at 2 Concept Store.

ier. Her neighbors at Seikilo look back much further. “Being just steps from the Roman Agora is really inspiring,” says Theodoros Koumartzis. His family brings the sounds of the ancient world to life through beautiful and historically accurate reproductions of lyras and harps.

They also make ancient board games; you can sharpen your battle strategy with Petteia, like Achilles did.

Right next door to Seikilo is Nitra, the perfect expression of the neighborhood’s vibrant soul. A respected contemporary art gallery whose vision is firmly grounded in the present, Nitra has a deep attachment to the location’s past. Owner Pepi Christidou (with her daughter Aliki, who runs the Athens gallery) grew up in

the 1928 building where the gallery is now located. Her thoughts capture the synergy of past and present that defines the neighborhood: “This was Thessaloniki’s urban center, the heart. It used to be full of neoclassical buildings like this one. Yes, now you see some peeling paint, maybe some graffiti. But the area is also alive with creativity; it’s the most interesting place to be right now.” The authenticity and energy of the place drew the gallery back here from a busier spot on Tsimiski Street a few years ago. “This neighborhood has such significance, for us personally, and for the city and its history. We wanted to support its resurgence, to participate in the renaissance of a place so full of meaning.”

E XPLORE DOWNTOWN

Frederiko Agapi Mou

Pavlos Papoutsidis

Eleni Chasioti

TSAROUCHAS

SIGHTS (See map)

1. Konak (Aghiou Dimitriou) Originally built as the Governor’s residence by Vitaliano Poselli towards the end of the Ottoman era, this impressive structure now houses the Regional Authority of Macedonia and Thrace.

2. Bit BazaAr (Tositsa) This slightly dusty, treasure-filled square built during the 1920s is worth seeking out. Open regular store hours.

3. Church of AgHios Dimitrios (83 Aghiou Dimitriou) The Church of the city’s patron saint is a site of pilgrimage and one of Thessaloniki’s most important landmarks. Open daily 8:00-22:00. (Crypt, Tue-Thu 8:0015:00, Fri 8:00-13:30, Sat-Sun 7:30-14:30) 4. Roman Agora (Filippou & Agnostou Stratiotou) The neighborhood’s spiritual heart is a splendid archaeological site, and don’t miss its museum − the entrance is in the NW corner of the site. Tel. (+30) 2310.221.260.

Open 8:00-15:00 (winter hours 9:00-16:00, Mon closed) Admission €4.

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Vaudeville Room

5. CHURCH OF THE Panaghia Chalkeon (2 Chalkeon & Kleisouras) This 11th-century church and its rose garden are a spiritual oasis just steps from one of the city’s busiest streets.

Open Mon-Fri 7:00-12:00 & 18:30-19:30, Sat-Sun 7:00-11:00 & 18:30-19:30.

6. Bey Hamam Sometimes called the Paradise Baths, this was the first bath house built by the Ottomans in Thessaloniki.

The baths are closed, but you can visit the Palio Hamam Café (Egnatia & Mitropolitou Gennadiou).

7. Aristotelous Square Planned by Ernest Hébrard after the fire of 1917 but only realized in the 1950s, this graceful waterfront plaza is the city’s liveliest gathering spot.

Chatzis

FOOD AND DRINK

Bord de l’Eau, 45 Egnatia, Tel. (+30) 2310.541.237. Café/ bar open Mon-Sat 10:00-02:00, Sun 12:00-24:00. (NB: the Design Factory jewelry shop is open regular store hours.)

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Caravan Bed & Breakfast, 1 Rempelou & Dimarchou Vamvaka, Tel. (+30) 2313.062.780. Open daily 7:3022:00.

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• Chatzis, 50 Eleftheriou Venizelou, Tel. (+30) 2310.279.058. Open daily 8:0001:00.

Frederiko Agapi Mou, 87 Olimpou, Tel. (+30) 2310.238.532. Open daily 10:0002:00.

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Loux café, 83 Olimpou, Tel. (+30) 2314.012.381. Open daily 9:00-02:00.

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• Palio Hamam café/ bar, Egnatia & Mitropolitou Gennadiou, Tel. (+30) 2310.222.460. Open daily 9:0002:00.

Tsarouchas, 78 Olimpou, Tel. (+30) 2310.271.621. Never closes.

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SHOPPING Pavlos Papoutsidis, copper and bronze goods, 10 Kleisouras, Tel. (+30) 2310.279.073. Open regular store hours.

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• 2 Concept Store, 2 Rempelou, Tel. (+30) 2310.265.999. Open Mon-Sat 9:00-21:00.

• Eleni Chasioti, 51 Filippou, Tel. (+30) 2310.224.453. Open Mon-Fri 11:00-21:00, Sat 11:0016:00. (Good to call in advance.)

Nitra, 51 Filippou, Tel. (+30) 2310.285.890. Open Wed & Sat 11:00-15:00, Thu & Fri 11:0015:00 & 17:00-20:00. (And by appointment.)

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• Seikilo, 49 Filippou, Tel. (+30) 2311.272.803. Open Mon-Fri 11:00-17:00. (Weekends by appointment.)

• Vaudeville Room, 3 Karmpola, Tel. (+30) 2314.019.045. Open Mon-Fri 11:00-21:00, Sat 11:00-18:00.

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The panoramic view of the city from the Trigonio Tower dazzles at any time of the day.

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The City Above the City Ano Poli, an enchanting mix of stone-paved alleys, traditional houses, and impressive Byzantine and Ottoman-era monuments is Thessaloniki’s most cohesive and colorful neighborhood.

BY A M BE R C H A R M E I / p hotos: N IC OL A S OI KONOMOU

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hessaloniki’s distinctive identity derives from a few choice things. There’s rebetiko music and there’s zesty meze (appetizers), often both at the same time. There are exotic traces of the city’s Ottoman past, whispering from a jewel box of a mosque or from the forgotten tourbe (mausoleum) of a Sufi holy man at the edge of a square. Byzantium shines gloriously throughout the city, but most especially in a small church tucked away in a picturesque maze of paths and stairs.

All of this can be found in Ano Poli – Thessaloniki’s “upper town,” a district by turns quiet and lively, youthful and classic. Up here, the past weaves, ever gracefully, in and out of the present, and as it does so, it is seen, sung and tasted.

Taverna Igglis is a Thessaloniki classic, a neighborhood favorite for more than a hundred years. These days, the crowd is young. They’re eating fresh interpretations of dishes with traditional roots, seasoned with an eastern zest that is the neighborhood’s enduring heritage.

Rebetiko – a richly atmospheric musical genre with its roots in Asia Minor and a philosophy not dissimilar to the blues – is playing. Everyone knows the songs. It’s not about nostalgia. These tastes, these songs never left. In Ano Poli, the city is its most authentic, timeless self.

The views and breezes of the upper town made this a choice neighborhood, particularly among the Turkish population

01. Tsinari, with its peaceful cobblestone streets and charming tavernas, is like a traditional village right in the city.

02. The view of the city and the Thermaikos Bay is at its best from the Byzantine walls of the Upper Town.

03. Ano Poli is a great neighborhood to stay in – Vicky Tarnana, pictured here, runs the charming and friendly Little Big House with her brother Harris.

04. Even the newer buildings follow the lines and the color palette of the neighborhood’s vernacular architecture.

05. First a fortress, then a prison until late in the 20th c., the Eptapirgio Castle (Yenti Koule) is now a poignant monument, picturesque in the light of the setting sun.

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It’s pleasure enough just to wander off-piste, getting lost among the pomegranate trees... But Ano Poli rewards deeper exploration with moments of rare beauty and discovery.

of the city. High above the main town, it escaped the Great Fire of 1917 and remains the same enchanting labyrinth that it has been for centuries. The charm of Ottoman vernacular architecture – the partially timbered houses with their cantilevered upper stories – is often beautifully preserved, painted in shades of ochre, terra cotta and dusty blue. Those in ruins are just as picturesque – rich in both crumbling architectural detail and in contemporary street art adorning their walls. Older residents help preserve the neighborhood’s intimate character, chatting across narrow alleys from their respective balconies or lowering baskets by rope for their bread and newspapers.

You hear the Ottoman heritage in the names of places like the Alaca Imaret Mosque, the Koule Kafe, the Kipoi tou Pasha (The Pasha’s Gardens) and the Yenti Koule. You see it in the inscription on the Kokkini Vryssi (Red Fountain) on Akropoleos Street or in the characteristic shape of another fountain in Tsinari (a popular and charming corner that takes its name from the Turkish word for “plane tree”).

From Mark Mazower’s Salonica, City of Ghosts, we learn that the Tourbe of the Sufi mystic Musa Baba (in Terpsithea Square) remained spiritually significant after the Turks left. Christian women lit candles here, believing him to be the incarnation of St. George. His presence in the neighborhood was vivid – reports of his ghost being seen wandering about the square continued until the 1930s.

It’s pleasure enough just to wander off-piste, getting lost among the pomegranate trees and winding cobblestone alleys while taking in the neighborhood.

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But Ano Poli rewards deeper exploration with moments of rare beauty and discovery. The late 15th-century Alaca Imaret is one such secret. Down the hill to the west, just off a main street but nearly hidden among 20th-century apartment buildings, it’s one of the city’s most sumptuous Ottoman monuments.

Its nondescript exterior doesn’t prepare the visitor for an interior with domed ceilings rich with arabesques and trompe l’oeil drapery. Silhouettes of forgotten forests are framed above the arches, and patches of Arabic calligraphy survive on the walls. Now under the auspices of the city’s Municipal Art Gallery, this site hosts exhibitions and events enhanced by its own history and unique character.

The earlier, enormously rich, PaleoChristian and Byzantine eras offer further surprises. Follow the brown signs (they indicate sights of cultural and historic interest) uphill from the “Taxiarchis” stop on the #23 bus-line that runs along Akropoleos to reach a small gate leading to the courtyard of the Church of Osios David. The view alone is worth the trip; however, inside the church, all the mystery and glory of fifth-century Christianity awaits you in a small, dark and deeply contemplative space. The mosaic of the vision of Ezekiel decorating its apse, with a rare depiction of Christ as an adolescent at its center, is utterly captivating.

UNESCO considers it a masterpiece of early Christian art.

This is just one of Ano Poli’s several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The 14th-century Vlatadon Monastery, with its peaceful gardens, is close by. Further down Theotokopoulou, across from the

“Koule Kafe” bus stop, is the Byzantine Bath, which served the neighborhood for centuries until its closure in 1940. It’s now under restoration, but much can be seen from the outside. Off the larger streets bordering the neighborhood’s lower western edge are the Profitis Ilias Church, from the 14th century, and the 13th-century Church of Aghia Aikaterini.

Yet another church among the cobblestone paths of Ano Poli elicits the same sense of mystery as Osios David – the 14th-century Church of Aghios Nikolaos Orphanos. It is prized both for the engaging narratives told by its frescoes (dating from the Paleologian Renaissance) and for its rambling garden. The city walls – which define Ano Poli’s upper edge – are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, too.

Even though it is so densely built, with few formal parks or squares, this most untamed area of the city is also its greenest.

Nature thrives unplanned in every corner; the air is rich with the scent of fig trees and jasmine on summer nights, and of wet leaves and wood smoke in winter.

With nearly as many paths and stairs as streets, Ano Poli sounds much like it did 100 years ago – birdsong by day, the strains of bouzouki from tavernas and cafés by night. And if you’re looking for still more nature, you can hike parts of the extensive trail system running through the Sheikh Sou Forest that borders Ano Poli’s northeastern edge.

Standing under the Trigonio Tower, once the city’s upper gate, it’s easy to see why Ano Poli was the city’s favored neighborhood for centuries. The forest is to your left and the whole of the Thermaikos Bay is stretched out beneath you.

Directly across the water, the majestic peaks of Mt Olympus feel stunningly close. This view is one of the city’s most romantic, and you’ll find as many locals here as visitors. Time your visit for sunset, when the last rays etch the mountain’s silhouette clearly against the sky. Then watch as, below you, the city lights go on and the tower glows gold. Stay for an ouzo at a café with a view, or do like the students – bring a guitar and a bottle of retsina and spend the evening on the ruins of the wall, under the stars.

The neighborhood is full of quiet corners to relax and take in the nostalgic atmosphere.

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STOPS Ticho Ticho

Church of Osios David Alaca Imaret

IGGLIS

SIGHTS (SEE MAP) 1. The Church of Aghia Aikaterini, Aghias Aikaterinis & Tsamadou (near Olimpiados). Open 7:0010:00 & 18:00-19:30 (winter hours 7:00-10:00 & 17:00-19:30).

2. Eptapirgio (“Seven Towers” Castle), is popularly known by its Turkish name “Yenti Koule.” A prison until 1989, it is mentioned in many a rebetiko song. Open Tue-Sun 8:00-15:00.

Admission is free.

3. Trigonio Tower, Eptapirgiou Street, along the city walls.

4. The Vlatadon Monastery, 64 Eptapirgiou (near Akropoleos). Open 7:3012:00 & 18:00-20:30.

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5. The Church of Osios David, near Epimenidou. Take the #23 bus to the “Taxiarchis” stop and follow the signs. Open Mon-Sat 11:00-15:00, Sun 7:00-12:00.

9. Byzantine Bath, Theotokopoulou at Aristippou (just above Olimpiados, directly across from the “Koule Kafe” stop on the #23 bus-line). Open Tues, Wed, Fri 10.00-13.00.

6. The Tourbe of Musa Baba, Terpsithea Square at Pileos.

Open 24/7 (outdoor monument).

10. The Church of Aghiou Nikolaou Orphanou, 1 Irodotou. Open Tue-Sun 9:00-15:00.

7. Profitis ilias Church, Olimpiados near Sakellariou (near the Tourbe of Musa Baba). Open 8:00-12:00 & 17:15-19:00 (winter hours 8:00-12:00 & 16:00-18:00).

11. The Atatürk Museum, entrance on Isaia at Apostolou Pavlou, near Aghiou Dimitriou. Open Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00.

8. The Alaca Imaret, 91-93 Kassandrou, between Sofokleous and Aghiou Nikolaou. Open Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00.

Admission is free.

DINE 12. Taverna Igglis, an old neighborhood classic with young owners and a lively atmosphere, at 32 Irodotou. Tel. (+30) 2313.011.967. Open daily 12:30-00:30.

13.Ticho Ticho, for inventive meze in a pleasant space with plenty of outdoor tables and a view of the old city walls. Friendly atmosphere and prices.

1 Stergiou Polidorou at Agrafon, near Akropoleos. Tel. (+30) 2310.245.351. Open daily 09:00-01:00.

THE GREEK BLUES Scan and read about Vassilis Tsitsanis, one of rebetiko’s great artists, who penned his best songs in Thessaloniki.

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ITINERARIES Vlatadon monastery

Tourbe of Musa Baba

AghioS NikolaoS OrphanoS

PROFITIS Ilias church

Atatürk Museum

MORNING VISIT • Take the bus #23 to the stop Moni Vlatadon to visit the monastery of the same name.

From there, head downhill, following signs to reach the Church of Osios David. Going down Theotokopoulou by the Taxiarchis Church and continuing downhill, will soon bring you to the Byzantine Bath (just above Olimpiados). From here, walk west on Krispou to meet Fotiou and then go right – it will join Epimenidou, to bring you to Doridos and lead you into Terpsithea Square, where you will find the Tourbe of Musa Baba (right across from one of the grandest houses in the neighborhood). From here, go down Elefsinos to Olimpiados and go right for half a block to the Church of Prophet Elias. From here, continue farther west along Olimpiados to Tsamadou to visit Aghia Aikaterini Church, or follow Aghiou Nikolaou downhill. The Alaca Imaret is just above Kassandrou, between Aghiou Nikolaou and Sofokleous.

VIEW FROM Trigonio Tower

• For a shorter walk, but still one with plenty of neighborhood character, begin at the Church of Osios David, return to Akropoleos and find Ifikratous, which will lead you downhill to Irodotou (passing Taverna Igglis) and continue on Irodotou to the Church of Aghiou Nikolaou Orphanou (look for a gate to its garden in the wall). From here, it’s a short walk to Ano Poli’s lower edge and the Atatürk Museum, on Apostolou Pavlou just above Aghiou Dimitriou.

Trigonio Tower

EVENING VISIT • Take a taxi or the #23 bus to the Aghii Anargyroi stop, or, even better, treat yourself to a brisk half-hour hike uphill along Elenis Zographou to reach the Trigonio Tower for a prime view of the city, the Thermaikos Bay and Mt Olympus; for the best results, come in time for the fabulous sunset. Pass through the gates to the old part of town and find Stergiou Polidorou Street (it runs along the city walls) for dinner at Ticho Ticho (that’s the Greek word for “wall” – twice), or wander downhill and a little to the right, exploring along the way, until you come to Taverna Igglis for a lively taste of the neighborhood.

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21st-Century Farming The American Farm School, founded in 1904, is an invaluable institute with a rich and inspiring tradition of supporting the agricultural sector of Greece and the greater Balkan region.

BY A MBER CHA R MEI

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The hatchery is a great favorite with students and visiting schoolchildren alike.

t the heart of 350 acres of fertile land, just southeast of Thessaloniki, is the American Farm School (AFS) with one of the loveliest campuses you could hope to find anywhere. The school is a working farm – nearly a third of the total acreage is teeming with agricultural abundance, including olive groves, vineyards, field crops, orchards, gardens and greenhouses. Contented hens roost in an immaculate coop, and the hatchery next door is a delight (a favorite with the many schoolchildren who visit the farm each year). Nearby, a gorgeous dairy herd of purebred Holsteins grazes in a lush pasture. It’s literally a land of milk and honey – there’s even an apiary (and a snail farm).

And it’s also a land of wine – Greek varieties such as Xinomavro, Agioritiko and Mavrodaphne are cultivated alongside international varieties like Syrah and Grenache Rouge in the vineyard (a gift from

The acreage is burgeoning with agricultural abundance – olive groves and vineyards, field crops and orchards, gardens and greenhouses.

prominent former wine producer Yiannis Boutaris, now Thessaloniki’s mayor). At the Perrotis College Krinos Olive Center, innovative olive-planting systems are evaluated, olive oil is extracted, stored, processed and analyzed, and students learn how to taste olives and olive oils and assess their quality.

This working farm provides experiential, hands-on learning. The dairy produces milk (AFS introduced Greece’s first pasteurized milk in 1935), yogurt and butter, and just a few months ago students began producing a semi-hard cheese.

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are popular items available at selected supermarkets in Thessaloniki and Athens.

At the winery, students make a delicious Xinomavro varietal, from the grape variety originating in the Peloponnese. They also produce retsina, the traditional resinated wine, in both white and rosé, plus a small amount of sweet wine from sundried grapes. Fragrant tsipouro (a strong spirit) is distilled from the grape marc.

The school’s own hard durum wheat, milk from the Holsteins, and those omega-3 eggs are combined to create traditional Greek pastas. Students also raise limited quantities of broilers and seasonal turkeys fed on flax seed and aromatic plants (the turkeys are prized centerpieces of many an expatriate Thanksgiving table), some

An aerial view of Princeton Hall at the heart of the campus.

Practical training meets scientific knowledge in the American Farm School’s laboratories.

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Dr. John Henry House, educator and missionary, founded the American Farm School in 1904.

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Experiential learning in the field plays a vital role in an AFS education.

High-quality feed and attentive daily care ensure optimal productivity from these splendid Holsteins.

legumes, rice, winter and summer vegetables, oil, honey, and even aromatics and fresh flowers.

The majority of AFS High School and Perrotis College students call the farm home. The products from the farm and from the trials they’re running (they’re always working on something new) supply the school dining hall that serves both residential and day students. The campus store sells the farm’s own products and its seasonal produce. Proceeds from the store support the school’s founding mission by helping to fund scholarships.

Perrotis College students run the store, giving them hands-on experience in management and in retail.

ican philhellene, engineer and teacher who led the school for nearly 35 years, beginning in 1955. This period saw the expansion of the school’s mission to the greater community. AFS began offering technical advice and short courses for local farmers, as well as “training for trainers” programs for international groups.

Dr. Panos Kanellis, the first Greek president of the AFS and Perrotis College, was appointed in 2010. This was a turning point for the institution, as he saw its potential through a new perspective – one that revived the school. A native of Thessaloniki and graduate of Anatolia College, he earned a PhD in Bio-Organic Chemistry in the United States. After years of teaching and research, he returned to

HEAD, HANDS, AND HEART The source of all this bounty began with 50 acres, purchased in 1902 by John Henry House and his wife Susan Adeline, both missionaries. They founded the Thessalonika Agricultural and Industrial Institute – soon to be known as the American Farm School – in 1904. It was incorporated in the State of New York as a charity (it’s still a private, not-forprofit organization registered in the State of New York) with the aim of giving the local 118

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population the skills needed to be successful at farming. Known as a practical idealist, Dr. House’s mission to educate “the whole individual – the head, the hands, the heart” inspired supporters in the United States, who donated equipment and funds. This helped keep the school afloat during an era of turmoil in the Balkans – boys orphaned during uprisings in the Ottoman era’s waning years found a home and education here.

These first students learned firsthand about agriculture, livestock management and viticulture on the school’s lands, and they also acquired other vital skills like masonry, carpentry and blacksmithing, all skills needed for the overall development of Greece.

A significant phase for the school was the tenure of Bruce Lansdale, an Amer-

Dr. House’s mission to educate “the whole individual – the head, the hands, the heart” inspired supporters in the United States, who donated equipment and funds.

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Perrotis College was introduced to the campus in 1995 as a vocational school named after Mrs. Aliki Perroti’s late husband, Dimitris Perrotis. Mrs. Perroti, who had witnessed great hardship as a child in Athens, was inspired to share her good fortune on a larger scale when she had the means to do so – her gift represented the largest donation ever given to an institution of higher learning in Greece. The buildings themselves are inspiring; featuring sustainable design principals and minimizing the energy footprint, these additions to the campus are true to the institution’s ideals. At Perrotis College, students can pursue degrees in Agriculture and in Environmental and Life Sciences (through the Cardiff Metropolitan University) and this fall sees the introduction of MSc programs at the School of Graduate Studies in areas of concentration related to Agricultural Science (and to Marketing for the Agrofood sector).

At the high school, the STEAM (Sci-

ence, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Mathematics) core curriculum provides a solid academic foundation for future studies. The AFS has an extensive recruitment program, visiting schools and communities all over Greece, and offers scholarships and financial aid packages.

High school students participate in summer internships at affiliated universities in the US, and many of the students go on to US colleges, the immersive education and the experience of on - campus living giving them the maturity to make the most of their continued education.

The opportunity for study abroad benefits their families and their communities: they go on to take their family farms and agro business to the next level, become entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector or professors of agriculture, educating the next generation.

The words that conclude the school’s mission statement are put into practice every day, as the school helps to build

Out in the field, students become familiar with the most advanced agricultural practices and technologies.

© MARIA-IOANNA XRISTOFORIDOU

Greece, holding managerial positions in the private sector before taking up the twin roles of Executive Vice President and COO at his alma mater Anatolia, where he worked until 2009.

While respecting the long and important history of the American Farm School Dr. Kanellis developed educational programs that reflect the changing needs of this generation. New initiatives under his direction include the preschool and primary school, the Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship, which helps participants turn innovative ideas into sustainable businesses, the School of Professional Education, the Perrotis College School of Graduate Studies which offers Master of Science degrees, and the Perrotis College Krinos Olive Center. Dr. Kanellis guided the school into a new era, where practical training meets scientific knowledge; experiential learning develops problem solving skills and entrepreneurial thinking leads to new opportunities.

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“We don’t do just theory here,” says Dr. Vergos, Dean of the School of Professional Education. “We combine theory with practice.

Everything is experiential.”

The American Farm School is known in Thessaloniki and in Athens for its top-quality products.

sustainable communities in the region.

The School of Professional Education brings the work of AFS to the larger community of farmers and businesses, and 1,200 participants a year on campus or out in the field reap the benefits. Dr. Vergos, Dean of the School of Professional Education, illustrates the school’s commitment to building sustainable communities with examples from throughout the school’s history: “When the refugees of Asia Minor came in the 1920s, AFS gave them crash courses in the skills they would need to survive as farmers before they were given land by the Greek state. There was a similar set up during the Marshall Plan, with AFS educating farmers receiving assistance. Rather than getting a certificate on completion of the program, participants received either a mule (brought over from Arizona or New Mexico), or a pair of chickens and a rooster to give them a good start.” Today, AFS is

reaching out to a new group of refugees.

With funding from the US Embassy, AFS faculty and students will be helping refugees acquire skills in agro-production.

“We don’t do just theory here,” says Dr. Vergos. “We combine theory with practice – everything is experiential.” This means building greenhouses and starting gardens at refugee camps, serving an immediate need by enabling refugees to become more self-sufficient and to preserve their culture by growing the foods that are part of their cuisines. The longer term goal is formal certification in agro skills, making it easier for refugees to find work when they reach the countries where they will ultimately settle, or better still, arming them with knowledge to take back with them to their home countries when such a return becomes possible.

The benefit to faculty and students is that they are actually out in the field, facing real-life circumstances.

The school’s mission leads to inspiring

cooperative efforts. In collaboration with Rutgers University and the Agricultural University of Athens, AFS is participating in “New Agriculture for a New Generation,” a project funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation as part of the Foundation’s “Recharging the Youth” initiative. “Education Unites: from Camp to Campus” is another collaborative effort that includes the United States Embassy, Perrotis College, AFS, the American College of Thessaloniki, Anatolia College and Deree – the American College of Greece.

This initiative will provide scholarships for higher education to 100 refuges in Athens and another 100 refugees in Thessaloniki.

At the heart of all this stand the school’s founding values: supporting humanity and making Greece and its neighboring countries better places. Dr. Vergos sums up the spirit of the place: “Agriculture is culture. It’s not just technocratic; instead, it’s intrinsically related to human values – zeal, discipline and ethos.”

INFO AFS hosts lively fund-raising events open to the public throughout the year. Check out their website at www.afs.edu.gr/nw/events •

For more information, or to arrange a visit to the American Farm School, call (+30) 2310.492.700, or email them at info@afs.edu.gr.

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EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Gearing Creativity Thessaloniki’s vibe has helped a handful of pioneering creative individuals evolve into a thriving and innovative scene.

BY DI M I T R I S AT H I NA K I S

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BEETROOT

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an Thessaloniki be considered a design hub?

Its design community is certainly an exciting and active network. Whether veterans or novices, all of the city’s designers that I spoke with described their community as being a big family – everyone knows each other and most work together.

The city has been a haven for young designers since the mid-1990s; they were attracted because day-to-day life is much easier here than in Athens and because they can stand out in the city’s smaller market. (At the same time, of

say that they weren’t imitating, they were adopting international trends and movements. One characteristic example was that produced by Stergios Delialis, the guru of the new generation of designers, who in 1969 created the much-admired album cover for “To Perivoli tou Trelou” (The Madman’s Garden) from the singer-songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos; the cover is strongly reminiscent of UK record cover art of the period. (In the 1990s, Delialis founded and ran the now-defunct Design Museum of Thessaloniki.)

By the ‘70s and ‘80s, however, Thessaloniki’s graphic design output had be-

STERGIOS DELIALIS

STERGIOS DELIALIS

RED CREATIVE

DOLPHINS STUDIO FOR PARALLAXI MAGAZINE

course, with modern communications technology, they are also able to seize opportunities from far beyond the limits of the city or even the country.)

From the mid-1950s to the late 1980s, the Thessaloniki design scene consisted of people rather than firms, starting with Ioannis Svoronos (1919-1987) the father of Greek design who, from 1954 to 1964, created all of the visual material for the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). There was also the visual artist, translator, poet and prose writer Karolos Tsizek (19122013) who from 1958 to 1983 designed the influential literary review Diagonios, published by the renowned Thessaloniki poet Dinos Christianopoulos.

In the 1960s, the city’s design scene began to take off. Local designers liked to

come almost exclusively limited to work done for the TIF, the National Theater of Northern Greece, the State Museum of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. There was also a little bit – albeit more visible because of the broader audience base – of design being done in relation to literature, including work on the cultural supplement Panselinos that accompanied the Sunday edition of the newspaper Makedonia.

This art magazine, which in 2000 won a European Newspaper Design Award and in 2001 a Greek Graphic Design and Illustration Award, was created by graphic designer Thanasis Georgiou and writer Giorgos Skabardonis. (Georgiou still designs covers for the Thessaloniki publisher Ianos and has had work fea-

Dimitris Papazoglou

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EXPERIENCE DESIGN

tured in both the 2005 and 2007 European Design Annual, published by Print Magazine). Another important step in the ‘80s was the 1987 launch of the literary journal Entefktirio by writer Giorgos Kordomenidis.

The creation of Greece’s first free magazine, Parallaxi, by Giorgos Toulas in 1989 was a milestone for the Thessaloniki design scene: the magazine is still published today and is a leading showcase for local design, particularly through its urban activist program Thessaloniki Allios (Thessaloniki Differently). The same year also saw the launch of the city’s first major

From 2000 on, an increasing number of local museums and theaters, businessmen and shop owners began to entrust their brand identity and other visuals to the city’s designers.

BLIND DESIGN STUDIO

design firm, Simos Saltiel’s Red Creative.

Despite all this creativity, design did not really take Thessaloniki by storm until after 1997, when the city was named European Capital of Culture and the huge demand for new design material attracted large numbers of creative young people eager to find out more about this discipline.

From 2000 on, an increasing number of local museums and theaters, businessmen and shop owners began to entrust their brand identity and other visuals to the city’s designers – a walk around Ano Ladadika and Valaoritou Street provides ample evidence – and led to the creation of public technical colleges for the graphic arts as well as to private graphic design schools. The early years of the

SEMIOTIK

new millennium also saw the emergence of new design firms such as Beetroot and Designers United. As time went by, the scene shifted from individual artists to firms with distinctive styles.

Today, the latest buzz is all about design concept shops, including two brand new cutting-edge stores, hellofrom and From Thessaloniki, which feature designer souvenirs depicting Thessaloniki’s urban heritage.

What was it that caused the scene to change so drastically in just a couple of decades? Most of the designers I met with spoke of the stream of creativity that can be found in Thessaloniki. They insist – young and old alike – that there is no particular sense of geographical identity, no local vernacular, in Thessaloniki’s

design culture; they have, they maintain, always been part of the global dialogue.

If there is a Thessaloniki vibe for them, it’s on a more personal level. Most say they choose to stay in Thessaloniki at least in part because they like what the city offers them; relaxed personal lives coupled with challenging careers.

For Stergios Delialis, at work in his studio overlooking the Thermaic Gulf, it is as much about the when as it is about the where: “Design is the art of the possible.

It may be a lot more impersonal today, but it is much more effective in conveying information. It is an amazing new world.”

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exper i ence D E S I G N THESSALONIKI POSTER Promotional piece created on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the magazine Parallaxi.

RED CREATIVE

Founded: In 1989, by Simos Saltiel.

PROJECTS INCLUDE: Sani Resort and

Sani Festival, Halkidiki. We spoke with: Costas Kalogirou, who helped Stergios Delialis in the creation of the Design Museum of Thessaloniki, and who joined the Red Creative team in 1996. Since then, he has also taught graphic design at Athens College, the International Hellenic University and the Applied Art Studies (AAS) College of Thessaloniki. My city: “The city’s pace is still pleasant. The good thing about Thessaloniki is it’s a small market, which allows our work to show. In the ‘90s and the ‘00s in particular, we proved that we can produce fresh and often edgy ideas. Designers, however, aren’t like artists working for themselves; they need clients to help them unfold their ideas.” MY WORK: “Thessaloniki’s design community itself has started getting over the White Tower and Alexander the Great. It has said ‘enough with that’ and is looking for new ways to ‘sell’ Thessaloniki.” Website: redcreative.gr

BASENEZMEN Record cover, Babis Papadopoulos, Christos Yermenoglou, Polytropon Records + Defkaz Productions

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SANI FESTIVAL Visual identity for the acclaimed international music festival

DIMITRIA FESTIVAL POSTER Visual identity for the City of Thessaloniki “Dimitria” Festival

exper i ence D E S I G N

Illustration for an Onassis Cultural Center educational program.

BEETROOT

Founded: In 2000, by Vagelis Liakos, Alexis Nikou and Yiannis Charalambopoulos.

PROJECTS INCLUDE: The Greek Monsters traveling exhibition, The Onassis Cultural Center’s visual identity and the 2014 election campaign of Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris. In 2008, it was named Design Agency of the Year at the European Design Awards and, in 2011, it was similarly honored at the renowned Red Dot Communication Design Awards. We spoke with: Co-founder Yiannis Charalambopoulos. My city: “Even though we live here and are committed to loving the standard of living, we don’t get work in Thessaloniki. We recently opened a new branch in London and already had one in Athens.

In Greece, demand for ‘Greekness’ in product identity is on the rise and here in Thessaloniki, the most frequent request is for the Mermaid or the White Tower – they’re like this city’s evzone!” my work: “It’s not the wrapping we need to change in Greece, it’s the product.

The rebranding of a city or a country needs someone to take responsibility and hire an expert company – this is not something that can be achieved cooperatively – that will do nothing but this.” WEBSITE: beetroot.gr Poster for the election campaign of Yiannis Boutaris “yiayia and friends” Greek products and merchandise

exper i ence D E S I G N

SEMIOTIK

Founded: In 2012, by Dimitris

Koliadimas. PROJECTS INCLUDE: Euroleague Basketball Final Four 2016.

We spoke with: Founder Dimitris Koliadimas. My city: “This city is very conducive to a designer’s life – you save time and energy because it’s easy. At the same time, it is becoming a tourism destination, thanks to its cultural and culinary legacies.

The museums are starting to understand the concept of design. The city has opened up to the world and in many parts resembles Berlin or Athens. The beautiful and elegant has become casual. Thessaloniki is no longer self-referential; it constantly imports and exports intellect.” MY WORK: “The Acropolis, the Presidential Guard and the White Tower are exhausted themes.

I am interested in interpreting tradition, not reproducing it as is.” Website: semiotikdesign.com

CERDAM

CWORKS

CWORKS

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Diagonal / Center of Excellence in Dance Education

52nd Dimitria Festival Poster

Dimitris Papazoglou Founded: In 2014, by Dimitris

57th TIFF (2016)

Papazoglou. projects include: Nike, National Library of Greece, and the 57th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF 2016). We spoke with: Founder Dimitris Papazoglou. My city: “Thessaloniki as a design capital may be a myth – after all, it’s unfair on our colleagues in Athens and other cities to claim this title.

However, we do have a lot of new awardwinning designers and design is an intrinsic part of Thessaloniki, which has a long history in it. Let’s not forget that we had some of the greatest cultural venues and that some of the greatest pockets of literature and Greek rock music started here. In the past few years, we’ve been getting a lot more work from state agencies, museums and businesses.” my work: “I am concerned by the notion of ‘Greekness’ in contemporary Greek design. You can’t single out one or two elements to define us. Everything always depends on the project you are undertaking and the market you’re targeting.” Website: dimitrispapazoglou.com

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exper i ence D E S I G N Debt diaries, Manchester, 2016

BLIND DESIGN STUDIO

Founded: In 2014, by Haris Karatzas, Nikos Taousanis and Panagiotis Hatzis, all

former students of Costas Kalogirou at the AAS College. PROJECTS INCLUDE: CERN 27km in 27 photographs. We spoke with: Co-founder Haris Karatzas. My city: “From a visual perspective, Thessaloniki has something that all graphic designers like.

The fact that you can always see or feel the water plays a role. For years, though, it had a very non-functional branding as an exclusively Christian city. It was a city known for the wrong reasons. This has started to change. It is finding the look that suits it, and it’s building on that. It knows that by opening up to the world, even small can work well.”

MY WORK: “I am personally skeptical about the word ‘inspiration.’ Design is a constant balancing act between art and technique. I know that living in Greece today is practically madness. But this can create bonds, if it doesn’t screw everything up. There’s a weird sense of satisfaction in the daily, difficult task of being here.” Website: blindstudio.gr

Fix in Art Thessaloniki, 2016

Charti & Kalamari (Paper & Squid), Thessaloniki, 2017

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© kostas amoiridis

HELLOFROM

Founded: In 2017, by Konstantinos Drakotis. We spoke with: Founder Konstantinos Drakotis. My city: “Thessaloniki is a city of memories, with a multicultural background, an urban culture and a cultural history. We want to establish the souvenir as a reminder of an experience in this city, which is why our products are based on the three notions of country, city and memory. Our concept space – with the only product created by Coco-Mat that is sold outside the company’s own sales network, its amazing wooden bicycle, and with design creations by the design firm Beetroot (that also created the shop’s visual identity) – is a venue that aspires to become a guardian of Thessaloniki’s memories.” my work: “The souvenir market is an impulse market. You don’t buy a T-shirt because you’re short on T-shirts; you buy it to remind you of something. We keep classic Greece, that beautiful Greece, and redesign it with the designers for products that are conceived – if not made – in Greece.” Website: hellofrom.gr

FROM THESSALONIKI

Founded: In 2016, by Evangelia Giapountzi and Athanasia

Tsoukala. We spoke with: Co-founder Evangelia Giapountzi. My city: “Every time we’d come back from a trip to a big Western city,

we’d ask ourselves: ‘Why don’t we have a shop like that here?’ So, we decided to create From Thessaloniki, selling souvenirs made here, like T-shirts from the designer Yiannis Karlopoulos, lighting fixtures from dimmer, the lighting design company, and games based on the ancient gods and made by My Greek Games (Efi Karagouni and Christos Papachristou).” my work: “I’m very proud of the fact that we started this store, and not only to showcase our own designs but also those of brilliant artists working in this city and in the rest of the country.” Website: fromthessaloniki.gr

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Film Buffs Rejoice

After years of drama and political turbulence, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival eventually hit its stride to become a high-caliber event with none of the pomp of its European brethren.

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Š MOTIONTEAM

Full house at the Olympion Cinema, the flagship venue of the Thessaloniki Film Festival and the site for the opening and closing ceremonies.

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urning 58 this year, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (which runs November 2-12) can’t boast about being Europe’s oldest – Venice is 74, Cannes is 70 and Berlin is 67 – but what does age matter? “I’ve been to lots of festivals around the world, but nowhere have I found such a friendly and vibrant environment as right here in Thessaloniki,” Wim Wenders said in 2006, during a visit to the event for a major retrospective of his work.

The list of great filmmakers and actors who have graced the event with their presence and who left similarly enchanted is a long one: Nagisa Oshima, Bernardo Bertolucci, Claude Chabrol, Ken Loach, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Jim Jarmusch, Catherine Deneuve, Faye Dunaway, Isabelle Huppert and John Malkovich are just a few of the entries.

A lot has changed between the first Greek Cinema Week in 1960 and this year’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival: the city, the audiences and the institution itself have all undergone transformations. Even the flagship Olympion Cinema on Aristotelous Square, the festival’s headquarters, is not the same building that welcomed the first Cinema Week 57 years ago. Designed in 1950

by Jacques Mosset, the French architect behind many important buildings in postWorld War II Thessaloniki, the Olympion was neglected for many years before its radical restoration in 1997.

In that same year, the old warehouses at the port were also renovated and turned into festival venues, signaling a new era for both a city and an event that now looked towards the open horizons of the sea, generating a new enthusiasm that brought with it more cinematic screenings, more foreign visitors, new hangouts and a revitalized foodie scene.

The festival became an international event in 1992, a decision that gave the event a whole new character, one focused on a renewed interest in innovation and on bold artistic instincts. The changes that followed were momentous. All of a sudden, Thessaloniki was the city where you could rub shoulders at dinner with Atom Egoyan, debate 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance with Michael Haneke or come across Faye Dunaway strolling at the port. The new program also linked the Greek film industry to the cutting edge of international cinema, with an emphasis on independent productions. Inevitably, audience numbers rose dramatically and the once-introspective Greek Film Festival (with all its divisiveness, discord and isolation) was

American indie king Jim Jarmusch, presenting Only Lovers Left Alive, steals the show in 2014, roughhousing with screenwriter/director Alexander Payne.

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1. Taking a break from screenings at the port, where the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum is located. 2. French actress Catherine Deneuve attended the 40th TIFF in 1999, as star of Philippe Garrel’s Le Vent de la Nuit.

saved from ruin.

As a close observer of the institution since 1985, I have seen the benefits that the festival has brought, not just to the film community but to the city’s residents as well. What had once been a “family affair” grew into an event worthy of a place on the global map. Greek cinema was driven to compete on an international level, both in terms of art and of production, and to acknowledge the concerns and interests of different cultures.

And, of course, the festival has brought us some amazing films over the years, many of which were by novice directors who now remember Thessaloniki as the place where they first shone.

As the festival has grown and blossomed, so too has Thessaloniki; in doing

From 02112017 to 12112017

CINEMATIC EXTRAVAGANZA

5. Greek-French director Costa-Gavras at the premiere of his film, Le Capital, during the 53rd Thessaloniki Film Festival, in 2013. 6.

German director Wim Wenders took part in the 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival with The Salt of the Earth.

so, however, it has still managed to hang on to the best of its own unique “local” characteristics.

make up the International Competition section all address, in one way or another, the issue of roots. Meanwhile, hoping to help in the quest for new horizons in the realm of the moving image, the festival has also organized a special section focused on virtual reality films.

So what is it that makes the Thessaloniki festival stand out from other film events? “We do something the others don’t,” says Andreadakis. “We take guests by the hand and show them just why they’re in Thessaloniki. Some have come for the film market, others to discuss productions that are in progress, others to compete and others still simply to watch movies. And we have a team of well-trained people who look out for the needs of all those very different groups.”

NEW DIRECTOR, NEW IDEAS The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is opening another exciting chapter in its history, thanks to the appointment of its new director Orestes Andreadakis, a former film critic, a co-founder of the Athens International Film Festival and a Knight of the Order of the Art and Letters in France (awarded in 2013).

The theme of this year’s event is drawn from the book by philosopher Simone Weil (1909-1943) The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Towards Mankind, and the 14 films that

© MOTIONTEAM, THESSALONIKI FESTIVAL ARCHIVE

3. Isabelle Hupert was the guest of honor of the 45th TIFF. 4. Theo Angelopoulos jokes with Willem Dafoe, the star of his 2008 film The Dust of Time.

Each year, Greece’s biggest celebration of cinema, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, brings its audiences outstanding films (classics and new releases alike), retrospectives, special tributes, side events and a bright cast of distinguished guests. This year, the festival will be attended

by Ruben Östlund, winner of the Palme d’Or at the recent Cannes Film Festival, and Jean-Marc Barr of The Big Blue fame, while one of the standout tributes will be to “Balkan Literature and Cinema,” with the screening of 11 masterful films based on the literary works of Orhan Pamuk, Ismail Kadare, Necati Cumali and others. www.filmfestival.gr

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A STAR GROWS UP

More than half a century of drama, on and off the screen.

Winners of the first Greek Cinema Week.

1960: The first Greek Cinema Week is held, September 20-26, at the Olympion Cinema.

Manos Katrakis and Alekos Alexandrakis in Dream Neighborhood, a 1961 Greek neorealist masterpiece.

1961: A few foreign films are added to the program, but outside the competition.

Controversy erupts after Mikis Theodorakis does not win – because of his leftwing politics – for the score of Alekos Alexandrakis’ Synoikia to Oneiro (Dream Neighborhood), a film about a poor neighborhood in Athens which was screened in its censored version. The Best Director award goes to Michael Cacoyannis for Eroica.

Stathis Giallelis, the star of Elia Kazan’s America, America.

1964: The fifth installment of Greek Cinema Week moves to the Macedonian Studies Society (which also housed the 138

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National Theater of Northern Greece) and stays there for the next 32 years. It is a glamorous event, with scantily clad starlets and VIP guests that include the reigning Miss Universe Korina Tsopei and Stathis Giallelis, an emerging talent and the star of Elia Kazan’s America, America.

soon degenerates into rowdy behavior, particularly in the late 1980s, dealing a serious blow to the festival’s stature and reputation.

David Thewlis, the star of Mike Leigh’s Naked, attended the 1993 TIFF.

1966: The “Week” is renamed a “festival.”

1967: The April military coup casts a pall over proceedings, but the festival perseveres.

Director, star and associates celebrating the 1971 triumph of the film Reconstruction.

1970: The screening of Theo Angelopoulos’ Anaparastasi (Reconstruction) signals the birth of the New Greek Cinema movement.

Cheering and booing from the festival’s notorious balcony.

1973: Anti-junta sentiment overshadows the event after protests break out in the theater’s second balcony; this “audience power” goes on to become a significant part of the festival for more than 15 years.

The introduction of discounted tickets for students sees youth attendance skyrocket and, while this initially results in an active new voice participating in the event; this involvement

A still from The Traveling Players, Theo Angelopoulos’ masterpiece that won 7 awards in 1975.

1975: With the restoration of democracy to Greece, this edition of the festival is the most political to date. Fans spend the night lined up outside the box office waiting for tickets to Theo Angelopoulos’ O Thiasos (The Traveling Players), in which the members of a traveling ensemble experience the turbulence of a key period in Greek history (1939-1952). This now-classic film garnered numerous festival prizes and has been included in the list of the best films in the history of cinema, compiled by FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics).

1989: The festival turns 30 in the midst of a major crisis.

The committee of judges decides not to bestow a Best Picture, Best Director or Best Screenplay award.

1992: The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is born under the leadership of artistic director Michel Dimopoulos and with Dimitris Eipides in charge of the parallel New Horizons program, an initiative that is instrumental in establishing the event’s international credentials.

There are separate competition sections for Greek and foreign films.

1998: The Greek Competition section is abolished and is replaced by the Panorama of Greek Cinema, a move which leads to the establishment of the Greek State Quality Film Awards.

Faye Dunaway was honored for her career in film at the 42nd Thessaloniki Film Festival.

1999: Dimitris Eipides creates the highly successful Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, which takes place every March.

2005: Festival Director Despina Mouzaki creates the Agora Film Market which, together with the Crossroads Co-Production Forum, becomes the developmental department of the festival, helping producers and distributors come together in support of the “cinema of tomorrow.” Over time, the Agora Film Market assumes a central role in the international aspects of the festival, developing cooperative links with the Festival de Cannes and the Lucerne International Film Festival, as well as with the Council of Europe fund, Eurimages.

taste T H E SSALONIK I

GASTRONOMIC CAPITAL

A melting pot of influences, the city’s food scene will thrill your inner epicure.

“A Day at the Market,” illustration by Farida El Gazzar.

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TA S T E L O C A L C U I S I N E

A Love Affair With Food

The culinary scene is a winning combination of quality, generosity, dedication and innovation.

B Y N E N A D I M I T R I O U & amber c h armei

a serious matter Thessaloniki has many charms, but for people in Greece, its food tops the list. You know how people say it’s about quality, not quantity? Well, here, you can have both – this is a generous cuisine, served in hearty portions (which is just fine, because the two-hour lunch is a Thessaloniki custom). Food excites passions, the kind of heated debates usually reserved for politics or football. It also truly connects the community: food-shopping in the central marketplace, with its glistening fish and its hanging carcasses, is akin to a friendly contact sport, where experience and skill matter, and social engagement matters most of all.

The city’s contemporary culinary landscape benefits from these deep cultural roots. The inspired innovations of young chefs have authenticity and relevance – adding a fresh, exciting chapter to an ongoing story.

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Getting creative: Smoked mackerel served with cilantro hummus at Nama.

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© TINA WEBB-PHOTO: GEORGE DRAKOPOULOS

Typical local meze dishes: melted cheese with spicy peppers and chili flakes; fried peppers with yogurt and sumac; spicy mussel “saganaki” with peppers, feta and chili flakes; leek-and-groundbeef patties; and the famous Thessaloniki “koulouri.”

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History on the table Trends may come and go, establishments may open or close following the tide of opinion, but Thessaloniki’s cuisine has always reflected the city’s multiethnic and inclusive history. As the second city of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, it accommodated conquerors and traders, settlers and itinerant merchants, from Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition to Armenian and Arab traders, Slavs and Greeks from poorer rural areas, refugees from Asia Minor, Greeks from the Black Sea and other migrants from everywhere in the Balkans. Each of these groups has added their own ingredients, recipes and influences to the city’s gastronomic melting pot. t h e s s a lo n i k i 2 017- 2 018

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The bounties of nature Thessaloniki’s spot on the map brings with it great natural bounties. The Thermaic Gulf and the sea around the Halkidiki peninsula provide fish and other seafood, while the river delta offers a nutrient-rich environment in which shellfish flourish. The city is surrounded by farmland and grazing pastures, so quality meat and dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables don’t have to travel for many hours to reach markets and plates. It’s now up to a new, well-traveled and ambitious generation of chefs and restaurateurs to make the most of this abundance, raise the bar in terms of quality and strive for originality.

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The Thermaic Gulf produces around 80-90% of Greece’s mussels. In Thessaloniki, you can enjoy them steamed with garlic and lemon, or done in all sorts of other delicious ways.

TA S T E B R U N C H

Every Day Is Like Sunday The hip way to start the day foodwise has quickly established itself as a city favorite.

BY NENA DI M ITR IOU

F

or citizens of Thessaloniki, the first two meals of the day used to be separate affairs, with different food items on the menu for breakfast and lunch. However, over the last few years, the city has gone all in on the worldwide brunch trend. Cafés have added it to their menus, hotels – following the Thessaloniki Hotels Association’s ThessBrunch initiative – have introduced their own upmarket versions, and many restaurants now serve brunch all day long. Eggs in all shapes and forms, pancakes, burgers and many other international dishes with local twists have joined company in the same repast.

The first restaurant to make brunch trendy was Estrella; it did so it by promoting its unique sweet treat, the “bougatsan.” A croissant filled with bougatsa custard and topped with icing sugar and cinnamon (like the traditional bougatsa), melted chocolate, berries or tropical fruits, the bougatsan went viral. Another Instagram-friendly creation of theirs, the 30cm high Super Mega Hero pancake stack, served with maple syrup, hazelnuts and cotton candy, also made the menu, as did classic salads, like the respectable Caesar salad, and colorful smoothies with beets or mango. At Estrella, the brunch menu is the main menu, all day long.

In the same neighborhood, you’ll find the Ergon Agora. What started as one grocery shop selling the products of small producers exclusively is today a successful chain (the company now has 12 more 146

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locations, in places like Brussels, London and Singapore). A comprehensive modern delicatessen, Ergon also serves food and coffee. Brunch is available from 10:00 to 14:00 and features, among other things, eggs with staka (clotted goat’s milk butter) from Crete on sourdough bread as well as croissants, marmalades and sandwiches. If you’d like to try a Thessalonian koulouri in a new way, Ergon serves them stuffed with cream cheese, chili and butter, all topped with two poached eggs. While you’re waiting for your food, you can browse through the products in the store and maybe even find some gifts for your foodie friends.

Less than a stone throw’s away is Koukou, offering an array of dishes centered on eggs, including a choice of sweet or savory French toast. Try the egg in a glass, with potato purée and parmesan, or, if you’ve arrived in numbers and you’re hungry, settle in for a marathon brunch by ordering the French toast skyscraper; five layers of bread separated by four layers of chocolate sauce. Open from 8:30 to 23:00.

Canteen, near the White Tower, is a classic, serving quality coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks, with a mix of Mediterranean and international flavors.

Brunch is served between 10:00 and 19:00; it’s best to make a reservation on the weekends. People of all ages come here, and it’s also suitable for families.

Try the excellent (eggcelent?) omelets, scrambled or poached eggs and freshly

Estrella

© PERIKLES MERAKOS, NICOLAS OIKONOMOU

Canteen

ergon agora

Mahalo

BOUGATSA FROM SCRATCH A no-fail recipe for the emblematic Thsssaloniki street food.

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made sandwiches. The pancakes, light and delicious, are pure perfection and you can choose from plenty of toppings: anything from fruits to chocolate, honey, mascarpone or peanut butter.

On the first floor of five-star Excelsior Hotel, housed in a historic landmark building just a few steps from Aristotelous Square, you’ll find the restaurant Be*. It serves a rich brunch or breakfast, featuring energy bowls with Greek yogurt, savory pancakes, quesadillas with bacon, avocado and eggs as well as a healthy menu for fitness fans, with things like hummus, honey, walnuts and pomegranate. So close to the boutiques and the malls, it’s the perfect place to begin or end your shopping safari.

Newly opened Mahalo, in the Ano Ladadika neighborhood feels homey (despite its modern industrial decor) with its symmetrically arranged greenery, colonial-style light fixtures and a small kitchen, visible to guests through a glass window. The big tables allow for large groups to sit together – or, for those who like the chance to meet new people, you can share a table with others. On the menu you’ll find five brunch classics; eggs benedict, croque madame, and pancakes served in three unique ways.

For something different, try the nutrition bowl, with yogurt, coconut milk, linseeds and various other superfoods. Whichever dish you choose, you’ll be pleased, and you’ll start to see how seriously these restaurateurs take brunch.

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Be*, 10 Komninon Tel. (+30) 2310.021.010 Canteen, 7 Dimitriou Gounari Tel. (+30) 2310.228.520 Ergon agora, 42 Pavlou Mela Tel. (+30) 2310.288.008 Estrella, 48 Pavlou Mela Tel. (+30) 2310.272.045 Koukou, 26 Paleo Patron Germanou Tel. (+30) 2314.027.020 Mahalo, 5 Verias Tel. (+30) 697.759.0306

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TA S T E B R U N C H

Be*

Koukou

ADVERTORIAL

Traditional Sweets in the Heart of the City since 1926 With a history in confectionary spanning over three generations, Papageorgiou has been well rooted in the minds of Thessalonians for more than 90 years. A witness to all the major moments in the city over the last century, it remains a familiar brand name to both young and old. Having rebranded all its product lines just last year, it has managed to remain modern and relevant to the needs of today. Its large variety of top quality jams, mostly made with locally produced fruit, is an excellent way to start one’s day. Its more than 10 different kinds of sweet preserves are a perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea or coffee, along with its delicious loukoums that are full of taste and tradition. Under the Greek hot sun in summer, there is nothing

more refreshing than the original and tasty sour cherry juice that only Papageorgiou, with its vast experience in handling fruits and its abundance of top quality sour cherries, can produce. Last but not least in its summer range products is the traditional fondant, in vanilla or masticha flavor, which children love to enjoy by submerging it in a glass of cold water. Papageorgiou’s products are available in most supermarkets and the company also has its own store where you can find the whole range of its tasty products. The store is located the heart of the city, at 11 Aghiou Mina, in an area that is quickly becoming the most popular place for the young and not so young.

Our home for almost the last 40 years, it’s certainly worth a visit!

11 Aghiou Mina, Thessaloniki • Tel. (+30) 2310.278.562 • www.papageorgiou.com.gr • Email: info@papageorgiou.com.gr • Open Mon-Sat 8:30-15:00, Tue, Thu, Fri 17:00-20:30

TA S T E E A T I N G O U T

Tickle Your Taste Buds In a city that loves food and boasts thousands of eateries, these establishments come well recommended and are all worth a visit.

By Nena Di m itr iou

Ambrosia One of the five-star Hyatt Hotel’s restaurants, Ambrosia specializes in Greek-inspired cuisine, served in a warm and discreetly luxurious setting of marble floors and leather sofas.

The open kitchen is a nice touch that enlivens the seating area. Headed by chef Apostolos Altanis, the team makes the best of fresh Greek products in well-executed dishes. Highlights on the winter menu include 150

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the red porgy filet with a purée of seasonal vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes and a lemon-grass sauce, as well as the orzo casserole with shrimp, smoky Metsovone cheese, spicy peppers and prosciutto from Evrytania.

INFO 13th kilometer Thessaloniki-Perea • Tel. (+30) 2310.401.295

Bantis A ball of dough is not the kind of thing one generally looks at with tenderness, but there are exceptions; Philippos Bantis certainly does so at the bougatsa pastry shop he inherited from his father. The small establishment he now runs with his wife has been at the same location since 1969, producing recipes handed down from his grandfather, who came to Thessaloniki as

a refugee from Cappadocia.

There, Bantis shows us how he rolls that dough ball until it’s almost transparently thin in order to produce the 24 sheets needed for each bougatsa pie.

Every morning at seven, he puts out dozens of pies stuffed with pastry cream, chopped meat or cheese. Every Sunday after the morning mass at the local church, hungry parishioners line up here in a custom that dates from his father’s time.

AMBROSIA

INFO 33 Panaghias Faneromenis • Tel. (+30) 2310.510.355

Brizola Brizola is fast gaining a reputation as a high-end steak house. It is located in the Sfageia meat-packing district and looks it from the outside.

On the inside, however, you can see the deft hand of a designer at work; the interior honors the building’s industrial character while adding an appropriate degree of elegance, with paintings, plush seating and atmospheric lighting against

distressed walls. The menu is equally well balanced, if a bit simpler: salads, appetizers, burgers and two or three meat choices. Psichoula, or Bread Crumbs, is a great dish, composed of a poached egg, smoked ham, fresh herbs and a potato crumble. The steaks, meanwhile, are served on large wooden boards with lots of sides and salad. Firmly believing that you can’t have a good meal without good wine,

the owner promotes the halfbottle concept so that everyone at the table can drink what goes best with their own meal.

INFO 18 Nikolaou Mantzarou & Kotta Roulia • Tel. (+30) 2310.532.800

Charoupi Charoupi, which opened just a few months ago, serves Cretan cuisine, which is underrepresented in Thessaloniki.

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In recent years, Philippos has been experimenting with old recipes as well, such as a bougatsa pie with no filling.

This recipe hails from Byzantine times and consists of buttersmeared layers of filo folded into a pocket and baked so that it’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Each pie (stuffed or not) costs around €1.70.

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Brizola

CHAROUPI

MARINA

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INFO 4 Doxis, Ladadika • Tel. (+30) 2310. 526.262

Clochard This restaurant has been a symbol of urban dining for more than three decades and was once where the city’s businessmen would take their lunch breaks or gather for dinner in a setting of velvet seats, thick drapes and linen tablecloths. The décor has now changed – a ceiling piece gives the impression of eating under a star-studded sky – and the restaurant serves an evolved Mediterranean cuisine that has helped keep it at the top of residents’ and visitors’ preference lists. Bestsellers include the red porgy carpaccio with bottarga and avocado; the foie gras with smoked eel and honey; and the pie of wild legumes. We also recommend the rooster with mushroom risotto and smoked Metsovone cheese, to be enjoyed with one

of the 60-odd reds from local and international winemakers.

The wine bar’s privileged position within the dining space illustrates the importance that the owners place on the grape.

INFO 4 Proxenou Koromila • Tel. (+30) 2310.239.805

DIAVASI Relauched as a restaurant four years ago after a radical makeover, Diavasi began life in 1977 as a simple grill house run by the Handaki family.

Today, they continue to prepare hundreds of their famous spicy soutzoukakia (meat patties), which arrive on large platters at nearly every table. The pork gyro is made entirely in-house and is beautifully grilled; the fried potatoes are fresh and hand-cut; the liver is a good if somewhat unusual menu item; and the Russian salad, from an old family recipe, accompanies most of the dishes. Only bottled Greek wine is available. The

restaurant also delivers.

INFO 13 Pavlou Mela • Tel. (+30) 2310.220.596

Duck Private Cheffing You will need a reservation to get a table and a GPS to find the place, which resembles a country home and stands somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The restaurant serves a range of delicacies, from fresh French cheeses like camembert with marmalade, to rustic rooster with hylopites (traditional pasta), to fish stew and baked oysters. The baked veal’s head with potatoes is a Sunday treat. The wine list is quite extensive and consists mostly of Greek brands, with a few foreign wines that don’t seem to have much reason for being there.

INFO 3 Chalkis, Patriarchika Pileas • Tel. (+30) 2315.519.333

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imports amazing products from his native island and prepares them simply and beautifully.

The space is modern, with a blend of wood and metal, and the hospitality traditional. You get a glass of raki, and a few rusks and olives when you sit down. The cheeses are aged and of a quality level that is hard to find outside of Crete. You must try the cave-aged anthotyro (a soft white cheese)and the stamnagathi (spiny chicory) with chickpeas and a soft-boiled egg, as well as the fried rosemary rabbit with a sauce of grapemust and a purée of roasted eggplant. For dessert, you will be served xerotigana, a sheet of fried filo made with flour from carob beans (after which the restaurant is named), slathered in honey and sprinkled with walnuts. This is possibly the only place in Thessaloniki where you can taste such a selection of Cretan wines, and the overall value for money is great.

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BANTIS

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Grada Nuevo With a history of successful culinary ideas and a loyal clientele, Grada Nuevo has become a classic choice for luxury dining. Every year since 1996, a new seasonal dish has been added to the regular menu, including gems such as carpaccio of Greek bonito, roasted oysters, and fish tartare with caviar. The wine list is also very interesting. Compiled by the owner, Apostolos Rigas, it consists of more than 80 wines grouped in character categories such as “refreshing and light,” “elegant with a medium body,” or “rich and complex.”

INFO 14 Kalapothaki • Tel. (+30) 2310.271.074

Maitr & Margarita This restaurant is located on revitalized Verias Street and boasts stylish touches that you won’t find in any other Greek cuisine bistro. The owners are friends from Komotini; they share their time between the kitchen and the dining room. Sharing is also the food philosophy here, and the dishes that are passed around are primarily Mediterranean, with good quality ingredients treated with proper cooking techniques and flavored with delicious sauces. There is a welcome hint of madness as well, with a number of the recipes displaying unique whimsical notes. The wine list has been carefully curated

and, if you ask for help, you’ll get a good recommendation.

If you’re interested, they’ll be glad to give you some background information on the wineries as well. There’s also a selection of beers from Greek microbreweries.

INFO Verias & Irodou Attikou • Tel. (+30) 2314.007.586

Marina Take a drive to the harbor of Potidea, less than an hour from Thessaloniki, for a meal by the sea. As its name suggests, Marina is located in a small bay with a view of the port. It serves Mediterranean dishes of fresh fish and other seafood, including shellfish, in a modern setting and offers great service.

For the quintessential meze experience, start with kakavia (fish stew) followed by a little cured fish, accompanying your food with a glass of tsipouro or ouzo. The pastas and risottos, including the mussel risotto and the seafood giouvetsi (“roast”) are all delicious; they’re consistent bestsellers among the regular clientele. The garlic-butter shrimp and stuffed calamari are also popular choices. The wine list is large, with an emphasis on whites that pair well with the menu.

INFO Potidea Marina, Nea Potidea • Tel. (+30) 2373.041.570

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MAVRI THALAsSA

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Mavri Hina The cuisine here is Mediterranean, with an emphasis on local culinary traditions. Mavri Hina serves dishes such as pies stuffed with cheeses or meats; homemade kavourmas (cured ham) with fried eggs; pastas; and a swordfish and potato, celery and sea-fennel fry-up. All in all, it’s a nice addition to the city’s food scene. So, if you’re in or near Pylaia, remember that this is just the place for regional specialties accompanied by good wines and impressive desserts.

INFO 49 Profitis Ilias, Pilea • Tel. (+30) 2310.324.303

Mavri Thalassa Regarded as one of the best seafood restaurants in the city, Mavri Thalassa is located in the suburb of Kalamaria. It is perfect for business dinners or special family meals, with standouts that include all the shellfish dishes, the grilled

fish and the taramosalata (roe spread). Also try the red mullet filet (fried or grilled) or the fricasseed cod. The wine list is quite extensive, with great wineries and vintages to please connoisseurs and novices alike.

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TA S T E E A T I N G O U T

MAVRI HINA

INFO 3 Nikolaou Plastira Tel. (+30) 2310.932.542

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Mourga Far away from the waterfront and its strip of seafood restaurants, this small urban kafeneio serves some of the best fish and seafood in town.

An unassuming establishment, it implements a first-come first-served system that involves having only one menu, which is passed from diner to diner.

This can be somewhat offputting to newcomers but has been accepted by the many regulars who come here for the great food. If you don’t mind waiting your turn, you’re in for a surprise, as the menu changes every day, depending on what the owner-chef finds at the fish

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Clochard

GRADA NUEVO

market. The vegetables are seasonal and largely organic.

There isn’t any standard dish to recommend, but we do guarantee that anything you order will be good, flavorful and made with care.

INFO 12 Christopoulou • Tel. (+30) 2310.268.826

Nama Nama, which opened just a few months ago at the start of Olimpou Street in the Aghion Apostolon neighborhood, has a view of the local church, a simple interior and a friendly ambience. The food is based on local ingredients (from smallscale farmers and producers) that are given imaginative makeovers. We tried the grilled smoked mackerel served with an unusual hummus with cilantro; the dough fritters with pastourma (air-dried cured 156

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beef) and tomato marmalade; and a salad of zucchini marinated in carob oil and pesto. The bread, served in a wooden box, is sprinkled with fresh herbs and paprika. Our favorite dish of all was the beef cheeks cooked with orzo and served with a sprinkling of grated myzithra, a soft white fresh cheese. The taverna has an exclusive partnership with a local winery, so the wine list is limited but very well priced.

INFO 1 Olimpou • Tel. (+30) 2313.088.241

Nea Folia This place started out as one of the city’s hidden tavernas, serving blue-collar workers simple, hearty fare and lots of wine after work. Today, it is a restaurant with a passion for the local cuisine that has helped to make Thessaloniki’s food

scene so special. Nea Folia’s friendly owners cook with heart, delivering traditional dishes with tons of flavor. The stews are amazing, the meats all come with sauces that feature fruits and wine, and the cooks rely on culinary techniques brought to the city from Asia Minor nearly a century ago. Overall the food is complex, if somewhat heavy.

If you enjoy cheese, you’ll find a very nice selection here, including products from the Cycladic islands, Crete and mainland Greece.

INFO 4 Aristomenous • Tel. (+30) 2310.960.383

Poselli Pizza In the five short years since it opened, Poselli Pizza has made Thessalonians see pizza in a whole new light. Run by five young entrepreneurs – who also own La Doze, one of the

city’s best cocktail-bar/dance clubs, right next door – Poselli’s is an excellent example of an establishment that serves high-quality street food, with amazing value for money. Thin and crispy, the pizzas come with all sorts of imaginative toppings and cost €2-€3 a slice (€8-€12 for a whole pie). Around 16 different kinds are produced every day, the most popular of which is either the truffles, buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil pizza, or the Greca, made with tomato confit, zucchini, feta cheese, herbs and yogurt. The place stays open very late at night, making it a perfect pit-stop on the road to staving off a hangover.

INFO 2 Vilara & Andrea Syngrou • Tel. (+30) 2314.019.687

SPONSORED

MEDITERRANEAN COSMOS

The largest shopping mall in northern Greece, with over 200 stores featuring a total of 6000 brands, this is the perfect place for getting all your shopping done in a single day. You can cover all your needs at Mediterranean Cosmos. Whtether it’s books, a new computer, toys, groceries, eyewear or home décor items – or even a manicure or a new haircut – you’ll find it all here.

This newly renovated retail destination also features 30 cafés and restaurants, and for after-shopping entertainment, there are different events that take place all year around, as well as a play area and a state-of-the-art cinema.

Discover the center of your world … and redefine your shopping and entertainment experience!

HAITOGLOU

The Macedonian halva and tahini from Haitoglou Bros is famous among sweet tooths throughout Greece. Produced in Thessaloniki since 1924, these sesame-based confections are what put the company on the map. Today, the firm’s production extends to other sweet treats; their marmalades, honey and other traditional sweets, such as the glucose syrup-based fondants are of equally high quality. Haitoglou Bros is a leading Greek food manufacturer, exporting a wide range of products to over 50 countries, and it’s Europe’s largest sesame processor as well.

BLÉ

Blé is no ordinary pastry shop. It is a modern business housed in a beautiful neoclassical building, whose interior, designed by Claudio Silvestrin, is just as impressive as its exterior. The walls and floor are made of dark volcanic stone, creating a perfect backdrop for the impressive white wood-burning oven, the tallest in the world. The spotlight is on artisanal bread, made with unique varieties of raising agents and lots of love. Cretan specialties, decadent pastries, ice cream and cakes will all fight for your attention, and the fresh pies and sandwiches make for a perfect lunch or dinner to go.

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SPONSORED

MARGONI

Since 1989, the M. Margoni brand in Thessaloniki has become synonymous with beautiful, bold and colorful, yet very wearable, stone-centered jewelry. M. Margoni combines gold and silver, as well as precious and semi-precious gemstones, in innovative yet harmonious ways.

Mary Margoni and Yannis Mandilakis are the designers behind the line, which is available at the M. Margoni shop in Thessaloniki. Some pieces have faceted stones, while in others, the stones have been left in their natural rough form. Just browsing through the store is a feast for the eye; the only hard part is choosing what to get.

1 Proxenou Koromila, Thessaloniki.

Open: Mon-Wed-Sat 10:00-15:30, Tue-Thu-Fri 10:00-14:00 and 17:30-21:00

ATTICA

The branches of attica are the most fashion-forward department stores in Thessaloniki. Whether in the city center, on Tsimiski Street, or at the Mediterranean Cosmos Shopping Mall, attica department stores showcase an extensive range in womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, shoes, accessories and cosmetics, with ample choice in designer brands, great store ambiance and high-level customer services. Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren, Moncler, Boss, Boggi, Diane Von Furstenberg, Armani Collezioni, Helmut Lang, MaxMara, Paul Smith, John Varvatos, Tommy Hilfiger, Tod’s, Hogan, Church’s and Kurt Geiger are just a few of the brands available in-store to satisfy every need and desire. And for non-EU residents, tax-free service is available, making shopping an even more rewarding experience.

FANTOM TOYS

For all of you visiting Thessaloniki with your kids, a stop at Fantom Toys is bound to earn you parent points, and you’ll have a pretty good time, too!

The No.1 toy store in the city, with over 18,000 quality toys, Fantom Toys is a paradise for kids of all ages - and an adult’s easy solution for all birthdays and holidays.

If you’re not sure what to get, the staff will be glad to help you pick out the perfect gift for any child, and for every occasion.

Follow Fantom Toys on Facebook for updates and special offers.

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