Nearby Attractions
The area around Valaoritou St. is an excellent destination if you want to feel the city’s rhythm and experience its nightlife like a true Thessalonian. It is an old commercial area which has gotten new recognition with the numerous bars, beer houses and clubs and restaurants that have flourished over the past decade in its old, often beautiful neo-classical buildings, making it a hotspot for the young population.
The White Tower
The White Tower of Thessaloniki is a monument and museum on the waterfront of the city.The present tower replaced an old Byzantine fortification, known to have been mentioned around the 12th century, that the Ottoman Empire reconstructed to fortify the city's harbor. The tower became a notorious prison and scene of mass executions during the period of Ottoman rule.The White Tower was substantially remodeled and its exterior was whitewashed after Greece gained control of the city in 1912. It has been adopted as the symbol of the city.
Aristotelous Square
Aristotelous Square is the main city square of Thessaloniki and is located on Nikis avenue (on the city's waterfront), in the city center. The history of Aristotelous Square begins with the Great Fire of 1917 that destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki. It was designed by French architect Ernest Hébrard in 1918, but most of the square was built in the 1950s. Many buildings surrounding the central square have since been renovated and its northern parts were largely restored in the 2000s.
Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia is one of the oldest churches in that city still standing today. It is one of several monuments in Thessaloniki included as a World Heritage Site on the UNESCO list. Since the 3rd century, there was a church in the location of the current Hagia Sophia. In the 8th century, the present structure was erected, based on the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). In 1205, when the Fourth Crusade captured the city, the Hagia Sophia was converted into the cathedral of Thessaloniki, which it remained after the city was returned to the Byzantine Empire in 1246. After the capture of Thessaloniki by the Ottomans on 29 March 1430, the church was converted into a mosque. It was reconverted to a church upon the liberation of Thessaloniki in 1912.
Arch of Galerius
The Arch of Galerius stands on what is now the intersection of Egnatia & Dimitriou Gounari streets. The arch was built in 298 to 299 AD and dedicated in 303 AD to celebrate the victory of the tetrarch Galerius over the Sassanid Persians at the Battle of Satala and capture of their capital Ctesiphon in 298. The two pillars flanking the central arched passageway retain their sculpted marble slabs, which depict the wars of Galerius against the Persians in broadly panegyric terms. Understanding of the sculptural program of the arch is limited by the loss of the majority of the marble panels, but the remains give an impression of the whole.What remains of the arch asserts the glory of the tetrarchy and the prominence of Galerius within that system.
Hagios Demetrios Church
The Church of Saint Demetrios is situated on the site of previous churches built over the ruins of the Roman bath where St. Demetrios the Myrrhgusher was imprisoned and martyred. The present structure is a reconstruction of the seventh century church that was destroyed by fire in 1917. The church is a basilica with five apses, a narthex, and transept.