Balkans day 16: Salonika

Thessaloniki – or Salonika as it was often referred to in twentieth-century literature, the title I’ve used for this blog post for the sake of Balkan thematic consistency – is a city with a hell of a history. Founded by a contemporary of Alexander the Great (and the husband of his half-sister) circa 315 BC, co-capital of the Byzantine Empire for a time, and the only majority-Jewish city in the world during the sixteenth century, there is history on every street corner. Quite literally: you’ll be walking along past apartment blocks along a main road and suddenly come to a fenced-off hole in the ground where some Archaeology (TM) is taking place.

Sea view from the top of the White Tower

Random dig site

I got up scandalously late today (What? I’m on holiday, after all. Don’t judge me!), perhaps because I crossed a time zone boundary into Greece yesterday, which I assume caused me to be jetlagged. A beautiful Mediterranean day today, with no sign of yesterday’s rain. First stop was the Church of Saint Demetrios, an impressive building dedicated to the patron saint of the city.

Chancel of Saint Demetrios

Ciborium with saint’s remains

Then it was off to the White Tower, and to a nearby restaurant with moussaka – need to get my Greek food fix in today, as I’m moving on tomorrow. Taking my time over the moussaka meant that I missed the archaeological museum, which closes at 15:30, so I went on a wander around some more nice parts of town.

I also made this video of the trajectory of the first (western) part of my trip, which I hope you enjoy!