Places of Interest

The White Tower

A beautifully built, round fort on the eastern waterfront. It was built in the 15th century as part of the city's seafortifications and it has become the most recognised landmark of Thessaloniki. During the Ottoman occupation it became a symbol of terror because of the gruesome executions of prisoners that took place there. After the city's liberation in 1912, the tower was whitewashed as if to purify it from the blood with which it was so often stained, hence the name "White Tower". The Tower houses the "Museum of History and Art of Thessaloniki".

The Rotunda

A circular building erected in A.D. 306 as the Pantheon or Mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Galerius. Under Theodosius the Great, it became a Christian church with only a few additions and alterations. Its mosaics are unique for the era (4th century). Located on Dimitriou Gounari Street, the Rotunda and the sculpted Arch of Galerius in Kamara Square are two of the most recognisable sights of the city. Just across the street, Navarino Square displays the remains of the city's ancient market.

The Church of Saint Demetrios

The monument is a five-aisled basilica, with a narthex and a transept. Under the sanctuary and the transept there is the crypt. The chapel of Saint Euthymios is attached to the south-east corner of the church. Very few fragments of the sculptural and pictorial (mosaics, wall paintings) decoration of the church survived the disastrous fire of 1917 but they are representative of the successive phases of the monument's history.

The Old Town or Upper Town

The Old Town boasts many of Thessaloniki's tourist attractions, particularly some of its oldest Byzantine churches and buildings. You can catch glimpses of what "Old Salonica" must have been like in the walled Kastra quarter of the city, on the hillside beyond the modern grid of streets.

Museums

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
A museum well worth visiting, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki houses art from Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic eras, as well as artefacts from Ancient Macedonia including gold ornamental art and ancient Greek weapons. (Plateia HANTH)

Museum of Byzantine Culture

An award-winning museum, the architecture harks back to enclosed Byzantine courtyards. The museum's exhibits illustrate Byzantine history and culture through icons, art and every day artefacts.
(2 Stratou Street)

Other important museums of Thessaloniki include the following:

• Museum of the Macedonian Struggle
• Thessaloniki History Centre
• Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and Thrace
• Museum of the Jewish Presence in Thessaloniki
• State Museum of Contemporary Art
• Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
• Museum of History and Art of Thessaloniki (the White Tower)
• Thessaloniki Cinema Museum
• Museum of Ancient Greek, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Instruments
• Thessaloniki Science Centre and Technology Museum