Visit Thessaloniki

Why visit Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is the cooler second city of Greece — a Mediterranean port founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, named for his wife (Alexander the Great's half-sister), and the cultural capital of the Greek north. It's also the country's student city, with around 100,000 university students keeping the long Aristotelous Square buzzing late into the night. The most photographed sight is the seafront White Tower, an Ottoman-era cylindrical fortress that's been the city's symbol since the late 15th century; climb its spiral ramp for the panorama over the Thermaic Gulf. From there, walk along the 4km Nea Paralia waterfront promenade with its evocative public sculptures (the Umbrellas by Zongolopoulos is the icon) past the modern art museum to Mount Olympus on a clear day in the distance. Inland, an extraordinary string of UNESCO-listed Byzantine churches — Hagia Sophia, the Rotunda, the tiny domed Hosios David with its 5th-century mosaic — punctuates the residential streets. Don't miss the dramatic Archaeological Museum (the gold treasures of Philip II of Macedon's royal tombs from nearby Vergina) and the Modiano Market, recently restored, for excellent food and small bars. Thessaloniki's food scene is widely considered the best in Greece.