In 2013,National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide,[14] while in 2014Financial Times FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle.[15][16]
Minor variants are also found, includingΘετταλονίκηThettaloníkē,[17][18]ΘεσσαλονίκειαThessaloníkeia,[19]ΘεσσαλονείκηThessaloneíkē, andΘεσσαλονικέωνThessalonikéon.[20][21]
In English, the city can be called Thessaloniki, Salonika, Thessalonica, Salonica, Thessalonika, Saloniki, Thessalonike, or Thessalonice. In printed texts, the most common name and spelling until the early 20th century was Thessalonica, matching the Latin name; through most of rest of the 20th century, it was Salonika. By about 1985, the most common single name became Thessaloniki.[26][27] The forms with the Latin ending-a taken together remain more common than those with the phonetic Greek ending-i and much more common than the ancient transliteration-e.[28]
Thessaloniki was revived as the city's official name in 1912, when it joined theKingdom of Greece during theBalkan Wars.[29] In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deepL, characteristic of the accent of the modernMacedonian dialect ofGreek.[30][31] The name is often abbreviated asΘεσ/νίκη.[citation needed]
Ancient coin depictingCassander, son ofAntipater, and founder of the city of Thessaloniki
The city was founded around 315 BC by theKing Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town ofTherma and 26 other local villages.[32][33] He named it after his wifeThessalonike,[34] a half-sister ofAlexander the Great and princess of Macedonia as daughter ofPhilip II. Under the kingdom of Macedonia the city retained its own autonomy and parliament[35] and evolved to become the most important city in Macedonia.[34]
Twenty years after the fall of theKingdom of Macedonia in 168 BC, in 148 BC, Thessalonica was made the capital of theRoman province of Macedonia.[36] Thessalonica became afree city of theRoman Republic underMark Antony in 41 BC.[34][37] It grew to be an important trade hub located on theVia Egnatia,[38] the road connectingDyrrhachium withByzantium,[39] which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centres of commerce such asRome andByzantium.[40] Thessaloniki also lies at the southern end of the main north–south route through the Balkans along the valleys of theMorava andAxios river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece.[41] The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia.[38]
At the time of the Roman Empire, about 50 AD, Thessaloniki was also one of theearly centres of Christianity; while on his second missionary journey,Paul the Apostle visited this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed the seeds for Thessaloniki's first Christian church. Later, Paul wrote letters to the new church at Thessaloniki, with two letters to the church under his name appearing in theBiblical canon asFirst andSecond Thessalonians. Some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the first written book of theNew Testament.[42]
In 306 AD, Thessaloniki acquired a patron saint,St. Demetrius, a Christian whom Galerius is said to have put to death. Most scholars agree withHippolyte Delehaye's theory that Demetrius was not a Thessaloniki native, but his veneration was transferred to Thessaloniki when it replacedSirmium as the main military base in the Balkans.[43] Abasilical church dedicated to St. Demetrius,Hagios Demetrios, was first built in the fifth century AD and is now aUNESCO World Heritage Site.
From the first years of theByzantine Empire, Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire afterConstantinople,[49][50][51] both in terms of wealth and size,[49] with a population of 150,000 in the mid-12th century.[52] The city held this status until its transfer to Venetian control in 1423. In the 14th century, the city's population exceeded 100,000 to 150,000,[53][54][55] making it larger thanLondon at the time.[56]
During the sixth and seventh centuries, the area around Thessaloniki was invaded byAvars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several times, as narrated in theMiracles of Saint Demetrius.[57] Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki;[58] however, modern scholars consider this migration to have been on a much smaller scale than previously thought.[58][59] In the ninth century, the Byzantine missionariesCyril and Methodius, both natives of the city, created the firstliterary language of the Slavs, theOld Church Slavonic, most likely based on the Slavic dialect used in the hinterland of their hometown.[60][61][62][63][64]
The economic expansion of the city continued through the 12th century as the rule of theKomnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204,[66] when Constantinople wascaptured by the forces of theFourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in theKingdom of Thessalonica[67] — which then became the largestvassal of theLatin Empire. In 1224, the Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by theDespotate of Epirus, a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, underTheodore Komnenos Doukas who crowned himself Emperor,[68] and the city became the capital of the short-livedEmpire of Thessalonica.[68][69][70][71] Following his defeat atKlokotnitsa however in 1230,[68][72] the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of theSecond Bulgarian Empire until it was recovered again in 1246, this time by theNicaean Empire.[68]
In 1342,[73] the city saw the rise of theCommune of the Zealots, an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor,[74] which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary.[73] The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire,[73][74][75] as it had its own government, a form of republic.[73] The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and the city was reunited with the rest of the Empire.[73]
Thecapture ofGallipoli by theOttomans in 1354 kicked off a rapid Turkish expansion in the southernBalkans, conducted both by the Ottomans themselves and by semi-independent Turkishghazi warrior-bands. By 1369, the Ottomans were able toconquer Adrianople (modernEdirne), which became their new capital until1453.[76] Thessalonica, ruled byManuel II Palaiologos (r. 1391–1425) itself surrendered after alengthy siege in 1383–1387, along with most of eastern and central Macedonia, to the forces of SultanMurad I.[77] Initially, the surrendered cities were allowed complete autonomy in exchange for payment of thekharajpoll-tax. Following the death of EmperorJohn V Palaiologos in 1391, however, Manuel II escaped Ottoman custody and went to Constantinople, where he was crowned emperor, succeeding his father. This angered SultanBayezid I, who laid waste to the remaining Byzantine territories, and then turned on Chrysopolis, which was captured by storm and largely destroyed.[78] Thessalonica too submitted again to Ottoman rule at this time, possibly after brief resistance, but was treated more leniently: although the city was brought under full Ottoman control, the Christian population and the Church retained most of their possessions, and the city retained its institutions.[79][80]
Thessalonica remained in Ottoman hands until 1403, when Emperor Manuel II sided with Bayezid's eldest sonSüleyman in theOttoman succession struggle that broke out following the crushing defeat and capture of Bayezid at theBattle of Ankara againstTamerlane in 1402. In exchange for his support, in theTreaty of Gallipoli the Byzantine emperor secured the return of Thessalonica, part of its hinterland, theChalcidice peninsula, and the coastal region between the riversStrymon andPineios.[81][82] Thessalonica and the surrounding region were given as an autonomousappanage toJohn VII Palaiologos. After his death in 1408, he was succeeded by Manuel's third son, theDespotAndronikos Palaiologos, who was supervised byDemetrios Leontares until 1415. Thessalonica enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity after 1403, as the Turks were preoccupied withtheir own civil war, but was attacked by the rival Ottoman pretenders in 1412 (byMusa Çelebi[83]) and 1416 (during the uprising ofMustafa Çelebi againstMehmed I[84]).[85][86] Once the Ottoman civil war ended, the Turkish pressure on the city began to increase again. Just as during the 1383–1387 siege, this led to a sharp division of opinion within the city between factions supporting resistance, if necessary with Western help, or submission to the Ottomans.[87]
In 1423, Despot Andronikos Palaiologos ceded it to theRepublic of Venice with the hope that it could be protected from the Ottomans who werebesieging the city. The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured by theOttoman SultanMurad II on 29 March 1430.[88]
Hot chamber of the men's baths in theBey Hamam (1444)
When SultanMurad IIcaptured Thessaloniki andsacked it in 1430,[89] contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved.[90]Ottoman artillery was used to secure the city's capture and bypass its double walls.[89] Upon the conquest of Thessaloniki, some of its inhabitants escaped,[91] including intellectuals such asTheodorus Gaza "Thessalonicensis" andAndronicus Callistus.[92] However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as a major imperial city and trading hub.[93][94] Thessaloniki andSmyrna, although smaller in size thanConstantinople, were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs.[93] Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field ofshipping,[93] but also in manufacturing,[94] while most of the city's tradespeople wereJewish.[93]
Demographics of Thessaloniki between 1500 and 1950[95]
During the Ottoman period, the city's population ofOttomanMuslims (including those ofTurkish origin, as well asAlbanian Muslim,Bulgarian Muslim, especially the Pomaks andGreek Muslim of convert origin) and Muslim Roma like theSepečides Romani grew substantially. According to the 1478 census Selânik (Ottoman Turkish:سلانیك), as the city came to be known in Ottoman Turkish, had 6,094 Christian Orthodoxhouseholds, 4,320 Muslim ones, and some Catholic. No Jews were recorded in the census suggesting that the subsequent influx of Jewish population was not linked[96] to the already existingRomaniots community.[97] Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th century, however, nearly 20,000Sephardic Jews immigrated to Greece from theIberian Peninsula following their expulsion from Spain by the 1492Alhambra Decree.[98] By c. 1500, the number of Christians had grown to 7,986, the Muslims to 8,575, and the Jews to 3,770. In 1519, according to Ottoman archives, the population of Thessaloniki numbered 1,374 Muslim households and 282 bachelors, for a total of 6,870, 1,078 Christian households and 355 bachelors, for a total of about 6,635, and 3,143 Hebrew households with 530 bachelors, for a total of 15,715, 54% of the city's population.[99] Some historians consider the Ottoman regime's invitation to Jewish settlement was a strategy to prevent the Christian population from dominating the city.[100] The city became both the largest Jewish city in the world and the only Jewish majority city in the world in the 16th century. As a result, Thessaloniki attracted persecuted Jews from all over the world.[101]
With the break out of theGreek War of Independence in the spring of 1821, the governor Yusuf Bey imprisoned in his headquarters more than 400 hostages. On 18 May, when Yusuf learned of the insurrection to the villages ofChalkidiki, he ordered half of his hostages to be slaughtered before his eyes. The mulla of Thessaloniki, Hayrıülah, gives the following description of Yusuf's retaliations: "Every day and every night you hear nothing in the streets of Thessaloniki but shouting and moaning. It seems that Yusuf Bey, the Yeniceri Agasi, the Subaşı, the hocas and the ulemas have all gone raving mad."[106] It would take until the end of the century for the city's Greek community to recover.[107]
Thessaloniki was also aJanissary stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while also killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known asThe Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history.[108] In 1870–1917, driven by economic growth, the city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917.[109]
The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an "official" face with the creation of theGovernment House[110] while a number of new public buildings were built in theeclectic style in order to project the European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire.[110][111] The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889,[112] efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879,[113] the first tram service started in 1888[114] and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908.[115] In 1888, theOriental Railway connected Thessaloniki to Central Europe via rail throughBelgrade and toMonastir in 1893, while theThessaloniki–Istanbul Junction Railway connected it toConstantinople in 1896.[113]
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern republic ofTurkey, was born in Thessaloniki (then known as Selânik in Ottoman Turkish) in 1881. His birthplace on İslahhane Caddesi (now 24 Apostolou Street) is now theAtatürk Museum and forms part of the Turkish consulate complex.[116]
During this period, and since the 16th century, Thessaloniki's Jewish element was the most dominant; it was the only city in Europe where the Jews were a majority of the total population.[119] The city was ethnically diverse andcosmopolitan. In 1890, its population had risen to 118,000, 47% of which were Jews, followed by Turks (22%), Greeks (14%), Bulgarians (8%), Roma (2%), and others (7%).[120] By 1913, the ethnic composition of the city had changed so that the population stood at 157,889, with Jews at 39%, followed again by Turks (29%), Greeks (25%), Bulgarians (4%), Roma (2%), and others at 1%.[121] Many varied religions were practiced and many languages spoken, includingJudeo-Spanish, a dialect of Spanish spoken by the city's Jews.
Thessaloniki was also the centre of activities of theYoung Turks, a political reform movement, which goal was to replace the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy with a constitutional government. The Young Turks started out as an underground movement, until finally in 1908, they started theYoung Turk Revolution from the city of Thessaloniki, which lead to of them gaining control over the Ottoman Empire and put an end to the Ottoman sultans power.[122]Eleftherias (Liberty) Square, where the Young Turks gathered at the outbreak of the revolution, is named after the event.[123] Turkey's first presidentMustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was born and raised in Thessaloniki, was a member of the Young Turks in his soldier days and also partook in the Young Turk Revolution.
As theFirst Balkan War broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. WhenEleftherios Venizelos,Prime Minister at the time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (nowBitola,Republic of North Macedonia), Venizelos replied "Θεσσαλονίκη με κάθε κόστος!" (Thessaloniki, at all costs!).[124] With the outnumbered Ottoman Army fighting a rearguard action against well-prepared Greek forces atYenidje, Bulgarian troops advancing close by, and the Ottoman naval base at Thessaloniki blockaded by the Greek Navy, GeneralHasan Tahsin Pasha soon realised that it had become untenable to defend the city. The sinking of the Ottoman ironcladFeth-i Bülend in Thessaloniki harbour on 31 October [O.S. 18 October] 1912, although militarily negligible, further damaged Ottoman morale. As both Greece andBulgaria wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies.[125] On 8 November 1912 (26 OctoberOld Style), the feast day of the city's patron saint,Saint Demetrius, the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki.[126] The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece and Hasan Tahsin Pasha, commander of the city's defences, told the Bulgarian officials that "I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered".[125] After theSecond Balkan War, Thessaloniki and the rest of the Greek portion of Macedonia were officially annexed to Greece by theTreaty of Bucharest in 1913.[127] On 18 March 1913George I of Greece was assassinated in the city byAlexandros Schinas.[128]
On 30 December 1915 anAustrianair raid on Thessaloniki alarmed many town civilians and killed at least one person, and in response the Allied troops based there arrested the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkishvice-consuls and their families and dependents and put them on a battleship, and billeted troops in their consulate buildings in Thessaloniki.[136]
Most of the old centre of the city was destroyed by theGreat Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, which was started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917.[137] The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless; according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were unemployed.[137] Two churches and many synagogues and mosques were lost. More than one quarter of the total population of approximately 271,157 became homeless.[137] Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it could implement the new redesign of the city according to the European-style urban plan[10] prepared by a group of architects, including the BritonThomas Mawson, and headed by French architectErnest Hébrard.[137] Property values fell from 6.5 millionGreek drachmas to 750,000.[138]
After the defeat of Greece in theGreco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, apopulation exchange took place between Greece and Turkey.[134] Over 160,000 ethnicGreeks deported from the formerOttoman Empire – particularly Greeks fromAsia Minor[139] andEast Thrace were resettled in the city,[134] changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims, including OttomanGreek Muslims, were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people.[140] This made the Greek element dominant,[141] while the Jewish population was reduced to a minority for the first time since the 16th century.[142]
This was part of an overall process of modern Hellenization, which affected nearly all minorities within Greece, turning the region into a hotspot of ethnic nationalism.[143]
DuringWorld War II Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded byFascist Italy (with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone),[145] and, the Italians having failed intheir invasion of Greece, it fell to the forces ofNazi Germany on 8 April 1941[146] and went under German occupation. The Nazis soon forced the Jewish residents into a ghetto near the railroads and on 15 March 1943 began the deportation of the city's Jews toAuschwitz andBergen-Belsen concentration camps.[147][148][149] Most were immediately murdered in thegas chambers. Of the 45,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz, only 4% survived.[150][151]
Indian troops sweep for mines in Salonika, 1944
During a speech inReichstag, Hitler claimed that the intention of his Balkan campaign, was to prevent the Allies from establishing "a new Macedonian front", as they had during WWI. The importance of Thessaloniki toNazi Germany can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially,Hitler had planned to incorporate it directly intoNazi Germany[152] and not have it controlled by a puppet state such as theHellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised toYugoslavia as a reward for joining theAxis on 25 March 1941).[153]
As it was the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying forces, the firstGreek resistance group formed in Thessaloniki (under the nameΕλευθερία,Elefthería, "Freedom")[154] as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe,[155] also by the nameEleftheria. Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" (Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp),[156] where members of the resistance and other anti-fascists[156] were held either to be killed or sent to other concentration camps.[156] In September 1943, the Germans established the Dulag 410 transit camp forItalian Military Internees in the city.[157] On 30 October 1944, after battles with the retreating German army and the Security Battalions ofPoulos, forces ofELAS entered Thessaloniki as liberators headed byMarkos Vafiadis (who did not obey orders from ELAS leadership in Athens to not enter the city). Pro-EAM celebrations and demonstrations followed in the city.[158][159] In the1946 monarchy referendum, the majority of the locals voted in favor of a republic, contrary to the rest of Greece.[160]
After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to theUNESCOWorld Heritage list in 1988.[161] In 1997, Thessaloniki was celebrated as theEuropean Capital of Culture,[162] sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in existence by 2010.[163] In 2004, the city hosted a number of thefootball events as part of the2004 Summer Olympics.[164]
Today, Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs inSoutheastern Europe, with its port, thePort of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland.[11] On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece.[165] The city also forms one of the largest student centers in Southeastern Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and was theEuropean Youth Capital in 2014.[166][167] Infrastructure improvements came in the 2020s with the upgrade and expansion ofThessaloniki Airport in 2021 and the opening ofThessaloniki Metro in 2024.
Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe of theThermaic Gulf on its eastern coast and is bound byMount Chortiatis on its southeast. Its proximity to imposingmountain ranges, hills and fault lines, especially towards its southeast have historically made the city prone to geological changes.
Since medieval times, Thessaloniki has been hit by strongearthquakes, notably in 1759, 1902, 1978 and 1995.[168] On 19–20 June 1978, the city suffereda series of powerful earthquakes, registering 5.5 and 6.5 on theRichter scale.[169][170] The tremors caused considerable damage to a number of buildings and ancient monuments,[169] but the city withstood the catastrophe without any major problems.[170] One apartment building in central Thessaloniki collapsed during the second earthquake, killing many and raising the final death toll to 51.[169][170]
Winters are somewhat dry, with occasional morning frost. Snowfalls occur more or less every winter, but the snow cover does not last for more than a few days. During the coldest winters, temperatures can drop to −10 °C (14 °F).[175] The record minimum temperature in Thessaloniki was −14 °C (7 °F).[176] On average, Thessaloniki experiences frost (sub-zero temperature) 32 days a year,[175] though that's less common near the city centre, owing to theurban heat island effect which characterizes the city and is more pronounced during the winter months.[177] Foggy days occur sparsely, roughly 17 days a year, mainly in the autumn and winter months.[178] The coldest month of the year in downtown Thessaloniki is January, with an average 24-hour temperature of 8 °C (46 °F).[179] The city is also quite windy in the winter months, with January and February having an average wind speed of about 11 km/h (7 mph).[175]
Thessaloniki's summers are hot and moderately dry.[175] Maximum temperatures usually rise above 30 °C (86 °F),[175] but they rarely exceed 40 °C (104 °F);[175] while the average number of days the temperature is above 32 °C (90 °F) is 32.[175] Generally, thesea breeze blowing from theThermaic gulf helps moderate the city's temperatures.[180] The maximum recorded temperature in the city was 44 °C (111 °F).[175][176] Rain occasionally falls in the summer, mainly during thunderstorms, whileheat waves occur sporadically, though few of them are intense.[181] The hottest months of the year in downtown Thessaloniki are July and August, with an average 24-hour temperature of around 28.0 °C (82 °F).[179]
In 2021, Greece was taken to task by the European Commission for failing to curb consistently highair pollution levels in Thessaloniki.[182]
Themunicipality of Thessaloniki (Greek:Δήμος Θεσαλονίκης) is the second most populous in Greece, afterAthens, with a resident population of 317,778[5] (in 2021) and an area of 19.307 square kilometres (7.454 square miles). The municipality forms the core of theThessaloniki Urban Area, with its central district (the city centre), referred to as theKentro, meaning 'centre' or 'downtown'.[194]
The city's first mayor, Osman Sait Bey, was appointed when the institution of mayor was inaugurated under theOttoman Empire in 1912. The incumbent mayor isStelios Angeloudis. In 2011, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a budget of €464.33 million[195] while the budget of 2012 stands at €409.00 million.[196]
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece. It is an influential city for the northern parts of the country and is the capital of theregion of Central Macedonia and theThessaloniki regional unit. The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace is also based in Thessaloniki, since the city is thede facto capital of theGreek region ofMacedonia.[citation needed]
The city layout changed after 1870, when the seaside fortifications gave way to extensive piers, and many of the oldest walls of the city were demolished, including those surrounding theWhite Tower, which today stands as the main landmark of the city. As parts of the early Byzantine walls were demolished, this allowed the city to expand east and west along the coast.[199]
The expansion ofEleftherias Square towards the sea completed the new commercial hub of the city and at the time was considered one of the most vibrant squares of the city. As the city grew, workers moved to the western districts, because of their proximity to factories and industrial activities; while the middle andupper classes gradually moved from the city-centre to the eastern suburbs, leaving mainly businesses. In 1917, a devastating fire swept through the city and burned uncontrollably for 32 hours.[109] It destroyed the city's historic centre and a large part of its architectural heritage, but paved the way for modern development featuring wider diagonal avenues and monumental squares.[109][200]
After the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, a team of architects and urban planners includingThomas Mawson andErnest Hebrard, a French architect, chose theByzantine era as the basis of their (re)building designs for Thessaloniki's city centre. The new city plan included axes, diagonal streets and monumental squares, with astreet grid that would channel traffic smoothly. The plan of 1917 included provisions for future population expansions and a street and road network that would be, and still is sufficient today.[109] It contained sites for public buildings and provided for the restoration of Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques.
Also called thehistoric centre, it is divided into several districts, including Dimokratias Square (Democracy Sq. known also asVardaris)Ladadika (where many entertainment venues and tavernas are located),Kapani (where thecity's central Modiano market is located),Diagonios,Navarinou,Rotonda,Agia Sofia andHippodromio, which are all located around Thessaloniki's most central point,Aristotelous Square.
Various commercial stoas around Aristotelous are named from the city's past and historic personalities of the city, like stoaHirsch, stoaCarasso/Ermou, Pelosov, Colombou, Levi,Modiano, Morpurgo, Mordoch, Simcha, Kastoria, Malakopi, Olympios, Emboron, Rogoti, Vyzantio, Tatti, Agiou Mina, Karipi etc.[201]
The western portion of the city centre is home to Thessaloniki's law courts, itscentral international railway station and theport, while its eastern side hosts the city's two universities, theThessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, the city'smain stadium, its archaeological and Byzantine museums, the new city hall and its central parks and gardens, namely those of theΧΑΝΘ andPedion tou Areos.
Ano Poli (also calledOld Town and literally theUpper Town) is the heritage-listed district north of Thessaloniki's city centre that was not engulfed by thegreat fire of 1917 and was declared aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site through the ministerial actions ofMelina Merkouri, during the 1980s. It consists of Thessaloniki's most traditional part of the city, still featuring small stone-paved streets, old squares and homes featuring oldGreek andOttoman architecture. It is the favourite area of Thessaloniki's poets, intellectuals and bohemians.
Panorama of the city fromAno Poli
Ano Poli is also the highest point in Thessaloniki and as such, is the location of the city's acropolis, its Byzantine fort, theHeptapyrgion, a large portion of thecity's remaining walls, and with many of its additional Ottoman and Byzantine structures still standing. With the capture of Thessaloniki by the Ottomans in 1430, after a lengthysiege of the city from 1422 to 1430, the Ottomans settled in Ano Poli. This geographical choice was attributed to the higher level of Ano Poli, which was convenient to control the rest of the population remotely, and the microclimate of the area, which favoured better living conditions in terms of hygiene compared to the areas of the centre.
Today, the area provides access to theSeich Sou Forest National Park[202] and features panoramic views of the whole city and theThermaic Gulf. On clear daysMount Olympus, at about 100 km (62 mi) away across the gulf, can also be seen towering the horizon.
In the Municipality of Thessaloniki, in addition to the historic centre and the Upper Town, are included the following districts: Xirokrini, Dikastiria (Courts), Ichthioskala, Palaios Stathmos, Lachanokipoi, Behtsinari, Panagia Faneromeni, Doxa, Saranta Ekklisies, Evangelistria, Triandria, Agia Triada-Faliro, Ippokrateio, Charilaou, Analipsi,Depot and Toumba.
Other extended and densely built-up residential areas areCharilaou andToumba, which is divided into "Ano Toumpa" and "Kato Toumpa". Toumba was named after the homonymous hill of Toumba, where extensive archaeological research takes place. It was created by refugees after the 1922 Asia Minor disaster and the population exchange (1923–24). OnExochon avenue (Rue des Campagnes, today Vasilissis Olgas and Vasileos Georgiou Avenues), was up until the 1920s home to the city's most affluent residents and formed the outermost suburbs of the city at the time, with the area close to theThermaic Gulf, from the 19th-century holiday villas which defined the area.[205][206]
Other districts of the wider urban area of Thessaloniki are Ampelokipi, Eleftherio – Kordelio, Menemeni, Evosmos, Ilioupoli, Stavroupoli, Nikopoli, Neapoli, Polichni, Paeglos, Meteora, Agios Pavlos, Kalamaria, Pylaia and the Sykies.Northwestern Thessaloniki is home toMoni Lazariston, located inStavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centres for the city, includingMOMus–Museum of Modern Art–Costakis Collection and two theatres of theNational Theatre of Northern Greece.[207][208]
In northwestern Thessaloniki many cultural premises exist, such as the open-air TheaterManos Katrakis in Sykies, the Museum of Refugee Hellenism in Neapolis, the municipal theatre and the open-air theatre in Neapoli and the New Cultural Centre of Menemeni (Ellis Alexiou Street).[209] The Stavroupolis Botanical Garden on Perikleous Street includes 1,000 species of plants and is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) oasis of greenery. The Environmental Education Centre in Kordelio was designed in 1997 and is one of a few public buildings of bioclimatic design in Thessaloniki.[210]
Northwest Thessaloniki forms the main entry point into the city of Thessaloniki with the avenues of Monastiriou, Lagkada and 26is Octovriou passing through it, as well as the extension of the A1 motorway, feeding into Thessaloniki's city centre. The area is home to theMacedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL), theThessaloniki railway station, and theZeitenlikAllied memorialmilitary cemetery.
Monuments have also been erected in honour of the fighters of theGreek Resistance, as in these areas the Resistance was very active: the monument of Greek National Resistance in Sykies, the monument of Greek National Resistance in Stavroupolis, the Statue of the struggling Mother in Eptalofos Square and the monument of the young Greeks who were executed by the Nazis on 11 May 1944 in Xirokrini. In Eptalofos, on 15 May 1941, one month after the occupation of the country, the first resistance organization in Greece, "Eleftheria", was founded, with its newspaper and the first illegal printing house in the city of Thessaloniki.[211][212]
Today southeastern Thessaloniki has in some way become an extension of the city centre, with the avenues of Megalou Alexandrou, Georgiou Papandreou (Antheon), Vasileos Georgiou, Vasilissis Olgas, Delfon, Konstantinou Karamanli (Nea Egnatia) and Papanastasiou passing through it, enclosing an area traditionally calledΝτεπώ (Depó,lit. Dépôt), from the name of the old tram station, owned by a French company.
Thechurch ofSaint Demetrius, patron saint of the city, built in the fourth century, is the largest basilica in Greece and one of the city's most prominent Paleochristian monuments.Hagia Sophia,ThessalonikiPanagia Chalkeon church in Thessaloniki (1028 AD), one of the 15 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the cityThe Byzantine Bath of the Upper Town
The church ofHagios Demetrios burned down during theGreat Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, as did many other city monuments, but it was rebuilt. DuringWorld War II, the city was extensively bombed and as such many of Thessaloniki's Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments were heavily damaged.[214] Some of the sites were not restored until the 1980s. Thessaloniki has more monuments listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site than any other city in Greece, a total of 15 monuments.[161] They have been listed since 1988.[161]
Aerial view of the newest section of the promenade (Nea Paralia), which was opened to the public in January 2014
With the 100th anniversary of the 1912 incorporation of Thessaloniki into Greece, the government announced a large-scale redevelopment programme for the city of Thessaloniki, which aims in addressing the current environmental and spatial problems[216] that the city faces. More specifically, the programme will drastically change the physiognomy of the city[216] by relocating the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre and grounds of theThessaloniki International Fair outside the city centre and turning the current location into a large metropolitan park,[217] redeveloping the coastal front of the city,[217] relocating the city's numerous military camps and using the grounds and facilities to create large parklands and cultural centres;[217] and the complete redevelopment of the harbour and theLachanokipoi andDendropotamos districts (behind and near thePort of Thessaloniki) into a commercial business district,[217] with possiblehighrise developments.[218]
The plan also envisions the creation of new wide avenues in the outskirts of the city[217] and the creation of pedestrian-only zones in the city centre.[217] Furthermore, the program includes plans to expand the jurisdiction ofSeich Sou Forest National Park[216] and the improvement of accessibility to and from the Old Town.[216] The ministry has said that the project will take an estimated 15 years to be completed, in 2025.[217]
Part of the plan has been implemented with extensive pedestrianisations within the city centre by the municipality of Thessaloniki and the revitalisation the eastern urban waterfront/promenade,Νέα Παραλία (Néa Paralía,lit. new promenade), with a modern and vibrant design. Its first section opened in 2008, having been awarded as the best public project in Greece of the last five years by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.[219]
The municipality of Thessaloniki's budget for the reconstruction of important areas of the city and the completion of the waterfront, opened in January 2014, was estimated at€28.2 million (US$39.9 million) for the year 2011 alone.[220]
Thessaloniki rose to economic prominence as a major economic hub in theBalkans during the years of theRoman Empire. ThePax Romana and the city's strategic position allowed for the facilitation of trade betweenRome andByzantium (laterConstantinople and nowIstanbul) through Thessaloniki by means of theVia Egnatia.[224] The Via Egnatia also functioned as an important line of communication between the Roman Empire and the nations of Asia,[224] particularly in relation to theSilk Road. With the partition of the Roman Empire intoEast (Byzantine) andWest, Thessaloniki became the second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire after New Rome (Constantinople) in terms of economic might.[49][224] Under the Empire, Thessaloniki was the largest port in the Balkans.[225] As the city passed from Byzantium to theRepublic of Venice in 1423, it was subsequently conquered by theOttoman Empire. Under Ottoman rule the city retained its position as the most important trading hub in the Balkans.[93] Manufacturing, shipping and trade were the most important components of the city's economy during the Ottoman period,[93] and the majority of the city's trade at the time was controlled by ethnicGreeks.[93] Plus, theJewish community was also an important factor in the trade sector.[citation needed]
Historically important industries for the economy of Thessaloniki includedtobacco (in 1946 35% of all tobacco companies in Greece were headquartered in the city, and 44% in 1979)[226] andbanking (in Ottoman years Thessaloniki was a major centre for investment from western Europe, with theBanque de Salonique having a capital of 20 millionFrench francs in 1909).[93]
Theservice sector accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total labour force of Thessaloniki.[227] Of those working in services, 20% were employed in trade; 13% in education and healthcare; 7.1% in real estate; 6.3% in transport, communications and storage; 6.1% in the finance industry and service-providing organizations; 5.7% in public administration and insurance services; and 5.4% in hotels and restaurants.[227]
The city's port, thePort of Thessaloniki, is one of the largest ports in the Aegean and as afree port, it functions as a major gateway to the Balkan hinterland.[11][228] In 2010, more than 15.8 million tons of products went through the city's port,[229] making it the second-largest port in Greece afterAghioi Theodoroi, surpassingPiraeus. At 273,282TEUs, it is also Greece's second-largest container port afterPiraeus.[230] As a result, the city is a major transportation hub for the whole of south-eastern Europe,[231] carrying, among other things, trade to and from the neighbouring countries.[citation needed]
In recent years Thessaloniki has begun to turn into a major port forcruising in the easternMediterranean.[228] The Greek ministry of tourism considers Thessaloniki to be Greece's second most important commercial port,[232] and companies such asRoyal Caribbean International have expressed interest in adding the Port of Thessaloniki to their destinations.[232] A total of 30 cruise ships are expected to arrive at Thessaloniki in 2011.[232]
The GDP of Thessaloniki in comparison to that of Attica and the rest of the country (2012)
AfterWWII and theGreek Civil War, heavy industrialization of the city's suburbs began in the mid-1950s.[233]
During the 1980s, a spate of factory shutdowns occurred, mostly of automobile manufacturers, such asAgricola,AutoDiana,EBIAM,Motoemil,Pantelemidis-TITAN andC.AR. Since the 1990s, companies took advantage of cheaper labour markets and more lax regulations than in other countries, and among the largest companies to shut down factories wereGoodyear,[234] AVEZ pasta industry (one of the first industrial factories in northern Greece, built in 1926),[235]Philkeram Johnson, AGNO dairy and VIAMIL.
In 2011, theregional unit of Thessaloniki had aGross Domestic Product of€18.293 billion (ranked second amongst the country's regional units),[221] comparable toBahrain orCyprus, and a per capita of €15,900 (ranked 16th).[221] InPurchasing Power Parity, the same indicators are €19,851 billion (2nd)[221] and €17,200 (15th) respectively.[221] In terms of comparison with theEuropean Union average, Thessaloniki's GDP per capita indicator stands at 63% the EU average[221] and 69% inPPP[221] – this is comparable to the German state ofBrandenburg.[221] Overall, Thessaloniki accounts for 8.9% of the totaleconomy of Greece.[221] Between 1995 and 2008 Thessaloniki's GDP saw an average growth rate of 4.1% per annum (ranging from +14.5% in 1996 to −11.1% in 2005) while in 2011 the economy contracted by −7.8%.[221]
The municipality of Thessaloniki is the most populous in the Thessaloniki Urban Area. Its population has increased in the latest census and the metropolitan area's population rose to over one million. The city forms the base of theThessaloniki metropolitan area, with latest census in 2021 giving it a population of 1,091,424.[240]
Population of the Municipality and Metropolitan areas of Thessaloniki
The Jewish population in Greece is the oldest in mainland Europe (seeRomaniotes). WhenPaul the Apostle came to Thessaloniki, he taught in the area of what today is calledUpper City. Later, during the Ottoman period, with the coming of Sephardic Jews from Spain, the community of Thessaloniki became mostly Sephardic. Thessaloniki became the largest centre in Europe of theSephardic Jews, who nicknamed the cityla madre de Israel (Israel's mother)[148] and "Jerusalem of the Balkans".[245] It also included the historically significant and ancient Greek-speakingRomaniote community. During theOttoman era, Thessaloniki's Sephardic community was half of the population according to the Ottoman Census of 1902 and almost 40% the city's population of 157,000 about 1913; Jewish merchants were prominent in commerce until the ethnic Greek population increased after Thessaloniki was incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece in 1913. By the 1680s, about 300 families of Sephardic Jews, followers ofSabbatai Zevi, had converted toIslam, becoming a sect known as theDönmeh (convert), and migrated to Salonika, whose population was majority Jewish. They established an active community that thrived for about 250 years. Many of their descendants later became prominent in trade.[246] Many Jewish inhabitants of Thessaloniki spokeJudeo-Spanish, theRomance language of the Sephardic Jews.[247]
Jewish family of Salonika in 1917
From the second half of the 19th century with the Ottoman reforms, the Jewish community had a new revival. Many French and especiallyItalian Jews (fromLivorno and other cities), influential in introducing new methods of education and developing new schools and intellectual environments for the Jewish population, were established in Thessaloniki. Such modernists introduced also new techniques and ideas from the industrialised Western Europe and from the 1880s the city began to industrialize. The Italian-Jewish Allatini brothers led Jewish entrepreneurship, establishingmilling and other food industries,brickmaking and processing plants fortobacco. Several traders supported the introduction of a large textile-production industry, superseding the weaving of cloth in a system of artisanal production. Notable names of the era include among others the Italo-Jewish Modiano family and theAllatini.Benrubis founded also in 1880 one of the first retail companies in the Balkans.
After theBalkan Wars, Thessaloniki was incorporated into theKingdom of Greece in 1913. At first, the community feared that the annexation would lead to difficulties and during the first years its political stance was, in general, anti-Venizelist and pro-royalist/conservative. TheGreat Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 duringWorld War I burned much of the centre of the city and left 50,000 Jews homeless of the total of 72,000 residents who were burned out.[138] Having lost homes and their businesses, many Jews emigrated to the United States, Palestine, and Paris. They could not wait for the government to create a new urban plan for rebuilding, which was eventually done.[248]
After theGreco-Turkish War in 1922 and the bilateral population exchange between Greece and Turkey, many refugees came to Greece. Nearly 100,000 ethnic Greeks resettled in Thessaloniki, reducing the proportion of Jews in the total community. After this, Jews made up about 20% of the city's population. During the interwar period, Greece granted Jewish citizens the samecivil rights as other Greek citizens.[138] In March 1926, Greece re-emphasized that all citizens of Greece enjoyed equal rights, and a considerable proportion of the city's Jews decided to stay. During theMetaxas regime, the stance towards Jews improved even more.
World War II brought disaster for the Jewish Greeks, since in 1941 the Germans occupied Greece and began actions against the Jewish population. Greeks of theResistance helped save some of the Jewish residents.[148] By the 1940s, the great majority of the Jewish Greek community firmly identified as both Greek and Jewish. According toMisha Glenny, such Greek Jews had largely not encountered "anti-Semitism as in its North European form."[249]
In 1943, the Nazis began brutal actions against the historic Jewish population in Thessaloniki, forcing them into aghetto near the railroad lines and beginningdeportation to concentration and labor camps. They deported and exterminated approximately 94% of Thessaloniki's Jews of all ages during theHolocaust.[250] The ThessalonikiHolocaust memorial in Eleftherias ("Freedom") Square was built in 1997 in memory of all the Jewish people from Thessaloniki murdered in the Holocaust. The site was chosen because it was the place where Jewish residents were rounded up before embarking on trains for concentration camps.[251][252] Today, a community of around 1,200 remains in the city.[148] Communities of descendants of Thessaloniki Jews – both Sephardic and Romaniote – live in other areas, mainly the United States and Israel.[250] Israeli singerYehuda Poliker recorded a song about the Jewish people of Thessaloniki, called "Wait for me, Thessaloniki".
Since the late 19th century, many merchants from Western Europe (mainly from France and Italy) were established in the city. They had an important role in the social and economic life of the city and introduced new industrial techniques. Their main district was what is known today as the "Frankish district" (nearLadadika), where the Catholic church designed byVitaliano Poselli is also situated.[254][255] A part of them left after the incorporation of the city into the Greek kingdom, while others, who were of Jewish faith, were exterminated by theNazis.
TheBulgarian community of the city increased during the late 19th century.[256] The community had a Men's High School, a Girl's High School, a trade union and a gymnastics society. A large part of them were Catholics, as a result of actions by theLazarists society, which had its base in the city.
Another group is theArmenian community which dates back to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. During the 20th century, after theArmenian genocide and the defeat of the Greek army in theGreco-Turkish War (1919–22), many fled to Greece including Thessaloniki. There is also an Armenian cemetery and an Armenian church at the centre of the city.[257]
Thessaloniki is regarded not only as the cultural and entertainment capital of northern Greece[214][258] but also the cultural capital of the country as a whole.[12] The city's main theaters, run by theNational Theatre of Northern Greece (Greek:Κρατικό Θέατρο Βορείου Ελλάδος) which was established in 1961,[259] include theTheater of the Society of Macedonian Studies, where the National Theater is based, theRoyal Theater (Βασιλικό Θέατρο) - the first base of the National Theater -Moni Lazariston, and theEarth Theater andForest Theater, both amphitheatrical open-air theatres overlooking the city.[259]
The title of theEuropean Capital of Culture in 1997 saw the birth of the city's first opera[260] and today forms an independent section of theNational Theatre of Northern Greece.[261] The opera is based at theThessaloniki Concert Hall, one of the largest concert halls in Greece. Recently a second building was also constructed and designed by Japanese architectArata Isozaki. Thessaloniki is also the seat of two symphony orchestras, theThessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and theSymphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.Olympion Theater, the site of theThessaloniki International Film Festival and thePlateia Assos Odeon multiplex are the two major cinemas in downtown Thessaloniki. The city also has a number of multiplex cinemas in major shopping malls in the suburbs, most notably inMediterranean Cosmos, the largest retail and entertainment development in the Balkans.
Thessaloniki is renowned for its major shopping streets and lively laneways.Tsimiski Avenue, Mitropoleos Ave and Proxenou Koromila Street are the city's most famous shopping streets and are among Greece's most expensive and exclusive high streets. The city is also home to one of Greece's most famous and prestigious hotels,Makedonia Palace 5-star hotel, the Hyatt Regency Casino Thessaloniki and hotel (the biggest casino in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe) and Waterland, the largest water park in southeastern Europe.
The city has long been known in Greece for its vibrant city culture, including having the most cafes and bars per capita of any city in Europe; and as having some of the best nightlife and entertainment in the country, thanks to its large young population and multicultural feel.Lonely Planet listed Thessaloniki among the world's "ultimate party cities".[262] Restaurant and bar areas include theLadadika area near the port, Nikis Avenue on the waterfront, the alleyways betweenAgias Sofias Square and Aristotelous Square, the waterfront ofKalamarià neighbourhood, and theEptapirgio neighbourhood overlooking the city.[263]
Marina ofAretsouPart of the coastline of the southeastern suburb ofPeraia on theThermaic Gulf, with views towards Thessaloniki
Although Thessaloniki is not renowned for its parks and greenery throughout its urban area, where green spaces are few, it has several large open spaces around its waterfront, namely the central city gardens ofPalios Zoologikos Kipos (which is recently being redeveloped to also include rock climbing facilities, a new skatepark and paintball range),[264] the park ofPedion tou Areos, which also holds the city's annual floral expo; and the parks of the RenownedNea Paralia (Restructured waterfront) spanning for 3 km (2 mi) along the coast, beginning from theWhite Tower to theconcert hall.
TheNea Paralia parks are used throughout the year for a variety of events, while they open up to the Thessaloniki waterfront, which is lined up with several cafés and bars; and during summer is full of Thessalonians enjoying their long evening walks (referred to as"volta" or“kafès” and is embedded into the culture of the city). Having undergone an extensive revitalization, the city's waterfront today features a total of12 thematic gardens/parks.[265]
Thessaloniki's proximity to places such as the national parks ofPieria and beaches ofChalkidiki often allow its residents to easily have access to some of the best outdoor recreation in Europe; however, the city is also right next to theSéih Su national park, just 3.5 km (2 mi) away from Thessaloniki's city centre; and offers residents and visitors alike, quiet viewpoints towards the city, mountain bike trails and landscaped hiking paths.[266] The city'szoo, which is operated by the municipality of Thessaloniki, is also located nearby the national park.[267]
Other recreation spaces throughout theThessaloniki metropolitan area include theFragma Thermis, a landscaped parkland nearThermi and the Delta wetlands west of the city centre; while urban beaches of Peréa, Nea Mihaniona and Ayia Triada, continuously awarded with theBlue Flag beach award,[268] are located along the 10 km (6 mi) coastline of Thessaloniki's southeastern suburbs ofThermaikos gulf, about 20 km (12 mi) away from the city centre.
Thessaloniki is home to a number of prominent archaeological sites. Apart from its recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Thessaloniki features a large two-terracedRoman forum[282] featuring two-storeystoas,[283] dug up by accident in the 1960s.[282] The forum complex also boasts twoRoman baths,[284] one of which has been excavated while the other is buried underneath the city.[284] The forum also features a small theater,[282][284] which was also used forgladiatorial games.[283] Although the initial complex was not built in Roman times, it was largely refurbished in the second century.[284] It is believed that the forum and the theater continued to be used until at least the sixth century.[285]
Another important archaeological site is the imperial palace complex which Roman emperorGalerius, located atNavarinou Square, commissioned when he made Thessaloniki the capital of his portion of theRoman Empire.[44][45] The large octagonal portion of the complex, most of which survives to this day, is believed to have been an imperial throne room.[283] Variousmosaics from the palatial complex have also survived.[286] Some historians believe that the complex must have been in use as an imperial residence until the 11th century.[285]
Not far from the palace itself is theArch of Galerius,[286] known colloquially as theKamara. The arch was built to commemorate the emperor's campaigns against thePersians.[283][286] The original structure featured three arches;[283] however, only two full arches and part of the third survive to this day. Many of the arches' marble parts survive as well,[283] although it is mostly the brick interior that can be seen today.
Other monuments of the city's past, such asLas Incantadas, aCaryatid portico from the ancient forum, have been removed or destroyed over the years. Las Incantadas in particular are on display at theLouvre.[282][287] Thanks to a private donation of €180,000, it was announced on 6 December 2011 that a replica of Las Incantadas would be commissioned and later put on display in Thessaloniki.[287]
The construction of theThessaloniki Metro inadvertently started the largestarchaeological dig not only of the city, but ofNorthern Greece; the dig spans 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) and has unearthed 300,000 individual artefacts from as early as theRoman Empire and as late as theGreat Thessaloniki Fire of 1917.[288][289] Ancient Thessaloniki'sDecumanus Maximus was also found and 75 metres (246 ft) of the marble-paved and column-lined road were unearthed along with shops, other buildings, and plumbing, prompting one scholar to describe the discovery as "the ByzantinePompeii".[290] Some of the artefacts will be put on display inside the metro stations, whileVenizelou will feature the world's first openarchaeological site located within a metro station.[291][292]
Thessaloniki is home of a number of festivals and events.[293] TheThessaloniki International Fair is the most important event to be hosted in the city annually, by means of economic development. It was first established in 1926[294] and takes place every year at the 180,000 m2 (1,900,000 sq ft)Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre. The event attracts major political attention and it is customary for thePrime Minister of Greece to outline his administration's policies for the next year during the event. Over 250,000 visitors attended the exposition in 2010.[295] The newArt Thessaloniki, is starting first time 29.10. – 1 November 2015 as an international contemporary art fair.TheThessaloniki International Film Festival is established as one of the most important film festivals inSouthern Europe,[296] with a number of notable filmmakers such asFrancis Ford Coppola,Faye Dunaway,Catherine Deneuve,Irene Papas andFatih Akın taking part, and was established in 1960.[297] TheDocumentary Festival, founded in 1999, has focused on documentaries that explore global social and cultural developments, with many of the films presented being candidates forFIPRESCI and Audience Awards.[298]
The Dimitria festival, founded in 1966 and named after the city'spatron saint ofSt. Demetrius, has focused on a wide range of events including music, theatre, dance, local happenings, and exhibitions.[299] TheDMC DJ Championship has been hosted at the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki, has become a worldwide event for aspiring DJs and turntablists. The International Festival of Photography has taken place every February to mid-April.[300] Exhibitions for the event are sited in museums, heritage landmarks, galleries, bookshops and cafés. Thessaloniki also holds an annual International Book Fair.[301]
In 2012, the city hosted its firstpride parade,Thessaloniki Pride, which took place between 22 and 23 June.[304] It has been held every year ever since, however in 2013transgender people participating in the parade became victims ofpolice brutality. The issue was soon settled by the government.[305] The city'sGreek Orthodox Church leadership has consistently rallied against the event, but mayor Boutaris sided withThessaloniki Pride, with Thessaloniki also hostingEuroPride in 2024.[306] Since 1998, the city host Thessaloniki International G.L.A.D. Film Festival, the first LGBT film festival in Greece.
Thessaloniki's major indoor arenas include the state-ownedAlexandreio Melathron officially known as Nick Gallis Hall commemorating Nikos (Nick) Gallis the greatest Greek basketball player and by many accredited of making basketball commonly famous,P.A.O.K. Sports Arena in the Urban area of Kalamarià, home of the omonymous basketball team and venue of numerous music concerts, events and festivals, as well theYMCA (Youth Men’s Christian Association) indoor hall. Other sporting clubs in the city includeApollon FC based inKalamaria,Agrotikos Asteras F.C. based inEvosmos and YMCA. Thessaloniki has a rich sporting history with its teams winning the first ever panhellenicfootball championship (Aris FC),[308]basketball (Iraklis BC),[309] andwater polo (AC Aris)[310] tournaments.
During recent years,PAOK FC has emerged as the strongest football club of the city, winning also the Greek championship without a defeat (2018–19 season), as well as 2023-24 season
The city played a major role in the development of basketball in Greece. The local YMCA was the first to introduce the sport to the country, whileIraklis B.C. won the first ever Greek championship.[309] From 1982 to 1993Aris B.C. dominated the league, regularly finishing in first place. In that period Aris won a total of 9 championships, 7 cups and one European Cup Winners' Cup. The city also hosted the2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in which Greece came third. In volleyball,Iraklis has emerged since 2000 as one of the most successful teams in Greece[311] and Europe – see2005–06 CEV Champions League.[312] In October 2007, Thessaloniki also played host to the first Southeastern European Games.[313]
The city is also the finish point of the annualAlexander The Great Marathon, which starts atPella, in recognition of its Ancient Macedonian heritage.[314]There are also aquatic and athletic complexes such asEthniko andPoseidonio.
Thessaloniki is home to theERT3 TV-channel andRadio Macedonia, both services of public owned–Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) operating in the city and broadcasting all over Greece.[315] The municipality of Thessaloniki also owns and operates three radio stations, namely FM100, FM101 and FM100.6;[citation needed] and TV100, a television network which was also the first non-state-owned TV station in Greece and opened in 1988.[citation needed] Several private TV-networks also broadcast out from Thessaloniki, withMakedonia TV being the most popular.
The city's main newspapers and some of the most circulated in Greece, includeMakedonia, which was also the first newspaper published in Thessaloniki in 1911 andAggelioforos. A large number of radio stations also broadcast from Thessaloniki as the city is known for its music contributions.
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Because Thessaloniki remained underOttoman rule for about 100 years longer than southern Greece, it has retained a lot of its Eastern character, including its culinary tastes.[320] Spices in particular play an important role in the cuisine of Thessaloniki,[320] something which is not true to the same degree about Greece's southern regions.[320] Thessaloniki's Ladadika borough is a particularly busy area in regards to Thessalonian cuisine, with mosttavernas serving traditionalmeze and other such culinary delights.[320]
Bougatsa, a breakfastpastry, which can be either sweet with Patisserie créme or savory, is very popular throughout the city and has spread around other parts of Greece and the Balkans as well. Another popular snack iskoulouri.
Notable sweets of the city areTrigona Panoràmatos,Roxákia,Kourkoubinia andArmenonville. A stereotypical Thessaloniancoffee drink isFrappé coffee. Frappé was invented in theThessaloniki International Fair in 1957 and has since spread throughout Greece and Cyprus to become a hallmark of the Greekcoffee culture. Rather than Frappé, Thessalonians tend to enjoy drinkingFreddo Espresso, a special Greek variation of Espresso coffee; specifically, after been being extracted from the coffee machine, espresso is put into a shaker full of ice and eventually sugar (if preferred such) and afterwards it’s shakered with an electric frother. Finally, it’s served with ice and straw in a tall glass. Coffee is an inseparable part of Thessalonians, marking a quick break from work, a socialising opportunity among friends, family and couples as well as a chance of studying, meeting new people and relax oneself.
Kapani orAgora Vlalì is the oldest central market in Thessaloniki, with shops selling fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, drinks, olives, sweets, nuts, spices[321][322][323] andModiano Market is located nearby.[324]
A tourism boom took place in the 2010s, during the years of mayorBoutaris, especially from the neighboring countries, Austria, Israel and Turkey. In 2010, overnight stays of foreign tourists in the city were around 250,000. In 2018, overnight stays of foreign tourists were estimated to reach 3,000,000 people. Thessaloniki is known as "the city that never sleeps" and a "party capital" due to its thrivingnightlife, young atmosphere and famous24-hour culture.[325]
The city is viewed as a romantic one in Greece, and as such Thessaloniki is commonly featured inGreek songs.[326] There are a number of famous songs that go by the name 'Thessaloniki' (rebetiko,laïko etc.) or include the name in their title.[327]
During the 1930s and 1940s, the city became a centre of theRebetiko music, partly because of theMetaxas censorship, which was stricter in Athens.Vassilis Tsitsanis wrote some of his best songs[according to whom?] in Thessaloniki.
In May 1936, a massive strike by tobacco workers led to general anarchy in the city andIoannis Metaxas (future dictator, then PM) ordered its repression. The events and the deaths of the protesters inspired poetYiannis Ritsos to write theEpitafios.
On 22 May 1963,Grigoris Lambrakis MD, physician-doctor, pacifist and MP, was assassinated by two far-right extremists driving a three-wheeled vehicle. The event led to political crisis as it’s presupposed that State Gendarmerie, Army and Government members were indirectly coinvolved, even though never officially demonstrated.Costa Gavras directedZ (1969) based on it, two years after themilitary junta had seized power in Greece. For his notable juridical , incorruptible and unprejudiced work regarding Lambrakis’ case, First Instance Judge Christos Sartzetakis (Thessaloniki 1929-2022) was proposed and elected at the constitutionally highest political rank, becoming President of The Hellenic Republic.
Thessaloniki is a major centre of education for Greece. Three of the country's largest universities are located in central Thessaloniki:Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, theUniversity of Macedonia and theInternational Hellenic University–ex Intermediate Technical Educating Institution “Alexandros”. Aristotle University was founded in 1926 and is currently the largest university inGreece[13] by arithmetic enrolled students, which numbered more than 80,000 students of all degrees, classes and levels in 2010,[13] and also a member of theUtrecht Network. For the academic year2009–2010,Aristotle University was ranked as one of the 150 best universities in the world forarts and humanities and among the 250 best universities in the world overall by theTimes QS World University Rankings,[328] making it one of the top 2% of best universities worldwide.[329] Leiden ranksAristotle University as one of the top 100 European universities, at number 97, and the best university in Greece.[330] Since 2010, Thessaloniki is also home to the Open University of Thessaloniki,[331] which is funded byAristotle University, theUniversity of Macedonia and the municipality of Thessaloniki.
Numerous public and privatevocational institutes (Greek:IEK) provide professional non-accademica training to young students, while a large number of private colleges offerAmerican andUK academic curriculum and titles, via cooperation with foreign universities. In addition toGreek students, the city hence attracts many foreign students either via theErasmus programme for public universities, or for a complete degree in public universities or in the city's private colleges. As of 2006[update] the city's total student population was estimated around 200,000.[332]
Tram was the main, oldest and most popular public urban mean of Thessalonians in the past. It was in operation from 1893 to 1957, when it was disestablished by the government ofKonstantinos Karamanlis. The BelgianCompagnie de Tramways et d' Éclairage Électrique de Salonique operated it from 1912 until 1940, when the company was purchased by the Hellenic State. The operating base and tram station was in the district of Dépôt.
The creation of a metro system for Thessaloniki goes back as far as 1918, whenThomas Hayton Mawson andErnest Hébrard proposed the creation of a Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway.[336] In 1968, a circular metro line was proposed, and in 1987 the first serious proposal was presented and construction briefly started in 1988, before stalling and finally being abandoned due to lack of funding.[337] Both the 1918 and 1988 proposals ran almost the identical route to the currentLine 1.
Construction of Thessaloniki metro began in 2006 and is classified as amegaproject: it has a budget of €1.57 billion ($1.77 billion).[338]Line 1 began operation on 30 November 2024, whileLine 2 is currently under construction and will enter into service in late 2025.Line 1 is 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) long and includes 13 stations, whileLine 2 is 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) long and includes a further five stations, while also crossing 11 of the 13 Line 1 stations.[339][340]Important archaeological discoveries have been made during construction, and some of the system's stations house archaeological exhibitions.[341] One station in particular, that ofVenizelou, houses the only archaeological site within a metro station in the world.[342]
Line 2 is to be expanded further to the northwestern suburbs of the city, towardsEvosmos andStavroupoli, and to the east, towardsthe Airport.[343] The northwestern extension is a priority, as the airport is served by bus to the terminus of Line 1.
It is now expected that 320,000 people per day and 116 million people per year will use the Thessaloniki metro.[344]
Commuter intraregional rail services have recently been established between Thessaloniki and the city ofLarissa (the service is known inGreek as the "Proastiakos", meaning "Suburban Railway"). The service is operated usingSiemens Desiro EMU trains on a modernised electrifieddouble track and stops at 11 restructured rail stations, covering the journey in 1 hour and 33 minutes.[345] Furthermore, additional line has also been established, although with the use of regional trains, between Thessaloniki the city ofEdessa home of the famous waterfalls and therapeutic thermal springs, and eventually the city ofFlorina, situated in the Northwestern front right below the foothills of Pindos Mountain chains, Florina is home to numerous ski and alpine resorts, protected national parks of relatively high natural value (Natural Habitat of Brown BearUrsus arctos ).
International and domesticair traffic to and from the city of Thessaloniki is served by the"Makedonia" International Airport of Thessaloniki . The short length of the airport's two runways means that it does not, yet, support intercontinental flights; however, a major extension of one of its runways into theThermaic Gulf is currently under construction.[346] Following the completion of the runway works, the airport will be able to serve intercontinental flights and cater for larger aircraft in the future. After long delays, the new runway of the airport was completed in spring 2019. Construction of a second new terminal began in September 2018.[347] New T2 has been finished in February 2021, three months ahead of schedule.[348]
TheThessaloniki railway station features a central hall with a shopping centre within a 1960s era building. The station has staffed ticketing services, a large climate-controlled waiting room, café bar, fast-food restaurants, kiosk and luggage lockers. On the platforms, cover seating is available and the station is alongside a bus terminal. The station is connected by bus and the Metro with much of the urban area of Thessaloniki, including other major transport centres such as the Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL), the port andMacedonia International Airport.
Regional train services within Greece (operated byTrainOSE, theHellenic Railways Organization's train operating company), link the city with other main urban parts of the country’s territory, indicatively Athens, Larissa, Katerìni, Edessa, Véria, Florina, Serres, Alexandroupoli, Orestiada, Drama, Xànthi, Meteora and more. Once there were abundant international links serving different European and Balkan cities and also remarkable trains such as Orient Express, Acropolis Express, Hellas Express, Eurocity ecc. namely; Sofia, Belgrade, Skopje, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, Istanbul and most importantly diverse German cities.
Due to the Greek economic crisis, all international train links from the city were suspended in February 2011.[349] Until then, the city was a major railway hub for the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Daily through trains to Sofia (via Serres) and Belgrade (via Gevgelija) were restarted in May 2014 but stopped again due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, Thessaloniki remains a key passenger and merchant railway hub with the biggestmarshalling yard in the country and still one of the biggest in Balkans.
ThePort of Thessaloniki connects the city with seasonal ferries to theSporades, other north Aegean islands and Turkish Minor Asia’s ports like Izmir/Smyrni, with itspassenger terminal being one of the largest in theAegean Sea basin; having handled around 162,731passengers in 2007.[350] Meanwhile, ongoing actions have been going on for more connections and the port is recently being upgraded, as Thessaloniki is also slowly turning into a major tourist port for cruising in the eastern Mediterranean. It also consists the second largest port of Greece by merchant traffic volume being only behind Piraeus Port, the largest domestic port.
Road map of Thessaloniki and its suburbs fromOpenStreetMapPart of thering road (Peripheriaki Odos)
Thessaloniki lies on the crossroads of theA1/E75,A2/E90 andA25 motorways; which connect the city with other parts of the country, as well as the neighbouring countries ofNorth Macedonia,Bulgaria andTurkey.
The city itself is bypassed by the C-shapedThessaloniki Inner Ring Road (Esoteriki Peripheriaki Odos,Greek:Εσωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός), which all of the above motorways connect onto it. The western end of the route begins at the junction with theA1/A2 motorways inLachanagora District. Clockwise it heads northeast around the city, passing through the northwestern suburbs, the forest ofSeich Sou and through to the southeast suburb/borough ofKalamaria. The ring road ends at a large junction with theA24 motorway, which then continues south toChalkidiki, passing throughThessaloniki's outer southeast suburbs.
The speed limit on this motorway is 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph); it currently has three traffic lanes for each direction and forms the city's most vital road link; handling more than 120,000 vehicles daily,[351] instead of the 30,000 vehicles that it was originally designed to handle in 1975.[352]An outerring road known asEksoteriki Peripheriaki Odos (Greek:Εξωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός,outer ring road) carries all traffic that completely bypasses the city. It is part ofA2 motorway.[353]
Despite the large effort that was made in 2004 to improve the motorway features of the Thessalonikiring road, the motorway is still insufficient to tackle Thessaloniki's increasing traffic and metropolitan population. To tackle this problem, the government has introduced large scale redevelopment plans throughout 2011[354] with tenders expected to be announced within early 2012;[354] that include the total restructuring of the A16 in the western side of the city, with new junctions and newemergency lanes throughout the whole length of the motorway.[354] In the eastern side an even larger scale project has been announced, for the construction of a new elevated motorway section above the existing, which would allow faster travel for drivers heading to theairport andChalkidiki that do not wish to exit into the city, decongesting the existing motorway for city commuters.[355] The plans also include adding one more lane in each direction on the existing A16 ring road and on theA24 passing throughThessaloniki's southeast suburbs, from its junction with the A16 inKalamaria, up to the airport exit (ΕΟ67); which will make it an 8 lane highway.[354]
Additional long-term plans include the extension of the planned outerring road known asEksoteriki Peripheriaki Odos (Greek:Εξωτερική Περιφεριακή Οδός,outer ring road) to circle around the entireThessaloniki metropolitan area, crossing over the Thermaic Gulf from the east, to join with theA1/E75 motorway. Preliminary plans have been announced which include a 4.5 km (3 mi) bridge over the gulf, as part of the southern bypass of the city; to cater for the large number of travellers from Macedonia and the rest of Greece heading to theairport, and to the increasingly popular tourist region ofChalkidiki.[356]
^Soloman, Esther; Galiniki, Styliana (2018). "13: Las Incantadas of Salonika: searching for 'enchantment' in a city's exiled heritage".Hellenomania. New York: Routledge.
^abcdThessaloniki is an urban area defined in 1985 through Law 1561/1985. Since theKallikratis reform it has been made up of the municipalities of Thessaloniki (325,182), Kalamaria (91,518), Neapoli–Sykies (84,741), Pavlos Melas (99,245), Kordelio–Evosmos (101,753), Ampelokipoi–Menemeni (52,127), and the municipal units of Pylaia and Panorama (34,625 and 17,444; part of the municipality of Pylaia–Chortiatis). The Thessaloniki metropolitan area was defined by the same law and is made up of the urban area plus the municipalities of Delta (45,839), Oraiokastro (38,317), Thermaikos (50,264), Thermi (53,201), and the municipal unit of Chortiatis (18,041; part of the municipality of Pylaia–Chortiatis), for a total of 1,030,338. SeeΕφημερίς της Κυβερνήσεως της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας [Government Gazette of the Hellenic Republic] (in Greek). Athens: National Printing House. 6 September 1985. p. 2332.Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved10 February 2019.
^Greek Republic 2011, p. 22, Έδρα της περιφέρειας Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας είναι η Θεσσαλονίκη. (The capital of the region of Central Macedonia is Thessaloniki.)
^Greek Republic 2011, p. 25, Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση Μακεδονίας – Θράκης, η οποία εκτείνεται στα όρια της περιφέρειας Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας – Θράκης και Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, με έδρα την Θεσσαλονίκη. ([The creation of the] Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace, which includes the modern regions of East Macedonia-Thrace and Central Macedonia, with Thessaloniki as capital
^Α.Ι. Θαβώρης (Antonios Thavoris), "Θεσσαλονίκη – Σαλονίκη. Η ιστορία του ονόματος της πόλης" (Thessaloniki-Saloniki: The history of the name of the city), "Η Θεσσαλονίκη" (Thessaloniki), Κέντρο Ιστορίας Θεσσαλονίκης (Centre for the History of Thessaloniki), Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης (City of Thessaloniki), 1985, p. 5-21.
^Ανδριώτης (Andriotis), Νικόλαος Π. (Nikolaos P.) (1995).Ιστορία της ελληνικής γλώσσας: (τέσσερις μελέτες) (History of the Greek language: four studies) (in Greek). Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloniki): Ίδρυμα Τριανταφυλλίδη.ISBN960-231-058-8.
^Vitti, Mario (2001).Storia della letteratura neogreca (in Italian). Roma: Carocci.ISBN88-430-1680-6.
^T E Gregory,A History of Byzantium. Wiley- Blackwell, 2010. Pg 169."It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic "invasions" were probably for the most part the same as those who had lived there earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors, including the Byzantines".
^Curta, Florin (2006).Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages : 500 – 1250. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 125.ISBN978-0-521-81539-0.At the emperor's request, Constantine and his brother started the translation of religious texts into Old Church Slavonic, a literary language most likely based on the Macedonian dialect allegedly used in the hinterland of their hometown, Thessalonica
^The Roman Orthodox World (1393–1492), Anthony Bryer, "The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500–1492", ed. Jonathan Shepard, (Cambridge University Press, 2008), 859.
^Nicol, Donald M. (1992).Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 371.ISBN0-521-42894-7.The capture and sack of Thessalonica is vividly described by an eye-witness, John Anagnostes ... He reckoned that 7000 citizens, perhaps one-fifth of the population, were carried off to slavery.
^Harris, Jonathan (1995).Greek emigres in the West 1400–1520. Porphyrogenitus. p. 12.ISBN1-871328-11-X.Many of the inhabitants of Thessalonica fled to the Venetian colonies in the early 15th century, in the face of sporadic attacks which culminated in the city's capture by Murad II in the 1430s.
^Milner, Henry (2009).The Turkish Empire: The Sultans, the Territory, and the People. BiblioBazaar. p. 87.ISBN978-1-113-22399-9.Theodore Gaza, one of these exiles, escaped from Saloniki, his native city, upon its capture by Amurath.
^AfterDarques, Regis (2002).Salonique au XXe siècle: De la cité ottomane à la métropole grecque. CNRS Éditions. p. 53.
^Lowry, Heath W. (1994). "When Did the Sephardim Arrive in Salonica? The Testimony of the Ottoman Tax-Registers, 1478–1613".The Jews of the Ottoman Empire. Darwin Press. p. 207.ISBN0-87850-090-1.
^Vacalopoulos, Apostolos E. (1963).A History of Thessaloniki. Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 79.
^abcdeGerolympos, Alexandra Karadimou.The Redesign of Thessaloniki after the Fire of 1917. University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 1995
^abPanagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. p. 91.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. p. 95.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. pp. 82–83.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^abPanagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. p. 85.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. p. 86.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. A. Maliaris Paideia. p. 87.ISBN978-960-457-231-1.
^"Πλατεία Ελευθερίας" [Eleftherias Square].www.thessaloniki.gr. Municipality of Thessaloniki. Archived fromthe original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved13 September 2018.
^'Barcelona, Naples and Salonika: Ethnic and Civic Nationalism in Three Mediterranean Port Cities (1888-1915'), Histories, 3 (3), 2023: 288-307. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.3390/histories3030020
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. pp. 723–724.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. p. 753.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. p. 738.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. p. 763.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. pp. 765–766.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^abcPanagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. pp. 766–768.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 122.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^Panagiotopoulos, Apostolos (2009).Θεσσαλονίκη ... εν Θερμώ – Ο συγκλονιστικός 20ός αιώνας της πόλης [Thessaloniki ... on Fire – The City's Sensational 20th Century]. Vol. B. Maliaris Paideia. pp. 942–943.ISBN978-960-457-239-7.
^National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972)."5 Significant Earthquakes where Location Name includes Thessaloniki". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved26 January 2024.
^ab"Thessaloniki Mikra". Hellenic National Meteorological Service – Greek Ministry of Defence. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved21 August 2011.
^Karadimou-Gerolympou, Alexandra (1996).Urban transformation in the Balkans (1820–1920): Aspects of Balkan town planning and the remaking of Thessaloniki. University Studio Press.ISBN960-12-0553-5.
^Note also the concomitant decrease of water cleanliness in Glenn Eldon Curtis, ed.,Greece, a Country Study, Volume 550, Issues 87-995 (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division, United States Department of the Army, 1995), 92–107.ISBN0844408565
^abcd"Population of Greece".General Secretariat Of National Statistical Service Of Greece. www.statistics.gr. 2001. Archived fromthe original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved2 August 2007.
^Kirsch, AdamThe Other Secret JewsArchived 17 February 2010 at theWayback Machine – Review of Marc David Baer'sThe Dönme: Jewish Converts, Muslim Revolutionaries, and Secular Turks,The New Republic, 15 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
^J. Nehama,Histoire des Israélites de Salonique, t. VI-VII, Thessalonique 1978, p. 765 (viaGreek Wikipedia): the population was inflated because of refugees from the First World War
^Korina Miller; Kate Armstrong; Michael Stamatios Clark; Chris Deliso (2010).Greece.Lonely Planet. p. 280.ISBN9781742203423. Retrieved13 August 2011.Thessaloniki.
^abcdJohn S. Bowman; Sherry Marker; Peter Kerasiotis; Rebecca Tobin (25 January 2008).Frommer's Greece. Frommer's.ISBN9780470260814.Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved5 December 2011.
^Attiko Metro S.A."Αρχαιολογικές ανασκαφές" [Archaeological excavations].www.ametro.gr (in Greek).Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved13 August 2018.
^"Παρουσίαση 76ης Δ.Ε.Θ." [Presentation of the 76th Thessaloniki International Fair]. www.helexpo.gr. 26 May 2011.Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved10 August 2011.
^Gerolympou, Alexandra (1995).Η Ανοικοδόμηση της Θεσσαλονίκης Μετά την Πυρκαγιά του 1917 [The Rebuilding of Thessaloniki after the Great Fire of 1917] (in Greek) (Second ed.).Aristotle University of Thessaloniki University Press.
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Μεσσίνας, Ηλίας.Οι Συναγωγές της Θεσσαλονίκης και της Βέροιας. Εκδόσεις Γαβριηλίδης, 1997.ISBN960-336-010-4.
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Papagiannopoulos, Apostolos.Monuments of Thessaloniki, Rekos Ltd, date unknown.
Russell, Eugenia (2010).St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Peter Lang.ISBN978-3-0343-0181-7
Skedros, James C. (1999).Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector, 4th-7Th Centuries. Harvard Theological Studies. Trinity Press International.
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