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Thessaloniki general information
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Greek Macedonia. Thessaloniki is wow. Thessaloniki is e unique destionation for a citytrip.
Thessaloniki has a population of ca. 390.00 inhabitants. Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political center, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe; its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland.
The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general, and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital. Events such as the Thessaloniki and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora. Thessaloniki was the 2014 European Youth Capital. The distance to Athens is 502 km's (30 minutes by plane).
The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430, and passed from the Ottoman Empire to modern Greece on 8 November 1912.
Thessaloniki is home to numerous notable Byzantine monuments, including the Paleo Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.
Thessaloniki sprawls around an arc of coastline at the top of the Thermaic Gulf. The main area of interest to visitors is along the shore between the ferry port and the city's emblem, the White Tower, and in the area that rises inland from here to the ancient city walls. The city is walkable.
The White Tower is 34m-high and has a harrowing history as a prison and torture chamber. In 1826 Ottoman sultan Mahmud II massacred rebellious janissaries (elite troops of forcibly Islamicised Christian boys) here. After the 1913 Greek reconquest, the ‘bloody tower’ was whitewashed to expunge this grisly past. Grab a free audio guide to help navigate the multimedia displays in the tower, then drink in views of the bay from the top.
From Thessaloniki you can make excursions to:
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Mount Athos, visiting Athos is not a simple procedure. First of all only men are permitted to enter the Mount Athos region, conveniently excluding half the population. Women who are interested in experiencing Mount Athos can only take advantage of going on an Athos cruise and viewing themonasteries from a distance, since for a thousand years no woman has been able to visit Mount Athos. Permits are issued daily for 10 non-orthodox visitors and 100 Greeks and orthodox visitors. They are valid for a four-day visit and for specific dates. If you want it extended, it can only be done at the registration office in Karyes on the Athos peninsula. All applicants must be over 18 years of age. Applicants younger that 18 must be accompanied by their father or as part of a group having the written permission of the parents and this letter should be notarized. So the best thing you can do is booking a boat trip arounfMount Athos.
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Meteora : Meteora is an area in Thessaly (Central Greece) under the rock towers of Meteora (258 km distance from Thessaloniki). The thing that makes Meteora so special is the monasteries on the top of the rock towers. The monasteries, the amount of peaks to climb and the paths for hiking brings many tourists to the Meteora, the whole year.
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Pella & Vergina: two most famous birthplaces cities of Alexander the Great.
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Dion: or Dio is a village located at the foot of Mount Olympus and in the municipality of Dio-Olympos. It is best known for its ancient Macedonian sanctuary of Zeus and city, visible in the archaeological park.
