This morning Tina and Violeta wanted to relax at the apartment. JB had found there was a Thessaloniki Hop On Hop Off bus that stopped near the White Tower. Since we only had today to explore the city, we decided to hop on. We walked down to the White Tower and saw the bus drive away while we were waiting for the light to cross the street. We decided to wait the 45 minutes for the next bus so we bought our tickets. While we were waiting, we walked the opposite way along the sea from where we walked yesterday.
Statue of Alexander the Great located along the seaside promenade - he is claimed by both North Macedonia and Greece as a national hero.
Street art as we walked back to wait for the bus.
We hopped on the bus as soon as it arrived to get seats on the upper deck. I like to do a bus tour of a city I have never been to - I always do a complete loop to get the lay of the land. Then if I want to get off at a certain stop, I get off on the 2nd loop because sometimes you have to wait over a half hour for the next bus when you exit where you wanted to stop or the next bus may not have any open seats. I feel I get better value by doing a complete loop.
I was surprised at how hilly Thessaloniki is! I couldn't believe that the officials allow tour buses along these very narrow twisty steep streets! We were passing trees, and the branches were coming in the upper window hitting the guy in front of me. We would pause at a stop and the bus would be idling for 10 minutes. We would come upon buses going in the opposite direction - the buses would be up on the sidewalks trying to inch past each other!
Those were the cons. On a positive note we got to see so much of the city that we would never have seen on foot. In the pictures you can see parts of the old city walls on the top of a hill. Thessaloniki once was a walled city. When the Ottoman Empire conquered the city, the Turks moved into the walled upper city - Christians, Jews, and others lived on the lower part of the hill.
Thessaloniki was founded in the 4th century BC - it was a walled city. The Roman conquest weakened the walls. The current walls are from the Byzantine era of 390 AD and incorporate parts of the original walls. Parts of the walled enclosure were demolished in the late 19th century by the Ottomans who were trying to modernize the city along European designs. The White Tower was part of the city walls until the walls were torn down leaving only the Tower.
Thessaloniki was founded by one of Alexander the Great's military commanders who named it after his wife - she was a sister of Alexander's. It is located on the Via Egnatia so it became an important military and trading center. It was visited by St Paul the Apostle, and he later wrote letters to the Thessalonians - I recognized this from the readings at Mass - "From Paul to the Thessalonians."
The Ottoman Empire conquered Thessaloniki in 1430 with a bloody massacre.
Thessaloniki had always been a haven for Jews who were persecuted in other parts of Europe. They enjoyed a large degree of autonomy under Roman/Byzantine rule. During the Inquisition in Spain, Jews were told to convert to Catholicism or emigrate so 20,000 headed to Thessaloniki where the Jewish community grew and prospered. At one period the Jews were the majority of the population. They continued to thrive under the Ottoman Empire. I learned in the class on the Ottoman Empire that the Sultan welcomed the Jews into his Empire because of their education, knowledge, and business acumen. By the end of the 19th century there were 70,000 Jews living in Thessaloniki although 20,000 emigrated between the beginning of the century up to the beginning of WWII.
The Germans entered Thessaloniki on April 9, 1941 - shortly afterwards Jews were ordered to turn in their radios and were banned from cafes, pastry shops, etc. Men 18-45 were rounded up, tortured and forced to register with the Germans. The Nazis went on to loot Jewish businesses and the homes of wealthy Jews. In February 1943 the Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David and were moved into ghettos near the railroad station. On March 15, 1943 the first cattle car was loaded with Jews who were then transported to the Auschwitz killing center where they were sent directly to the gas chambers. It took several weeks for the Nazis to reach their goal of clearing the city of all the Jews. Of the 49, 091 Jews transported for extermination, only 1950 survived - today there are only 1200 Jews living in this city that once had the largest Jewish population in Europe. We have already seen that Bitola in Macedonia had the 2nd largest Jewish population.
I think our AirB&B was located in or very near to the old Jewish community - I read that the Jews lived in the area near the White Tower. We were also close to the city port, and the old railroad station was a few blocks from the port. This horrendous history reminded me so much of the plight of the Bitola Jews. I never understood the reason for anti-semetism - but how could anyone participate in the Final Solution? These tragedies were the dark side of our adventures.
Apartment buildings are everywhere - most have shops on the ground level. On the right side of this building is a shop selling motorbikes or motorcycles.
Above is part of St Demetrius Church which was first built in the early 4th century. It was rebuilt numerous times because of fires - the final time after the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917. When the Ottomans controlled Thessaloniki in the 15th century, St Demetrius Church was converted into a mosque. After the 1917 fire archeological excavations discovered the ruins of a Roman Bath. The church was finally rebuilt - it was re-consecrated in 1949. During Nazi occupation during WWII, the city's Jewish cemetery had been destroyed by Nazi authorities. During the rebuilding, the Jewish tombstones were used during the rebuilding. I was appalled at first that they would use the Jewish gravestones but now I feel that at least a bit of Jewish history lives on.
Saint Demetrius was born in Thessaloniki during the Roman Empire before Constantine legalized Christianity. Demetrius was a military officer but spent time preaching the Gospel at secret meetings and converting pagans. During one meeting he was spotted and arrested. The Emperor ordered him to prison where he was tortured. The Emperor then challenged Christians to wrestle his German champion wrestler. A disciple of Demetrius visited him in prison for his blessing to wrestle the German. Demetrius blessed him, and Nestor won the battle with the German. The Emperor was enraged and ordered Nestor to be executed and also sent soldiers to the prison to kill Demetrius as well. The soldiers ran him through with spears and threw his body for wild animals to devour. Christians secretly buried the body. Shortly afterwards Constantine succeeded as Emperor and declared Christianity to be legal. A church was built over Demetrius' grave and his relics - these were discovered after the Great Fire of 1917 destroyed most of the church. When the present church was being re-built, the remains and relics were placed in a crypt. The relics emit perfumed myrrh - the crypt is open every year around the feast of St Demetrius and the odor of myrrh can be smelt blocks away.
Statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was born in Salonica/Thessaloniki but attended military school in Bitola, Macedonia at 12 before going to Istanbull's military academy. (We visited the military school when we were in Bitola but went to the Bitola section and skipped the Ataturk section.) He gained his military reputation during WWI when he led the Ottoman forces against the Allies - especially during the victorious fight for control of the Dardanelles - a long strip of water dividing Europe from Asia. The Ottoman Empire was eventually defeated in WWI. Ataturk then led the fight for Turkish independence - to prevent Turkey being divided amongst the victorious Allies. He was elected the first president of Turkey and set about abolishing the Sultanate and instituting changes to build a modern industrial republic and a secular state. The Turkish Parliament granted him the surname "Ataturk" or "Father of the Turks."
This statue is at the site where Ataturk lived - it is now the grounds of the Turkish Embassy - there were soldiers with large guns at the entrance.
I love this architecture.
I love this advertisement for the shop - and I love the shoe.
We did see the old Railroad Station from a distance before passing the port of Thessaloniki which we had passed on our way into town. We also drove along the modern Via Egnatia - the old trade route that linked Rome and Constantinople/Istanbul. It was money well spent for this bus tour.
We headed back to the apartment to check with Tina and Violeta. They were ready for a coffee so we headed back toward the White Tower but down a different street. We stopped at a cafe and got outdoor seats a little way back from the promenade. There was plenty to watch - the traffic, people, motorcycles, people on electric scooters. The only downside again was the smoking and vaping.
After the coffee Tina wanted to walk down to the main walking street - JB had pointed it out after we passed the port on the bus tour. We walked down there then JB and I went for ice cream because the day was warm and I needed something cold after the walk. Meanwhile Tina and Violeta went shopping for perfume. We walked back toward the apartment along a street that ran parallel to the street near the sea shore. We found a cafe where we stopped and ate. We finished off the day with more ice cream!
Orthodox Church across from our apartment.
We packed up again because tomorrow we head to Constantinople!
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