TOURING MACEDONIA: Thessaloniki, Vergina, Veria, Fort Roupel, Lake Kerkini

O omorfi Thessaloniki, ta magika sou vradia nostalgo

“Beautiful Thessaloniki, I’m nostalgic for your magical evenings” (Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek composer, musician and singer)

Many times the College had sent me to ‘omorfi thessaloniki,’ main city of Macedonia in northern Greece, to accompany students to Model United Nations conferences and Forensics tournaments, but I never got a chance to see much beyond the promenade and the white tower landmark that characterizes the city.

So, when the laiko panepistimio (people’s university), that we attend, decided on Macedonia for its 4 day end of year trip, including Thessaloniki, the Hellenistic palace and royal tombs in Aiges and other sites nearby, I took the chance to see this part of Greece. (Last year Rhodes & Kastellorizo was the destination.)

After Constantinople, Thessaloniki was the 2^nd city of the Byzantine empire. Roman Byzantium became Constantinople, named for the first Roman-Byzantine emperor Constantine. The Byzantines eventually were defeated by the Ottomans, whose empire lasted until 1913 when Macedonia became part of Greece. In historian Mark Mazower’s fascinating book: Salonica: City of ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430 to 1950, he describes the crossroads of different ethnicities and religions that lived together through the centuries until cataclysmic 20^th century events.

In contrast to Athens, which was in a way a backwater for thousands of years after its ancient glory, until it became capital of the new Greek state in 1834, Thessaloniki assumed primary importance and continuity all through its history.

The city was founded in Hellenistic times in 315 BC by King Cassander, who named it “Thessaloniki” after his wife, who incidentally was Alexander the Great’s half sister and King Philip of Macedonia’s daughter. The name celebrates King Philip’s victory (niki) over the region of Thessaly.  It was the Romans though that made the city prosper with their love of monuments, baths, roads — the modern main street of Egnatia that goes east – west through the city is on top of the  ancient Via Egnatia planned from Rome to Constantinople. (We’re staying at the Egnatia hotel, old but pleasant and centrally located, with a great breakfast.)

Cities, as we know, are living entities, and monuments show the changes: a mosque built on top of a church built on top of a Roman bath. You can’t separate easily the Roman era from the Byzantine as one flows right into the other but let’s start with the Rotonda, built in the late 3^rd /early 4th century AD, a turning point between the pagan and early Christian world.  Built by emperor Galerius as first a polytheistic temple, it was gradually turned into a church after Constantine declared Christianity the official religion in 336 AD.

The minaret to the side shows its use as a mosque in the late 16th century and is the only minaret left standing in the city. (In 1912, the Rotonda was again converted into a church.)

From the outside and when you walk inside, you’re reminded of the Pantheon in Rome with the spacious interior, the dome 30 meters high, and the oculus on the ceiling, but here it’s covered up with painting.

There are beautiful mosaics on the walls, many of intricate geometric patterns like birds, fruits and other classical themes from Greco-Roman art and others of the triumph of Christianity.

Leaving the Rotonda and going straight down toward the sea, you’ll get to the arch of Galerius, known as the kamara, which celebrates the victory over the Persians. Note the intricate carvings on the columns.

Continue walking south on Gounaris St. and you get to the remains of Galerius’ palace. Other parts of the complex included a hippodrome, completely buried under apartment buildings nearby. You can walk down to get a better look at the massive walls in red brick, the characteristic building material of the Romans. What’s also been excavated include mosaic floors.

The entrance of the palace called the Octagono is an eight sided structure that served as a temple or throne room, that can be seen through the door in the back. I love the contrast with the modern apartment buildings.

Follow Gounaris St. down to the port, and it’ll lead you to the Thessaloniki landmark, the lefko pirgo, the white tower.  It’s endlessly photographed as a symbol of the city — you just can’t resist.

(But as our guide Ioanna noted, she thinks that the Rotonda is more of an apt symbol as it shows the layers of changes the city went through – temple, church, mosque, back to church.) All these layers of antiquities below the surface has made it very difficult for the city to complete constructing its much needed metro system!

This 15th c. Ottoman tower was built on top of a Byzantine fortification connected to the city’s defensive walls and became a notorious prison. So many executions were carried out on its terrace that blood dyed its walls red and was known as the “bloody tower.” Probably feeling that the violence was not good for its image, the Sultan in the late 19th century had it whitewashed and it has been known as the white tower ever since. (You can visit the museum inside but be warned you have 6 flights of stairs to climb.) The tower looks particularly beautiful lit up at twilight as you walk along the promenade.

A little to the east of the tower, Alexander the Great is seated on his horse Bucephalus, looking east, toward the empire he longs to conquer.

Alexander is the very symbol of the Greekness of Macedonia. (The use of its name is a long complicated issue — Yugoslavian leader Tito had named a southern area of his country as Macedonia, and after Yugoslavia separated into independent countries, the country’s use of the name Macedonia was unacceptable to Greece. After decades of disagreement, a compromise agreement was signed several years ago that its name would be “North Macedonia” but not everyone is happy with this and this continues to be a source of conflict.)

Back to the promenade— near Alexander’s statue is this pretty fountain of a mermaid. There’s a legend that Thessaloniki (the woman mentioned above) turned into a mermaid.

Walking along the promenade, you need to dodge lots of young people on bicycles and scooters. We took a “pirate” boat ride of the harbor — with the price of a drink, you see the port area. 

Way up behind the waterfront buildings, you can see the Ano Poli, the upper city and oldest part of Thessaloniki.

On a hot sunny Sunday morning we took a walk in the Ano Poli. The bus passes the house where Kemal Ataturk, early 20th century Turkish leader, was born, now a museum, and climbs up to what was the traditional Turkish quarter of the city. Up here you can find the city’s acropolis, the Byzantine and Ottoman era fortress (Eptapyrgio meaning seven towers, or also known with the Turkish name, the Yedikule) that you reach by walking through the portara or gate.

From the Aliseos Pirgo, constructed about the same time as the white tower, you get great views of the lower town, the sea and even Mt. Olympos to the right.

You could hear the service from a nearby church as we explored a little. This street looks like it hasn’t changed much over the years, except for new graffiti. But among the old was also the new.

The view down to the port shows how built up the city is! Note the Rotonda in the middle.

Everyone felt it was a great place for another group shot.

One of the catastrophic 20th century events in the city began here in the Ano Poli on a warm day in August 1917, when a cooking fire started and quickly spread down to the central part of the city, fueled by strong winds. The fire did incredible damage, destroying 2 /3 of the city and leaving 70,000 people homeless.

In Mazower’s book, mentioned above, he quotes a British journalist in 1917 who praised Greek Boy scouts who were helping, but described “ancient wooden fire-engines that creaked pathetically as they spat out ineffectual trickles of water,” and interestingly noted that the main object people were desperately trying to save was the family sewing machine!

The effects were beyond belief. Houses, churches, mosques and synagogues all burned to the ground. One of the casualties of the fire was the wooden roof of the church of Agios (Saint) Demetrios, patron saint of Thessaloniki, as well as frescoes and many priceless mosaics inside. Restoration took decades to complete. The church, a UNESCO heritage site, is a must visit.

Who was Demetrios? Until Christianity was officially adopted, this was a shadowy time of secret faiths and conflicts with the Roman empire, and martyrs killed for their faith. Demetrios was one such martyr, a Roman officer killed by the Romans in the late 3rd century AD on Galerius’ orders. Through history, it was claimed that he appeared to cause terror to the enemy and was responsible for miraculous cures. After his death, almost immediately a cult grew up to worship him, attracting pagans, Jews and Christians alike. The first church built for him in 4th c BC was on top of Roman baths, and then a more ‘advanced’ one in the 7th c., part of what we see today.

Here in the courtyard, our always knowledgeable and approachable guide Ioanna told us more about the church.

One of the effects of the fire is that it exposed the crypt, on top of the baths, and the fountain where the Roman soldiers threw Demetrios’ body. You can take some rickety stairs down to see this spot of worship through the centuries.

Ioanna told us that Demetrios’ bones had been stolen in the 1204 Crusades and brought to Italy. Some years ago they were found and identified in a village near Venice and after some negotiations, the bones were returned to their rightful place in Thessaloniki.

Outside the church, back in the sunlight, we saw a family setting up for their daughter Nektaria’s baptism. Like a fairy tale!

Against the backdrop of the 1917 fire is how Victoria Hislop begins her historical novel The Thread. From a street in the Ano Poli, we see the effects of wars, famine, deportation and dictatorship on the book’s characters and on Thessaloniki itself, that keeps rising from the ashes.

The design we see today for most of the center of Thessaloniki was laid out after the fire. A new modern European city with wide streets was envisioned by French archaeologist and architect Ernst Hebrard. The jewel of the project was Plateia Aristotelis near the port with its grand buildings, colonnades and its pedestrian street with the same name. It’s named of course for philosopher Aristotle, who was a Macedonian native and tutor of Alexander the Great.

At the beautiful Electra Palace hotel on the square, you can get a drink on the roof and enjoy a great view of the city.

Just six years after the fire, Thessaloniki was tested again with an influx of 100,000 refugees from Asia Minor in the 1923 Exchange of populations. The year before in the Asia Minor catastrophe, Smyrna had burned and Greeks were forced out of the city and area around. Part of the compulsory exchange of population was that 30,000 Muslims were then forced to leave Thessaloniki and go live in Turkey. (In many cases the Muslims spoke no Turkish and the Christians spoke no Greek.) The face of the city changed dramatically and struggled with absorbing so many new people in the population.

The second convulsive event happened 20 years later with the German occupation and the deportation of the thriving Jewish community of 50,000. Just like that, they vanished practically overnight, with very few survivors returning. There had been a small Jewish population in the city since Roman times, but in the late 15th century, thousands of Sephardic Jews forced to leave Spain and Portugal made Thessaloniki their home and the city population was divided equally among Christians, Muslims and Jews. You could hear Ladino (Judeo Spanish) in the streets along with Turkish, Greek and other languages.

Near the Ladadika area across from the western side of the port, stands a Holocaust memorial that grabs your attention with its writhing, mostly upside down figures. A state of the art Holocaust museum is in the process of being built, scheduled to open in early 2026.

The community today is small but rebuilding. The Jewish presence lives on in names like the Modiano Market, which used to have a lot of ouzeries and tavernas crowded together. Before they closed it for years of renovation in 2016, I was there during Carnival time and heard loud strains of the bouzouki. When I poked my head in, customers were up dancing on all the tables!Now the market has been cleaned up (!) and mainly sells food and handicrafts.

The “Yehudi Hamam” near the Modiano Market was originally an Ottoman era bath but used later by the Jewish community around it. Today on one side it seems to be a bustling cafeteria.

Bars, cafes and restaurants abound. Ladadika, mentioned above, is a popular place with its old houses used for restaurants and bars. Named for the huge vats of olive oil (ladi) that used to be unloaded at the nearby docks, it’s in the western part of the port and is a lively area, with university students (Thessaloniki is very much a student town), mixed with all ages of visitors and many tourists. It reminded me of the Psyrri area in Athens.

In the mood for fish, we sat down at a mezedopoleio called Marathos, where we had tasty grilled sardines and fried koutsomoures (small red snapper), and the delicious house salad. I can see why the city is known for its gastronomy.

And a word on famous Thessaloniki sweets, brought to the city by Asia Minor refugees. First, heavenly bougatsa: thin filo pastry or puff pastry with custard. You can eat it that way for a savoury taste, but it’s more common as a sweet, if you add cinnamon and powdered sugar. It’s usually made in large sheets and cut into tiny pieces.

The second is known as a trigono (triangle) which has syrupy filo pastry with custard. It’s out of this world, but I think goes better in cooler weather…

Our trip to Thessaloniki also included a visit to the monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti, a nunnery about a half hour drive outside the city.

If you’re a woman, be sure you have a skirt on! Or at least with you if you want to visit. (Usually at monasteries they have a collection of sacklike skirts for you to wear when you go in but here, you had to provide your own.) The monastery contains the grave of Agios Paisios, known for his gentle manner and acceptance of those who came to receive his advice, counsel and blessing. There’s always a huge line to pay homage to his grave.

AIGES / VERGINA

About an hour and a half west of Thessaloniki lies the palace of King Philip of Macedonia and the museum of the royal tombs, where Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronicos found Philip’s tomb in 1977 and tombs of other royal family members. After 16 years of renovation, the palace was open to the public in January 2024.

Although cars can make the climb, buses can’t and it’s about a half hour mostly uphill, so best to do this as early in the day as you can.

The palace of Aiges or Aigai, built between 359 and 336 BC, could be seen all over the Macedonia basin and was 3 times as large as the Parthenon. It was here that Alexander the Great was crowned king after his father’s assassination in 336 BC.

The palace was considered innovative for its time not only in its building materials, marble inlays and mosaics, but in how it was designed. It had an upper floor as well and could accommodate 8000 people.

The main use of the palace was administrative. (The capital of the Macedonian kingdom at the time was Pella, a city further west.) In Aigai in rooms used as symposia, here Alexander the Great mapped out his battle plan with his advisors.

There was also a circular area, reminiscent of the tholos at Delphi.

Every palace has a theater as well, which we looked at on the descent. The theater might not look like anything special, but it’s a historic place, for it was here that Philip, Alexander’s father, was assassinated. He had come here to celebrate his daughter Cleopatra’s wedding, unarmed and unprotected by his usual guard. There were a number of theories about the assassination traced to various intrigues in his court.

Ioanna told us that it was actually Philip who had the plans to conquer Persia and Asia and. Alexander had grown up hearing about these plans. Who knows, if Philip had lived, it might have been him that set out on the journey east.

At the center of the theater is the vomo where first you make a sacrifice to the gods before every performance.

Aiges (meaning “goats”!) was the name of the palace but the name of the village that contains the royal tomb of Philip and others in his family is Vergina.

This area with the museum was packed with schoolkids and other tourists so we had to wait our turn to go in. Most of us were glad to rest from the trek up and down from the palace!

The tombs are under a hill called the Great Tumulus in an underground museum built around 20 years after the discovery in 1977.

As you enter, first you have to adjust your eyes to the darkness. Some artifacts found in the tombs — the head to the left is of Alexander.

Inside this tomb, which was looted in antiquity, dating from 4th c. BC are remains of a woman and newborn baby. It’s believed they had a royal connection because of the drawing along the wall showing the abduction of Persephone by Hades.

Philip’s tomb facade contains portraits of himself and Alexander in a hunting scene. Standing columns like a temple and ornate objects inside (Philip’s funeral ceremony was one of the most lavish in ancient times) clued Andronicos that this must belong to Philip. “After the cremation,” a note tells us in the museum, “the bones were gathered, washed in wine, wrapped in a purple cloth and then laid in a gold chest together with the wreath. The chest was then enclosed in a marble sacophagus, the heavy door was closed and the tomb sealed forever.”

Along with the discovery of Philip’s tomb, another tomb holds the remains of Alexander the Great’s son, the prince, Philip’s grandson who was only 13 or 14, when he was murdered. More palace intrigue with links to Cassander in on the plot. As for Alexander the Great’s remains, still no one knows where he’s buried.

A tomb was also discovered of an illegitimate son of Alexander’s. Again murder, foul play involving Cassander.

This solid gold wreath and chest was found in the tomb of one of Philip’s wives.

Andronicos describes the find in Philip’s tomb of “a solid gold chest with an impressive star on its lid…our eyes nearly popped out of our heads…all the signs were that we had found a royal tomb…” The star of Vergina might represent the sun god Helios.

Out into the light of day, although exhausted, we had one more museum, a spanking new one, the Polycentric whose various finds showed everyday life among the ancient Macedonians.

“Will we be succeeded by other researchers on the site….who will want to search through confusing debris for foundations beneath the ground,” wondered Andronicos, [to find] “the ancient monuments of a people who played a significant role in the world.”

VERIA

Near Vergina is the city of Veria and its large valley, famous for its peach and nectarine trees.

We wandered for a bit in what had been the Turkish quarter.

And the usual, a Byzantine era church nestled among modern apartment buildings.

Following the signs for Barbouta, the name of the Jewish quarter, we saw a recently renovated synagogue that you see only by appointment if you want to tour the interior. On this ancient street you can hear the rushing of the nearby river and birds singing.

It might have been in this very area of Barbouta where the Apostle Paul came on two visits to Veria to preach in the synagogue, as shown in the mural on the right in this monument in the center known as the tribune or podium of the Apostle Paul.

Finally, we visited the Old Metropolian Cathedral in Veria from the 11th century with its beautiful frescoes. The minaret was kept from when it was used as a mosque.

FORT ROUPEL

This large fort near the border with Bulgaria, is a major part of World War II Greek history. It was delightfully cool when we arrived in the early morning.

The fort, the largest of 21 forts in the area, was set up in 1936 to repel the Germans from the north (i.e. Bulgaria). Today it’s an army base. A soldier, very friendly and knowledgeable, gave us a tour around the outside first. This is the lookout point.

There’s a small museum with war paraphernalia.

The Greeks held out for five days in April 1941 in keeping the Germans away, but when the Greeks heard the Germans had taken Thessaloniki, they were told to surrender, which took place right outside the museum, as the photo shows. The soldiers threw their arms in the nearby river, our guide told us, rather than have the Germans get them. Even until now, guns are turning up in the river.

But the main part of the fort is the bunker off of the museum, with all its underground corridors. We were taken through part of it — inside, models show daily life and various services that were part of life there, offices, dining areas, clinics, etc. The size of the bunker was quite amazing.

We left this important part of Greek history to drive about an hour to Lake Kerkini.

LAKE KERKINI

As we drove closer, we noticed in the nearby village that storks had built nests, some with their young, on top of telephone poles.

Lake Kerkini, the picture of peace and tranquility, is an artificial lake built in 1932 to control the vagaries of the Strimonas river and to stem the problem of malaria caused by the wetlands.

We took a boat ride out to the river delta, where Nikos our boatman pointed out first an observation point used to watch the birds.

Apparently the lake is quite a bird sanctuary with over 300 bird species, many of them rare. Lake Kerkini is a stop on their migration routes, especially in early spring. According to Nikos, we were just a few weeks late to really get the effect of the thousands of birds on the lake, tending in many cases to their newborns, but we were still amazed at the variety that we saw.

There were cormorants, pelicans, herons, swans and others resting on trees. They feed on the many varieties of fish in the lake.

By the time the boat docked, it was lunchtime and we wanted to try the specialty of the area, surprisingly enough, buffalo.

Boatman Nikos told us of all the ways to eat buffalo and recommended it with fettucine-like pasta. So, that’s what we tried at a local taverna — the meat had no fat and was very good — along with salad with buffalo mozzarella. The meat might be lean but as I learned, buffalo milk has the highest amount of fat of any other milk, but the most food value. The taverna belonged to the family of a local buffalo grower, Aristeides.

After lunch we visited his buffalo farm and learned that apparently, the wetlands are a perfect environment for growing these animals, and that 80% of the buffalo grown in Greece is in the Kerkini area. I never knew!

Back in Thessaloniki, the sun is setting on our trip.

The next day we all said goodbye to our lovely guide Ioanna. With ever-helpful bus driver Dimitris, we began our journey back to Athens.

The blog is dedicated to Frieda D and to Eleni B, whose smiles greeted us every morning, and who worked patiently and tirelessly to make the trip a success. We thank you!

Kalo Kalokairi! Have a good summer!

If you like what you read, hit the like button and subscribe. Please share with your friends and I’d love to hear your comments below.

There’s no need to log in to leave a comment. Just give an email address and your name.

Get new blogs delivered directly to your inbox! It costs nothing to subscribe. Olivesandislands does not share email information.

Sherri Moshman Paganos is a writer and former educator, inspired by her life in Athens, where she and her husband are happily retired and enjoying their travels in Greece and abroad. You can check out her writing — fiction, non-fiction, poetry and articles here.