Thessaloniki
The capital of Macedonia and second largest city of Greece, Thessaloniki
was first established in 316 BC by Kasandros and named after his wife,
Thessaloniki, sister of Alexander the Great. It is here that Paul,
the Apostle of Nations, first brought the message of Christianity
and that Demetrius, a Roman officer died in martyrdom, thus becoming
the holy patron of the city forever. Thessaloniki becomes the second
important city of the Byzantine Empire, next to Constantinople, ornamented
with numerous majestic and glamorous architectural works that display
all forms of Byzantine art.
Today Thessaloniki is a lively modern city bustling with life and
movement. Large avenues, parks and squares, lines of trees that frame
commercial streets with showy shop-windows. Old houses, neoclassical
buildings, modern dwellings. Yesterday meets today at old tavernas,
"ouzeries" restaurants next to hotels and luxury bars, "bouzouki halls"
(Thessaloniki is the cradle of modern Greek popular song, "rembetiko"),
cinema halls, theaters and confectioner's shops that arrange their
seats and tables on street pavements and squares. And then comes peace.
|
