Thessaloniki. Open city in the two worlds, the West and the East, Thessaloniki constituted turningpoint

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1 Thessaloniki Open city in the two worlds, the West and the East, Thessaloniki constituted turningpoint for the all populations that passed from this region. Byzantines, Fragkoi, Ottoman, Jews had not only left something but also took something from her culture, cultural heritage, and histories and traditions of her population. Existed the crossroad of nationalities and religions, the remnants of which appear from the many monuments, appear scattered in her historical centre. Cultural, economic and commercial centre, achieved particular growth during the Roman and Byzantine years, and in the years of Ottoman domination also. But after the release, in 1912, the multinational city of Thermaikou continued also her growth with rapid rythms in order to becomes today the second city of Greek state with population that exceeds residents. All significant monuments are located in the city s Historic Center, which is surrounded by the ancient wall. In the same area there are to be seen well preserved buildings, which were built in the period between 1800 s and 1900 s, and survived through the August 1917 fire, which actually destroyed a large segment of the city s

2 historic center. The 1917 fire, especially hit the Stock Market Square and the Ladadika, two of the most noteworthy commercial areas of that time being. As of today, in Thessaloniki, there are more than 650 listed buildings. The congriegation in the ancient times it was the religious and social canter and after and the peace, and it was calling agora. The corresponding of the Greek agora in the Roman time it had the name Forum and it was locate in the canter of the town. There were gathered the public buildings, studios and stores. The White Tower was built after the fall of Thessaloniki from Turkes, to the ruins of one Byzantine tower who was protecting the town from enemy s landings. First it named tower of lions, but after it named it tower of Genitsaron because for a period it had been there Genitsaron s garrison. Turkes was calling it kanlikaule (blooded tower) because it had used as a prison for the convincers. Every time they were about to kill somebody, they announce it with a cannonade. The legend says that Genisari went the prisoners to the ramparts of the tower and they were killing them up there. The blood that it was leaking, it was painting the exterior surface of the building and cause fear to the passengers. The White Tower is 30m height, has 22.30m meter and it is constitute from the grand floor, the fire floors and the turret. In

3 it s interior are shaped seven round rooms, the one over the other, like a sevenfold building. Today the White Tower is a museum and as you probably know is the emblem of Thessaloniki. Rotonda is a building which dates back to the period of Roman occupation of Thessaloniki. It was build by Caesar Galerius and it was a temple dedicated rather to haviri or Zeus. It is a bulky round building with a huge dome on top. The recesse and arched windows soften the impressive architectural style of that building. When Theodosis was the emperor of the Roman territory and the Christians were free to gather at churches, Rotonda was decorated into a Christians church. It was then that it was decorated with mosaics presenting various Christian themes such as baskets full of fruits birds and starfishes. Throughout the Turkish occupation Rotonda was as a mosque. In Thessaloniki, as in many other Byzantines towns, there are many churches because every neighborhood had its own church where the Byzantines gathered to attend the Mass on Sunday and celebrated various religious holidays in splendor Acheiropoietos is a very old church which was built in the middle of the 5th century. It is one of the exquisite monuments of Thessaloniki because it has retained its original architectural style up to now. The name Acheiropoietos was given to the church because of an icon of Virgin Mary, which is said not to have been made by human hand but to have come down to earth from heaven. The themes of the mosaics in the church are not saints and angels but

4 crosses, birds, fish, blooming tree branches, wheat spikes and books. When the Turkus conquered Thessaloniki, Acheiropoietos was the first church which was converted into a mosque, which is Muslim place of worship. With the intention of leaving their traces, the Turks wrote on one of the columns Sultan Mourat conquered Thessaloniki in 1430 a Saint Sophia a church dedicated to God s wisdom was built in the middle of the 7th century by emperor Justinian and is considered to be the masterpiece of Byzantine art. It was built with carved white stone and bricks, in a style which was first used in Thessaloniki. On the mosaics of the dome there is the Ascension of Christ depicted. Jesus Christ sits on a rainbow triumphantly which is held by two flying angels. Just bellow that, between trees and cliffs Virgin Mary stands with her hands raised upwards as if she was praying, there are also two angels and Christ s disciples, the twelve Apostles, without a halo around their heads. In the middle of the previous century, the city of the Thessaloniki was suffocating among its medieval walls and the ottoman authorities decided to demolish them. In the place of the eastern wall, they constructed Chamidie Avenue. That is how Ethnikis Amynis street was called. The Greek inhabitants of Thessaloniki were bothered by the demolition of the walls, because the bare area made a bad impression on them. Then the Turkish administration decided to make the area more beautiful by building a fountain. This fountain was not only decorative at the time. It was also

5 very useful for the animals that pulled the carriages and the carts. They stopped there to drink fresh water. At the end of last century, Thessaloniki changes and becomes a European city. A lot of new buildings are constructed; buildings that have been built according to the neoclassical architectural standards. These new standards were imposed by the Bavarian king Otto and the German architects when they arrived in Greece. This order, which gives the impressions of the Greek one because it reminds us of the ancient Greek classical architecture, covered the front parts of many new buildings.