Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thessaloníki and around
Home to three quarters of a million people, Greece's second city,
THESSALONÍKI
- or
Salonica
, as it is was once known - stands apart from the rest of the country. Situated
at the head of the Gulf of Thessaloník, it seems open to the rest of the world, with a
wide ethnic mix and an air of general prosperity, stimulated by a major university
and a famously avant-garde live music and entertainment scene. The food is better
here too and there are some very sophisticated restaurants, but also wholesome
traditional food on offer in a great number of old-fashioned Turkish-influenced
ouzerís and tavernas.
The city has enough to offer the visitor for two or three days, at least. There are
substantial
Roman remains
and the many
churches
(see box, p.273) constitute a
showcase of Orthodox architecture through the ages, while you can catch glimpses of
the Turkish city both in the walled Upper City
and in the modern grid of streets below:
isolated pockets of
Ottoman buildings
, many of them Islamic monuments, which
miraculously survived the 1917 fire (see p.268). Modern Greek architecture is
exemplified by Art Deco piles dating from the city's twentieth-century heyday, around
Skopje
Sofia
0
50
kilometres
Titov Veles
REPUBLIC OF
MACEDONIA
Promahónas
Prilip
Livadhiá
Sidhirókastro
Lake
Kerkíni
Gevgelija
Dhoïráni
Ohrid
Sérres
Kerkíni
Bitola
Megáli
Préspa
Kilkís
Polýkastro
Kaïmaktsalán
(2524m)
Áyios
Yermanós
MACEDONIA
Nigríta
PRÉSPA
LAKES
Árnissa
Édhessa
Lake
Petrón
Psarádhes
Pisodhéri
Pella
Áy.
Pandeleímonas
Langadhás
Néa Halkidhóna
Flórina
Lake Korónia
Nymféo
Amýndeo
Mikrolímni
Lake
Vegorítidha
Náoussa
Mikrí
Préspa
Thessaloníki
Lake Vólvi
Vérmion
(2032m)
Mt Vítsi
(2128m)
Hortiátis
Panórama
Kastoriá
Véria
Ptolemáïdha
Paleohóri
Vergina
Órmos
Epanomís
Omorfoklissiá
Petrálona
Políyiros
Mt Grámmos
(2520m)
Siátista
Kateríni
Ólynthos
Kozáni
Néa Moudhaniá
Metamórfosi
Aliákmonas
Reservoir
Dion
Áfytos
Kryopiyí
Sání
Grevená
Mount
Olympus
(2917m)
Litóhoro
Pláka Litohórou
Platamónas
Síviri
Néa Skióni
Pefkohóri
Palioúri
Métsovo
Metéora
Kalambáka
Vólos
Sporádhes
