Thessaloniki Sightseeing

The Macedonian King Kassander named the city Thessaloniki after his wife, also the half sister  of Alexander the Great.

Also known as  the “Nymph of the Thermatic Gulf” it is  situated on the slopes of Mount Chortiatis in the shape of an amphitheatre. Throughout the Roman period, it was the capital of Macedonia Scounda and during the Middle Ages, it was the second city of the Byzantine Empire and later occupied by the Ottoman Empire until 1912.

Your excursion begins with the White Tower before continuing on to visit the local Archeological Museum which houses interesting Greek and Macedonian finds from the Archaic, Classical and Roman periods, the most important of these being “The Gold of Ancient Macedonia.”

After this we will drive by the International Trade Fair grounds and the Aristotelion University, which was established in 1926 and is now the largest university in Greece.

Next, you will make your way  to the Acropolis located in the upper part of the city. Here you will have a superb panoramic view of the entire city with the Thermatic Gulf and Mount Olympus in the background.

We continue to the 5th century AD Basilica of St Demetrios which honours the patron saint of the city.This five-aisle basilica suffered a tragic fire in the year 1917 but was later restored to its original state in 1948. You will  be fascinated by the many beautiful mosaics constructed here from the 5th to 9th centuries. Your guide will take you under the basilica to the haunting crypt which according to tradition confined St. Demetrios before he was martyred in 303 AD.

Finally  we take you through the modern street, Egnatia named after the famous Roman road Via Egnatia, where you will see the Arch of Gallerius and St. George’s Rotunda.

Before returning to the ship, you have a short stop at the well-preserved Byzantine Basilica of St. Sophia, an 8th Century structure rich in mosaics and frescoes.