Monuments to visit Thessaloniki

The ramparts visible on the heights of the city were built in medieval times. One notices however in the walls some pieces brought back from older monuments or earlier fortifications that can, without certainty, be traced back to the time of the first ramparts of Cassandra. The walls are the work of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I and the Persian Hormisdas, as indicated by a 9 m long inscription on the upper part of the Hormisdas tower (only part of it has survived).

This fortification was built against the Roman wall, so that they reinforced each other. At the same time, many towers (60 are visible today, including the White Tower) were erected at regular intervals to reinforce the ramparts and protect the very vulnerable lower town. The perimeter of the fortifications reached up to 7 km, of which only 3 km are preserved today. The height of the walls varies from 8.30 m to 10.50 m. Built largely of stone and mortar, they regularly give way to strips of brick which increase the solidity of the building.

The most imposing part of the old fortifications is certainly the White Tower. Overlooking the port of Thessaloniki, it has become its emblem. The tower was probably built by the Turks on the ruins of an older tower, unless it was the work of the Venetians who occupied the city before the Turks.

The complex includes many monuments such as the palace, the arch of Galerius, the rotunda, the octagon and the hippodrome. All these buildings were built on the orders of the emperor Galerius.

The first of the monuments of the complex is the Arch of Galerius. Located between the palace and the rotunda, it marked the intersection of two perpendicular streets, including the current Karamanlis, each lined with flamboyant porticoes. It was built to commemorate the victory of Galerius against the Persians, shortly before 305. The sculpted reliefs show the emperor in all his majesty defeating some submissive Barbarians kneeling at his feet. It is interesting to note that the reliefs do not have the beauty of the works of the Hellenistic period, the characters are lifeless, squeezed together, and the proportions are not always respected, which announces the austere stylization of the Middle Ages.

Between Tsimiski and Prinkipos Nikolaou streets, at the level of the Triumphal Arch, the ruins of Galerius' palace. When one knows that only the south-eastern part of the palace is preserved, one can better imagine the proportions which were those of the building. The parts visible today are organized around a vast square courtyard surrounded by four corridors and decorated with mosaics. To the south opens the large door that led directly to the port of the city. But the most impressive part of these ruins is undoubtedly the octagon. This room, remarkable by its architecture was to be used as throne room to the emperor.

The rotunda Saint-Georges is the last monument of the complex of Galerius. Research has proven that it was part of the great palatial complex since it was connected to the Arch of Galerius, itself connected to the palace by gigantic porticoes. Some think that it was a temple dedicated to Jupiter, others that Galerius had wanted to make a mausoleum of it (which was never used) or that the rotunda was used during the organization of demonstrations in the palace. The interior walls of its lower part were covered with marble while the high part was decorated with splendid mosaics. Around 400, the rotunda was converted into a Christian church and thus underwent some architectural changes - some of which would have precipitated its collapse during an earthquake. At the time of the Turkish domination, it was transformed into a mosque. Its impressive mosaic decoration dates from the Christian era.