SATURDAY, JUNE 1
Our plan was to go on a walking tour, our favorite way to begin a visit to a new city, and with Greece, it seemed all that much more important. Shifting gears after the Balkans and turning to ancient history is a task that requires a guide.
SLOWING DOWN
We didn’t make it to the starting point in time. But that was okay, because what we really needed was to slow down and deal with the anxieties both of us are feeling…Chloe at the approaching unknowns of college; and me at impending dread of returning to Vancouver. We hunkered down for a long talk in a juice bar overlooking the promenade and ocean. The Aegean sea blew a cool air over the quickly heating up streets and sidewalks and the few early morning Saturday people.
We are both being hard on ourselves, too critical. The Balkans wore us down a bit with their historical complexities, the overwhelming sensations created by recent wars, the quick movement from country to country, and the sheer intake of information. Chloe’s stomach started acting up. We were sleep deprived and edgy. Time to take care of ourselves, take it easy.
WELL, SORT OF…
At least for the day, we decided to do this new city a different way, and with a sense of relief we began. But we never really slow down. At the day’s end, as we dragged ourselves back to our neighborhood, Chloe guessed we had hit the 18 kilometer walking mark.
Over the course of the day, we saw the White Tower, various churches, visited the Rotunda, created before Galerius (the Roman emperor of the Thessaloniki in 130 BC), and wound up the hill through the oldest neighborhood, once home to the cities Turkish population. We passed so many cats, lively restaurants and many large dogs struggling in the heat.
THE WHITE TOWER, A TOWER OF THESSALONIKI’S HISTORY
The White Tower offers an overview of Thessaloniki’s history, spread over the six tower floors, in the center of the spiral, stone stairs. Videos, photos, maps and text (in Greek only, but there are audio guides in different languages) tell of military history, various occupations by the Romans, Ottomans, Turks and Nazis. Greece gained it’s independence from the Turks in 1912, with the brutal displacement, called an exchange, of peoples (Greeks and Turks) in 1924.
In 1917, the city was destroyed in a fire, mostly the old part of the city, which was where the Jewish population, the largest percentage of Thessaloniki’s total population, lived. Over it’s hundreds of years, Thessaloniki has had to rebuild many times due to wars, fires and earthquakes.
The White Tower presents a lot of information, a bit too much to take in and sometimes it is told out of chronological order, confusing an already dense and complex history. The section about Thessaloniki’s multiculturalism, up until WWII, is perhaps the most interesting. Of all the European cities, this is historically one of the most diverse, with peoples from all points, east and west, and all religions, living together.
The Ottomans and the Turks occupied the city for five centuries, a time that Greeks don’t like to talk about. The city’s mosques have been destroyed. Still Turkish influences are apparent, particularly in the style of homes on the hill, with their overhanging upper floors, and the wooden balconies, in details everywhere, and in some foods.
The White Tower’s sixth floor offers a 360 degree view of the city and sea with descriptions and some history of the different areas you are facing…all very helpful when organizing a walk.
ATATURK, THE THESSALONIKIAN
We went to Turkey…for a few minutes. Ataturk was born in Thessaloniki and his family house is now part of the Turkish consulate, so we crossed that border.
THE ROTUNDA
The Rotunda is simply spectacular, daunting in size, intricate in mosaic patterns and frescos, powerful in structure and density, and overwhelming to the senses when you think of it’s age and all the people who have passed through it’s gates. It was built as a pagan rotunda, the front gate designed to face Mt. Olympus, the home of the god. Later it was transformed by the Christians, an alter area was added (and two large supporting walls). The Roman Emperor Galerius used the Rotunda as his church and built the gate to his palace just below it. Then came the Ottomans, who covered over the Christian mosaics and added a minaret. When the Ottomans were defeated, the minarets were destroyed, except for one left beside the Rotunda.
MONI VLATADON, A 14TH C MONASTERY
At the top of Thessaloniki is Moni Vlatadon, a Byzantine Monastery, which has continuously operating since the 14th C, longer than any other Monastery in Europe. In it’s earlier pagan state, it was visited by St. Paul, who came to preach to the Jews. Nearby are the Trigonio Tower and the Byzantine fortification wall, both constructed in the 4th C.
To say that walking the grounds and in the church at Moni Valatadon is thrilling is an understatement. It breathes history. Our footsteps passed the same way as St. Paul. If that doesn’t bring history alive, I don’t know what does. And then there is the view!
