Back to the beginning June 22, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , trackbackRight, lets start at the beginning. In the case of Thessaloniki, that’s an awfully long time ago. According to the Archaeological Museum, there have been humans around here for about 200,000 years, though the city itself was founded in 321BC by Alexander the Great’s brother in law, who named it after his wife.
The highlight of the Archaeological Museum is the Gold of Macedon, grave goods from the many graves which have been excavated. That of Phillip II is the most famous and, if I can sort out the bus timetables, is the plan for Tuesday. I’m charmed by the beautiful gold sheet work in crowns of delicate golden flowers. They look so fragile, but have survived so long.
After the museum, I head off to find the Roman city. The Palace and Arch of the 4th century AD emperor Galerius, who ruled as part of the 4-emperor tetrarchy, sit in the middle of the post-war apartment blocks which characterise so much of the city.
A little further north is the Rotunda, which my guidebook tells me has the best mosaics outside Ravenna and Constantinople. Its a bit hard to tell, because the interior is covered in restorers scaffolding, but the bits I can see sparkle in gold. Like the Pantheon in Rome, this building has survived intact from ancient times by being consecrated as a church, then becoming a mosque and is now a church again. The mosaics I can see look Islamic, rather than Christian, with birds and abstract shapes.
In between, there’s lots of sitting in coffee shops and enjoying the sunshine. Its still all very quiet, and clearly not a tourist town. Even the hotel seems to be more for business people than for tourists.
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I am following your travels with great delight. Thessaloniki is obviously the place to be for the northern summer.