
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece after the capital Athens. Thessaloniki is the capital of the geographical region of Macedonia and the administrative center of the region of Central Macedonia. The city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city is also the center of the Thessaloniki diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Thessaloniki was founded by the Macedonian king Cassander in 315 BC. He named it after his wife Thessalonica, sister of Alexander the Great. In different periods of the past, Thessaloniki was one of the important trade centers of Byzantium, the capital of the Thessaloniki Margraviate, one of the largest Jewish centers not only in the Balkans, but also among the largest cultural and educational centers in the Balkans.
The Bulgarian educators St. Cyril and St. Methodius were born in Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki passed through various possessions, and in 1430 was conquered by the Turks. Thessaloniki remained within the Ottoman Empire until 1912 and was called Thessaloniki. After the Inter-Allied War, Thessaloniki was handed over to Greece. In a great fire in 1917, most of the city was destroyed.
And today the most famous landmarks of Thessaloniki are the White Tower, the Church of St. Demetrios, the city fortress wall, the Gallery Arch, The Saint George Rotunda and others. The city is built with spacious squares - Agias Sofias Square, Aristotelis and wide boulevards - “Alexander the Great” and others.