The
White Tower
The
White Tower is a defensive structure dated to the 15th century. Later,
it was used as a guard's quarters by the Janissaries and as a prison for
those who were convicted to death. It was built on the place where an older,
Byzantine tower once stood. This Byzantine tower connected the east wall
of the fortification of Thessalonike (the part preserved today) with the
sea wall, which was demolished in1866. The museum in the White Tower
contains various collections of sculptures, frescoes, fragments of mosaic
floors and wall mosaics, icons, coins, inscriptions, pottery, glass and
metal items
Opening
Hours:
Monday:
12.30-19.00 Tuesday-Sunday: 08.00-19.00
Holy
Spirit Day, 15 August, 28 October: 08.00-19.00
Church
of Aghios (Saint) Demetrios The monument is a five-aisled basilica,
with a narthex and a transept. Under the sanctuary and the transept
there is the crypt. A chapel of Saint Euthymios is attached to the south-east
corner of the church. Very few fragments of the sculptural and pictorial
(mosaics, wall paintings) decoration of the church, survived the disastrous
fire of 1917 but they are representative of the successive phases of the
monument's history. The first church was a small oratory, built shortly
after 313 A.D. on the ruins of a Roman bath. In the 5th century A.D., the
eparch Leontios founded on the same site a large, three-aisled basilica
which was burnt down in 626-634. Shortly thereafter, the five-aisled basilica
was erected. It was converted into a mosque in 1493, it was restored to
Christian worship in 1912 but it was again destroyed in the great fire
of 1917. It was rebuilt and started to function again in 1949.
Today the monument is used as a church.
In
the crypt of Aghios Demetrios, an exhibition is on display to the public.
It includes the items that survived the fire of 1917 and those that were
brought to light by the recent excavations in the monument.
The Rotonda
A
circular building erected in A.D. 306 as the Pantheon or Mausoleum of Galerius.
Under Theodosius the Great it became a Christian church with only a few
additions or alterations. Its mosaics are unique for the era (4th century).
Located on Dimitriou Gounari street
Others
sites are:
The
Palace of Galerius (300 A.D.) at Navarino Square.
Roman
Market and Theater. Ruins standing at the Law Court Square (Dikastiria).
Roman
Baths. North of the church of Agios Dimitrios.
Nymphaion.
An elegant nomopteral, circular building.
Galerian
Arch (Kamara) erected short before 305 A.D.
Also
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