58 Facts About Thessaloniki Greece

An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki Greece was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire.

Thessaloniki Greece named it after his wife Thessalonike, a half-sister of Alexander the Great and princess of Macedonia as daughter of Philip II.

At the time of the Roman Empire, about 50 AD, Thessaloniki Greece was one of the early centers of Christianity; while on his second missionary journey, Paul the Apostle visited this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed the seeds for Thessaloniki Greece's first Christian church.

In 306 AD, Thessaloniki Greece acquired a patron saint, St Demetrius, a Christian whom Galerius is said to have put to death.

In 379, when the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki Greece became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum.

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Thessaloniki Greece passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the Fourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the Kingdom of Thessalonica — which then became the largest vassal of the Latin Empire.

When Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki Greece and sacked it in 1430, contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved.

Thessaloniki Greece's importance was mostly in the field of shipping, but in manufacturing, while most of the city's trade was controlled by Jewish.

Thessaloniki Greece was the capital of the Sanjak of Selanik within the wider Rumeli Eyalet until 1826, and subsequently the capital of Selanik Eyalet.

Thessaloniki Greece was a Janissary stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained.

In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki Greece while killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known as The Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history.

In 1903, an anarchist group known as the Boatmen of Thessaloniki Greece planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki Greece, including the Ottoman Bank, with some assistance from the IMRO.

The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki Greece served as the center of operations for the Greek guerillas.

Thessaloniki Greece was the center of activities of the Young Turks, a political reform movement, which goal was to replace the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy with a constitutional government.

Turkey's first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was born and raised in Thessaloniki Greece, was a member of the Young Turks in his soldier days and partook in the Young Turk Revolution.

On 18 March 1913 George I of Thessaloniki Greece was assassinated in the city by Alexandros Schinas.

The State of Thessaloniki Greece was disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek governments under Venizelos, following the abdication of King Constantine in 1917.

On 30 December 1915 an Austrian air raid on Thessaloniki Greece alarmed many town civilians and killed at least one person, and in response the Allied troops based there arrested the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish vice-consuls and their families and dependents and put them on a battleship, and billeted troops in their consulate buildings in Thessaloniki Greece.

Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki Greece were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988.

In 1997, Thessaloniki Greece was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture, sponsoring events across the city and the region.

Today, Thessaloniki Greece has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in Southeastern Europe, with its port, the Port of Thessaloniki Greece being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland.

Since medieval times, Thessaloniki Greece was hit by strong earthquakes, notably in 1759,1902,1978 and 1995.

One apartment building in central Thessaloniki Greece collapsed during the second earthquake, killing many, raising the final death toll to 51.

Thessaloniki Greece's climate is directly affected by the Aegean Sea, on which it is situated.

In 2021, Greece had been taken to task by the European Commission for failing to curb consistently high air pollution levels in Thessaloniki.

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Municipality of Thessaloniki is the second most populous in Greece, after Athens, with a resident population of 317,778 and an area of 19.

Architecture in Thessaloniki Greece is the direct result of the city's position at the centre of all historical developments in the Balkans.

Northwestern Thessaloniki is home to Moni Lazariston, located in Stavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centers for the city, including MOMus–Museum of Modern Art–Costakis Collection and two theatres of the National Theatre of Northern Greece.

In northwestern Thessaloniki Greece exist many cultural premises such as the open-air Theater Manos Katrakis in Sykies, the Museum of Refugee Hellenism in Neapolis, the municipal theater and the open-air theater in Neapoli and the New Cultural Center of Menemeni.

Municipality of Kalamaria is located in southeastern Thessaloniki Greece and was firstly inhabited mainly by Greek refugees from Asia Minor and East Thrace after 1922.

The evolution of Imperial Byzantine architecture and the prosperity of Thessaloniki Greece go hand in hand, especially during the first years of the Empire, when the city continued to flourish.

Thessaloniki Greece rose to economic prominence as a major economic hub in the Balkans during the years of the Roman Empire.

City's port, the Port of Thessaloniki Greece, is one of the largest ports in the Aegean and as a free port, it functions as a major gateway to the Balkan hinterland.

In recent years Thessaloniki Greece has begun to turn into a major port for cruising in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Greek ministry of tourism considers Thessaloniki to be Greece's second most important commercial port, and companies such as Royal Caribbean International have expressed interest in adding the Port of Thessaloniki to their destinations.

However, Thessaloniki still remains a major business hub in the Balkans and Greece, with a number of important Greek companies headquartered in the city, such as the Hellenic Vehicle Industry, Namco, Astra Airlines, Ellinair, Pyramis and MLS Multimedia, which introduced the first Greek-built smartphone in 2012.

When Paul the Apostle came to Thessaloniki Greece, he taught in the area of what today is called Upper City.

Thessaloniki Greece became the largest center in Europe of the Sephardic Jews, who nicknamed the city la madre de Israel and "Jerusalem of the Balkans".

Many Jewish inhabitants of Thessaloniki Greece spoke Judeo-Spanish, the Romance language of the Sephardic Jews.

In 1943, the Nazis began brutal actions against the historic Jewish population in Thessaloniki Greece, forcing them into a ghetto near the railroad lines and beginning deportation to concentration and labor camps.

The city's main theaters, run by the National Theatre of Northern Thessaloniki Greece which was established in 1961, include the Theater of the Society of Macedonian Studies, where the National Theater is based, the Royal Theater -the first base of the National Theater-, Moni Lazariston, and the Earth Theater and Forest Theater, both amphitheatrical open-air theatres overlooking the city.

Thessaloniki Greece is renowned for its major shopping streets and lively laneways.

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki Greece was established in 1962 and houses some of the most important ancient Macedonian artifacts, including an extensive collection of golden artwork from the royal palaces of Aigai and Pella.

Ataturk Museum in Thessaloniki Greece is the historic house where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern-day Turkey, was born.

The Teloglion Foundation of Art is part of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece and includes an extensive collection of works by important artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by prominent Greeks and native Thessalonians.

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Thessaloniki Greece is home to a number of prominent archaeological sites.

The "DMC DJ Championship" has been hosted at the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki Greece, has become a worldwide event for aspiring DJs and turntablists.

The city's Greek Orthodox Church leadership has consistently rallied against the event, but mayor Boutaris sided with Thessaloniki Greece Pride, saying that Thessaloniki Greece would seek to host EuroPride 2020.

Thessaloniki Greece has a rich sporting history with its teams winning the first ever panhellenic football, basketball, and water polo tournaments.

In October 2007, Thessaloniki Greece played host to the first Southeastern European Games.

The municipality of Thessaloniki Greece operates three radio stations, namely FM100, FM101 and FM100.

Thessaloniki Greece's Ladadika borough is a particularly busy area in regards to Thessalonian cuisine, with most tavernas serving traditional meze and other such culinary delights.

Thessaloniki Greece is known as "the city that never sleeps" and a "party capital" due to its thriving nightlife, young atmosphere and famous 24-hour culture.

Aristotle University was founded in 1926 and is currently the largest university in Thessaloniki Greece by number of students, which number at more than 80,000 in 2010, and is a member of the Utrecht Network.

Additionally, a TEI, namely the Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki Greece, is located in the western suburb of Sindos; home to the industrial zone of the city.

Creation of a metro system for Thessaloniki Greece goes back as far as 1918, when Thomas Hayton Mawson and Ernest Hebrard proposed the creation of a Thessaloniki Greece Metropolitan Railway.

Port of Thessaloniki Greece connects the city with seasonal ferries to the Sporades and other north Aegean islands, with its passenger terminal, being one of the largest in the Aegean Sea basin; having handled around 162,731 passengers in 2007.

Meanwhile, ongoing actions have been going on for more connections and the port is recently being upgraded, as Thessaloniki Greece is slowly turning into a major tourist port for cruising in the eastern Mediterranean.