Day 22 - [T]hessaloniki

More tracing the past

Today was a later start than I had planned as the blog entry took too long to put together, and that was abbreviated. I’ve started writing this one this evening, after updating the previous entry with many more photos. After getting a base level post up, I headed out to Donkey Garden for another favourite breakfast. I went by a different route today and came upon the front of the Hagia Sophia. A much more impressive sight.

Hagia Sophia gate

Hagia Sophia – front

Donkey Garden

After breakfast, I set off to the Church of Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is a wondrous place. I’ve commented before how not having a faith makes it a little awkward for me to visit these solemn sanctuaries. I do not want to disrespect the faithful with my secular review. In that light, it is a genuinely gorgeous building, the religious decorations are extraordinary, and the history in the building is also wonderful.

Approaching the church from the East	The South-east corner	The West (front) of the Church of Saint Demetrius
The nave	A shrine(?) built into a nave arch	An historic icon preserved in the columns
The altar – landscape view	The altar – portrait view	The priests’ thrones

The crypt in the Church of Saint Demetrius is historically the ground floor entrance to the church (so said the signs). It is a wonderful cellar area, unlike crypts in English churches, it is not filled with tombs and memorials.

Scenes in the crypt
Evidence of the original external nature of the crypt	More evidence	Explanatory matter
A vestibule(?) in the crypt	People seem to use it as a wishing well Or there’s a religious action that is similar that I don’t know about. There were as many hairties as euro notes.	The brickwork arched vaulted ceiling in the crypt

Part of the crypt is established as a museum for the church.

Artifacts from the early life of the church

Preserved elements of the crypt

On the North side of the church nave were two shrines to saints. The first, appeared to be the remains of a female saint (whose name is now lost to me). The other is a shrine to Saint Demetrius.

The resting place(?) of a female saint	The shrine to Saint Demetrius	The shrine to Saint Demetrius – interior
A small room beside the front entry	More arched brickwork ceiling vaulting	The resting place(?) of Saint Demetrius

My original plan had been to walk on from the Church of Saint Demetrius to the Acropolis of Thessaloniki. My original original plan had been to visit the Meteora Monastery this afternoon, thinking that it was above Thessaloniki. Turns out, after negotiating a pick-up with the tour operator I had booked a tour of the monastery with, it’s about 200km away. The ‘monastery’ I could see from Thessaloniki turns out to be its acropolis. Google Maps has told me it’s a 45 min walk. So that was what my plan had become. Part of that plan involved returning to my AirBNB to unburden myself. On the way back to the AirBNB, I passed the Roman Forum in the middle of Thessaloniki. I was in a bit of hurray so only took a panorama of it.

Panorama of the Roman Forum

The walk up through Thessaloniki was interesting. I came across more churches hidden in housing. And a few other interesting sights were seen.

Church	Church	Church
A modern building with very-old-style decorations	Knit to Thrill!	Note that the direction signs also tell you how much energy you will use to make the journey

I eventually came across the south-eastern end of the old city wall and started the climb in earnest. I’ve said before that I’m getting a lot of cardio work in while I’m travelling, and today was no different. The stairs at the end were mercifully short, but after a long steady hill climb, it was a relief to get to the top (or what I thought was the top).

Old city wall

The path leading up the hill

View from about halfway up the hill climb

Panorama of the view from the foot of the Trigonion Tower

The Trigonion Tower

The top of the tower

View out to the harbour from the tower battlements

Only after visiting the tower did I realise that it was not part of the actual acropolis. So I kept climbing up the hill to that edifice.

The acropolis walls	The original entry gate for the acropolis	The largest remaining section of the acropolis, its cistern, showing how it was three floors high
Another view of the cistern	Two guys training on historic weapons combat in the cistern	View across the acropolis from the highest internal point
The Heptapyrgion at the acropolis This building is in active use	It is an imposing fortress at the top of the acropolis	Evidence of years of modifications and repairs in the Heptapyrgion

I decided to walk down from the acropolis to the ‘old town’ that my AirBNB host has suggested. I eventually discovered it called galma stan on Google Maps and it was an easy walk across the ridgeline, so off I went. This district is labelled as a tourist attraction on Google Maps but it is simply a district of old housing, perched on the steep sloping ridge above Thessaloniki. It is clearly gentrifying/modernising as the housing varies between very old, narrow, three and four storey homes (a bit like Victorian row townhouses, but not anything like as architecturally consistent) and obviously modern replicas or homages to those types of home built on the same tiny, steep blocks. The streets are little more than cobbled lanes, thorugh which only one vehicle can pass at a time. It is a charming part of Thessaloniki. My internal house renovator was fizzing with the possibilities of some of the less-well-loved homes. The views across Thessaloniki and the harbour were everything.

Renovated (top floors) of old home in galma stan	Modern build of home in galma stan	The view (from ground level) from the new home
Street scene in galma stan	Derelict house, on its own against the old town wall Absolute renovator’s delight; amazing location	The galma stan plaza, with mausoleum

I descended back to the modern Thessaloniki city centre, popping out of the narrow streets about one block above the Church of Saint Demetrious. Knowing where I was, I went down to the Roman Forum to more carefully document the place. Then I walked down Aristotle Square (the main promenade/boulevard I described yesterday) to Ladadika again for another ‘linner’. My pick was not so good this time. Not because what I had was poor – it was fine – but because I picked a bar/pub that only had a very short food menu. It did have an excellent view, though.

The amphitheatre at the Roman forum	Preserved mosaics in front of the amphitheatre	The agora on the south side of the forum
A floral clock at the foot of Aristotle square Running a bit fast and past its floral prime	There’s a festival in honour of the patron saint apparently The spelling error (in English) triggers me	The view from lunch

I was back ‘home’ about 5:00pm and settled in to update yesterday’s blog and make a start on this one. I’ve really been enjoying visiting Thessaloniki. Tomorrow, the pressure is off to see stuff. I have only really got the Metro stations to see. That will be a pleasant change of pace, I think.

Daily facts: Location: [T]hessaloniki Temp: 19 Weather: Overcast, with sunny patches