Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Θεσσαλονίκη
Thessaloniki Θεσσαλονίκη
Settlement
	The White Tower of Thessaloniki was used during Ottoman Empire as a prison. Today it is the landmark of the city.
	Official seal of Thessaloniki Seal
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Central Macedonia
Government
• Mayor	Vasilios Papageorgopoulos (since 1999)
Area
• Total	17.8 km2 (6.9 sq mi)
Highest elevation	20 m (70 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	765,406
• Density	43,000/km2 (110,000/sq mi)
• Metro	1,968,562
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	53x xx, 54x xx, 55x xx, 56x xx
Area code(s)	2310
Vehicle registration	Ν
Website	www.thessalonikicity.gr

Thessaloniki, (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη), is Greece's second-largest city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia and the periphery of Central Macedonia. Thessaloniki is commonly called the 'Συμπρωτεύουσα' 'Symprotevousa' (lit. co-capital) of Greece since the National Schism, due to its heritage as the 'συμβασιλεύουσα' 'symbasileousa' (co-queen) of the Byzantine Empire.^[1] According to official data, the Thessaloniki Urban Area curves round the Thermaic Gulf for approximately 17 km; it comprises 16 municipalities and according to the 2001 census it has a population of 1.889,746. The Thessaloniki prefecture has a population of 2.243.058 (2005)^{[citation needed]}.

Thessaloniki is a busy, vibrant city and it is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and cultural center as well as a major transportation hub in southeastern Europe. Its commercial port is of a great importance for Greece and for its southeast European hinterland. The city has two state universities that host the largest student population in Greece. As a cultural center, it is renowned for its large number of monuments of Byzantine architecture as well as for some main Ottoman, and Jewish structures. The city is famous for its International Trade Fair which takes place at the beginning of every September and it is the place where the Prime Minister of Greece gives a major speech to announce the governmental plans for the year to come. Thessaloniki is also renowned for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival which is characterized as the most significant cultural event in South Eastern Europe, attracting local and international celebrities of both cinema and theater.

As the metropolitan area population expands to over one million inhabitants, so does the emergence of related problems. These primarily include an increase in traffic congestion, the lack of adequate parking facilities as well as an overconstruction of tightly packed, concrete blocks of apartment buildings. The construction of a subway line that will stretch along the city's central districts began on June 25, 2006 and is expected to be completed by the year 2012.

Name

The alternate name Salonica, formerly the common name used in some western European languages, is derived from a variant form Σαλονίκη (Saloníki) in popular Greek speech. The city's name is also rendered Thessaloníki or Saloníki with a dark l typical of the Macedonian dialect of Greek.^[2]^[3] Names in other languages prominent in the city's history include سلانيك in Ottoman Turkish and Selânik in modern Turkish, Солун (Solun) in the Slavic languages of the region, Sãrunã in Aromanian, and Selanik in Ladino (see other names).

History

Hellenistic era

File:Ac alexanderstatue.jpg

The statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki sea front.

The city was founded circa 315 BC by Cassander, the King of Macedon (Μακεδών), on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and twenty six other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. She gained her name from her father, Philip II of Macedon, to commemorate her birth on the day of his gaining a victory (Gr. Nike) over the Phocians, who were defeated with the help of Thessalian horsemen, the best in Greece at that time. Thessaloniki means the "victory of Thessalians" (where Thessalians derives from Thessaly which means thesi alos, i.e. "a land that was sea").

Thessaloniki developed rapidly and as early as the 2nd century BC the first walls were built, forming a large square. It was, as all the other contemporary Greek cities, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Macedon, with its own parliament where the King was represented and could interfere in the city's domestic affairs.

Roman era

After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessalonica became a city of the Roman Republic. It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia, a Roman road that connected Byzantium (later Constantinople), with Dyrrhachium (now Durrës in Albania), facilitating trade between Europe and Asia. The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia. It kept its privileges but was ruled by a praetor and had a Roman garrison. For a short time in the 1st century BC, all the Greek provinces came under Thessalonica. Due to the city's key commercial importance, a spacious harbour was built by the Romans, the famous Burrow Harbour (Σκαπτός Λιμήν) that accommodated the city's trade up to the eighteenth century; later, with the help of silt deposits from the river Axios, it was reclaimed as land and the port built beyond it. Remnants of the old harbour's docks can be found nowadays under Odos Frangon Street, near the Catholic Church.

Thessaloniki's acropolis, located in the northern hills, was built in 55 BC after Thracian raids in the city's outskirts, for security reasons.

It had a Jewish colony, established during the first century, and was an early center of Christianity. On his second missionary journey, Paul of Tarsus preached in the city's synagogue, the chief synagogue of the Jews in that part of Thessaloniki, and laid the foundations of a church. Opposition against him from the Jews drove him from the city, and he fled to Veroia. Paul wrote two of his epistles to the Christian community at Thessalonica, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians and the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.

Thessaloníki acquired a patron saint, St. Demetrius, in 306. He is credited with a number of miracles that saved the city. He was the Roman Proconsul of Greece under the anti-Christian emperor Maximian and was martyred at a Roman prison, where today lays the Church of St. Demetrius, first built by the Roman sub-prefect of Illyricum Leontios in 463.

Other important remains from this period include the Arch and Tomb of Galerius, located near the center of the modern city.

Byzantine era

When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western segments ruled from Byzantium/Constantinople and Rome respectively, Thessaloníki came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). Its importance was second only to Constantinople itself. In 390 it was the location of a revolt against the emperor Theodosius I and his Gothic mercenaries. Botheric, their general, together with several of his high officials, were killed in an uprising triggered by the imprisoning of a favorite local charioteer for pederasty with one of Botheric's slave boys.^[4] 7,000 - 15,000 of the citizens were massacred in the city's hippodrome in revenge – an act which earned Theodosius a temporary excommunication.

The quiet era followed until repeated barbarian invasions after the fall of the Roman Empire, while a catastrophic earthquake severely damaged the city in 620 resulting in the destruction of the Roman Forum and several other public buildings. Thessaloníki itself came under attack from Slavs in the seventh century; however, they failed to capture the city. Byzantine brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius were born in Thessaloníki and the Byzantine Emperor Michael III encouraged them to visit the northern regions as missionaries; they adopted the South Slavonic speech as the basis for the Old Church Slavonic language. In the ninth century, the Byzantines decided to move the market for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloníki. Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria invaded Thrace, defeated a Byzantine army and forced the empire to move the market back to Constantinople. In 904, Saracens based at Crete managed to seize the city and after a ten day depredation, left with much loot and 22,000 slaves, mostly young people.

Despite this, the city quickly recovered, and the gradual recovery of Byzantine power during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries meant that Thessaloniki entered a new golden age of peace and prosperity. The population of the city expanded, and according to Benjamin of Tudela, the city even had a Jewish community some 500 strong by the twelfth century. It also hosted the famous fair of Saint Demetrius every October, which was held just outside the city walls and lasted six days.

The economic expansion of the city continued through the twelfth century as the strong rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control into Serbia and Hungary, far to the north. The city is known to have housed an imperial mint at this time, another sign of prosperity. However, after the death of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1180, the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire began to decline, and in 1185 the Norman rulers of Sicily, under the leadership of Count Baldwin and Riccardo d'Acerra attacked and occupied the city, resulting in considerable destruction. Nevertheless, their rule lasted less that a year, since they were defeated in two battles later that year by the Byzantine army and forced to evacuate the city.

Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the Fourth Crusade. Thessaloníki and its surrounding territory—the Kingdom of Thessalonica—became the largest fief of the Latin Empire, covering most of north and central Greece. It was given by the emperor Baldwin I to his rival Boniface of Montferrat but in 1224 it was seized by Theodore Komnenos Doukas, the Greek ruler of Epirus. The city was recovered by the Byzantine Empire in 1246. For the rulers of Thessaloníki in the Middle Ages, see here.

At that time, despite the various invasions, Thessaloniki had a large population and flourishing commerce. That resulted in an intellectual and artistic florescence that can be traced in the numerous churches and their frescoes of that era and also by the names of scholars that taught there. (Thomas Magististos, Dimitrios Triklinios, Nikiforos Choumnos, Kostantinos Armenopoulos, Neilos Kavassilas, etc). Many fine examples of Byzantine art survive in the city, particularly the mosaics in some of its historic churches, including the basilica of Hagia Sophia and the church of St George.

In the 14th century though, the city was appalled by the Zelotes social movement (1342-1349). It began as a religious conflict between bishop Gregorios Palamas, who supported conservative ideas and the monk Barlaam, who introduced progressive social ones. Quickly, it turned into a political commotion, leading to the prevalence of the Zelotes, who for a while ruled the city, applying progressive social policies.

Ottoman era

The Byzantine Empire, unable to hold it against the Ottoman Empire's advance, sold it to Venice, which held it until it was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430, after a three-day-long siege. The Ottomans had captured Thessaloniki in 1387, but lost it after the Battle of Ankara against Tamerlane in 1402.

During Ottoman times, the city received an influx of Muslims and Jews. By 1478, Thessaloniki had a population of 4,320 Muslims and 6,094 Greek Orthodox, out of a total of 10,414. By c1500, the numbers had grown to 7,986 Greeks and 8,575 Muslims, briefly making the latter the majority. Around the same time, Jews arrived from Spain. In c1500, there were only 3,770 Jews, but by 1519, there were 15,715, 54% of the city. The invitation of the Sephardic Jews that had been expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, was an Ottoman demographic strategy aiming to prevent the Greek element from dominating the city.^[5] The Sephardic Jews, Muslims and Greek Orthodox remained the principal groups in the city for the next 4 centuries.^[5]

The city remained the largest Jewish city in the world for at least two centuries, and of its 130,000 inhabitants at the start of the 20th century, around 60,000 were Sephardic Jews.^[6] Some Romaniote Jews were also present. Thessaloníki, called Selânik in Turkish, became one of the most important cities in the Empire, being the foremost trade and commercial center in the Balkans. The railway reached the city in 1888 and new modern port facilities were built in 1896-1904. The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was born here in 1881, and the Young Turk movement was headquartered here in the early twentieth century.

Selânik was a sanjak center in the Rumeli eyalet from 1393 to 1402 and again from 1430 to 1864, when it became a vilayet (province). The Ottoman vilayet of Selânik province included the sanjaks of Selânik (Thessaloniki), Drama, and Serres (Siroz or Serez).

Architectural remains from the Ottoman period can be found mainly in the 'Ano Poli' (Upper Town) which has the only traditional wooden houses and fountains that survived the great fire. In the city center, a number of the stone mosques survived, notably the "Hamza-Bey Camii" on Egnatia (under restoration), the "Alatza Imaret Camii" on Kassandrou Street, "Bezesteni" on Venizelou Street, and "Yahoudi Hamam" on Frangon Street. Almost all of the more than 40 minarets collapsed in the fire, or were demolished after 1912; the only surviving one is at the Rotonda (Arch and Tomb of Galerius). There are also a few remaining Ottoman hammams (bathhouses), particularly the "Hamam Bey" on Egnatia Avenue.

Modern era

Thessaloniki was the main "prize" of the First Balkan War, as a result of which it was united with Greece on October 26 1912. This date has an immense importance for the city as, in addition to the aforementioned historic event of the unification, it also marks the nameday of Saint Demetrius, its patron Saint.

King George I of Greece was assassinated during a visit to Thessaloniki on 18 March 1913 by Alexandros Schinas.

In 1915, during World War I, a large Allied expeditionary force landed at Thessaloniki to use the city as the base for a massive offensive against pro-German Bulgaria. A pro-Allied temporary government headed by Eleftherios Venizelos was established there, against the will of the pro-neutral King of Greece.

Most of the town was destroyed by a single fire on 18 August [O.S. 5 August] 1917 which was accidentally caused by some French soldiers that were camping there. The fire made some 72,000 people homeless (most of them were Turkish) out of a population of approximately 271,157 at the time. Venizelos forbade the reconstruction of the town center until a full modern city plan was prepared. This was accomplished a few years later by the French architect and archeologist Ernest Hebrard. The Hebrard plan swept away the Oriental features of Thessaloníki and transformed it to the modern, European style metropolis that it is today. One consequence of the great fire was the fact that nearly half of the city's Jewish homes and livelihoods were destroyed leading to a massive Jewish emigration. Many went to Palestine, others stepped onto the Orient Express to Paris and still others found their way to America. Their numbers, however, were quickly replaced by a considerable number of refugees from Asia Minor following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, after the defeat of the Greek forces in Anatolia during the Greco-Turkish War. With these new refugees, the city expanded enormously and was nicknamed "The Refugee Capital" (I Protévoussa ton Prosfígon) and "Mother of the Poor" (Ftohomána). Thessaloniki fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on April 9 1941 and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944. The city suffered considerable damage from Allied bombing, and almost its entire Jewish population was exterminated by the Nazis. Barely a thousand Jews survived. However, Thessaloniki was rebuilt and recovered fairly quickly after the war. This recovery included both a rapid growth in its population, as well as an impressive development of new, modern infrastructure and industrial enterprizes throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Most of the urban development of that period was, however, without a proper plan, causing traffic and zoning problems that remain to this day.

At 23:04 (local time) on 20 June, 1978, the city was hit by a powerful earthquake registering a moment magnitude of 6.5. The tremor caused considerable damage to several buildings and even to some of the city's Byzantine monuments. Forty people were crushed to death when an entire apartment block collapsed in the central Hippodromio district. Nonetheless, the city quickly recovered from this natural disaster.

Early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988. Thessaloniki became the European City of Culture for 1997.

Thessaloniki is one of the most important university centers in Southeastern Europe and it hosts a large and vibrant student population coming from all over the country. The city features two state universities — the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the largest university in Greece (founded 1926) and the University of Macedonia, as well as the Technological Education Institute of Thessaloniki. In addition, there are several private institutions that are either affiliated with universities in other nations, or accredited abroad.

In June 2003, the Summit meeting of European leaders, at the end of the Greek Presidency of the EU, was hosted at the Porto Carras resort in Chalkidiki, instead of within Thessaloniki itself (as originally planned) due to some security concerns. In 2004, the city hosted some of the football events of the 2004 Summer Olympics. Thessaloniki unsuccessfully bid for the 2008 World EXPO, won by Zaragoza, Spain. However, another planned bid for 2017 was announced in September 2006.

Mayors of Thessaloniki

File:Kalamaria from Air.JPG

Aerial photo of Eastern Thessaloniki. Kalamaria consists its easternmost part.

Konstantinos Aggelakis (1916-1920)
Petros Syndikas (1922-1926)
Nikolaos Manos (1929-1930, 1934-1936)
Charisios Vamvakas (1931-1933)
Konstantinos Merkouriou (1937-1943)
George Seremetis (1943-1944)
Petros Levis (1945-1946)
Christos Konstantinou (1946-1950)
Pantelis Petrakakis (1951-1955)
Minas Patrikios (1956-1959)
Ioannis Papailiakis (1959-1964)
Konstantinos Tsiros (1964-1967)
Michalis Papadopoulos
Thanasis Giannousis (1982-1983)
Theoharis Manavis (1983-1987)
Sotiris Kouvelas (1987-1990)
Konstantinos Kosmopoulos (1990-1999)
Vasilios Papageorgopoulos (1999- )

Architecture

Landmarks

The White Tower of Thessaloniki (Lefkos Pyrgos), widely regarded as the symbol of the city. It has been known by many names and is now home to the Museum of Byzantine Cultures. The top of the tower has excellent views of the city.
The Arch and Tomb of Galerius is more commonly known as the "Kamara", is ornately decorated and made with a reddish coloured stone.
The Upper Town or 'Ano Poli' is what remains of Ottoman Thessaloniki, beautiful wooden houses overhang the winding streets all the way up to the Eptapyrgio at the top of the city. The Ano Poli also contains some of the city's oldest and most important churches, particularly Osios David, St. Nicolaos Orphanos and Vlatades Monastery.
The Church of Aghios Demetrios is the most important church in the entire city. Lying above the remains of the agora and the Roman Forum, the church has three side-chapels, a museum, and underground catacombs that also include Saint Demetrios' imprisonment chamber. He is the patron saint of the city.
OTE Tower, a TV tower is the center of the Thessaloniki Expo Center. A revolving restaurant offers great views of the city.
The waterfront is Thessaloniki's major drawcard. The promenade of Nikis Avenue runs from the White Tower of Thessaloniki to the giant palace that is now a ferry terminal. Numerous shops and cafés line the waterfront.
The Rotonda or the Church of Aghios Georgios, which is a circular church lacking the classic Orthodox iconostasis. The church is built upon former Roman and Greek pagan ruins.
Aristotelous Square, extending all the way from Nikis Avenue on the waterfront to the Church of Panayia Halkeion. The square, shaped like a bottle, is lined with tall archondika, or mansions of the rich, that have now been converted to shops and hotels. A large park lies at the north end of the square, and Thessaloniki's thriving old market is just one block away to the east and west.
The area surrounding the Church of Aghia Sofia, also located in the city center, includes the large church and paved alleyways that make the few blocks around it famous.
The extensive Byzantine walls of the Upper City (Ano Poli) and kastro.
The Kyvernion (little Palace); former residence of the King and Queen of Greece; in the Karabournaki area, in Eastern Thessaloniki
The modern Concert Hall of Thessaloniki in the East side of the city, near the Posidonion sports center.
Thessaloniki Intemational Trade Fair held every September, organised by Helexpo.

Museums

Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki (Museo Djudio de Salonik)
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
State Museum of Contemporary Arts [1] housing an important collection of 1275 Russian avant-garde works of art, collected by George Costakis
Macedonia-Thrace Folklore and Ethnological Museum, housed in the G. Modiano Mansion
Museum of Byzantine Culture
Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum
Thessaloniki Cinema Museum
Thessaloniki Museum of the Macedonian Struggle
Thessaloniki Sports Museum
Water Museum of Thessaloniki
White Tower of Thessaloniki, museum and monument
Thessaloniki Science Center & Technology Museum - NOESIS
Thessaloniki Museum of Photography
Museum of Cinematography
Teloglion Foundation of Art
European Center of Byzantine and Postbyzantine Monuments
The Goulandris Natural History Museum

Archaeological sites

Crypt of Aghios Demetrios
Agia Paraskevi, Thessaloniki, archaic cemetery
The Ancient Agora of Thessaloniki
Monastery of Latomos at Thessaloniki
The Roman Palace and Hippodrome

Monuments

The Arch and Tomb of Galerius
The extensive city walls
Trigonian Tower and the Castra area
The ancient Agora
The Roman Palace and Hippodrome
The church of Agia Sofia

Demographics

Population Data

Although the population of the Municipality of Thessaloniki has declined in the last two censuses, the metropolitan area's population is still growing, as people are moving to the suburbs. Today over 1 million people live in the metropolitan area, making it the second largest metropolitan area in Greece after Athens.

Year	Population	Change
1981	406,413	-
1991	583,967	-22,446/-5.52%
2001	695,406	-19,980/-5.20%

The Jews of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki's Jewish community, was largely of Sephardic background, but also included the historically significant and ancient Romaniote community. During the Ottoman era, Thessaloniki's Jewish community comprised more than half the city's population and Jews were dominant in commerce until Greece took over the city in 1912. Within the Greek state the Jews enjoyed the same civil rights as all other Greeks[2]. As a result of the Jewish influence on the city, many non-Jewish inhabitants of Thessaloniki also spoke Ladino, the Hispanic language of the Sephardic Jews, and the city virtually shut down on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.^[7]

A great blow to the Jewish community of Thessaloniki came with the great fire of 1917, which left 50,000 Jews homeless.^[8] Many Jews emigrated to Turkey,^[9] United States, Europe and Alexandria, Egypt. In 1922, a blue law^{[citation needed]} preventing trading on Sunday caused further financial stress on the Jewish merchants, already suffering the loss of markets after the collapse of the Ottoman empire, and yet further Jews emigrated.

The arrival of 100,000 Greek refugees that settled in Thessaloniki after the Asia Minor catastrophe of 1923, reduced the importance of the community and during the interwar period its members represented only 20% of the city’s population. Thessaloniki's Jewish community, nonetheless, continued to play an important role in the city up until Thessaloniki was occupied by the Nazis in World War II. The Nazis murdered approximately 96% of Thessaloniki's Jews in the Holocaust, effectively ending the Jewish community of Thessaloniki.

Today, fewer than 1,000 Jews remain in Thessaloniki, although there are communities of Thessaloniki Jews -- both Sephardic and Romaniote -- in the United States and Israel.

Jewish Population of Thessaloniki^[10]

Year	Total Population	Jewish Population	Jewish Percentage	Source
1842	70,000	36,000	51%	Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer
1870	90,000	50,000	56%	Greek schoolbook (G.K. Moraitopoulos, 1882)
1882/84	85,000	48,000	56%	Ottoman government census
1902	126,000	62,000	49%	Ottoman government census
1913	157,889	61,439	39%	Greek government census
1917		52,000
1943		50,000
2000	673,224	1,000	0.15%

Economy

Thessaloníki is a major port city and an industrial and commercial center. The city's industries mainly produce refined oil, steel, petrochemicals, textiles, machinery, flour, cement, pharmaceuticals, and liquor. The city is also a major transportation hub for the whole of southeastern Europe, carrying, among other things, trade to and from the newly capitalist countries of the region. A considerable percentage of the city's working people are employed in small and medium sized businesses and in the service sector. Official unemployment rates for 2002 were 10%.

Festivals

Thessaloniki International Trade Fair

The Thessaloniki International Trade Fair has a long history that dates back to 1926. It is hosted every September for 10 days at the 180,000 m² Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, in the heart of the city. It's organised by HELEXPO, which also organises themed exhibitions and congresses throughout the year. The International Trade Fair is inaugurated by the Prime Minister and attended by more than 300,000 visitors every year.

Thessaloniki International Film Festival

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become the Balkans' primary showcase for the work of new and emerging filmmakers, as well as the leading film festival in the region. The event features the International Section, the panorama of Greek films, the New Horizons program, the Balkan Survey, and numerous retrospectives and tributes to leading figures in the world of film. Since 1993, several international celebrities of cinema like Francis Ford Coppola, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Deneuve and Irene Papas, have visited Thessaloniki's Film Festival.

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival

File:Thessaloniki music Hall4.jpg

The Thessaloniki Concert Hall.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, launched in March 1999, was inspired by Dimitri Eipides. It has benefited from the local public's enthusiastic response and from the extensive coverage in the local and international press. In 2005, 22,000 plus admissions were registered. The main programme is focusing on documentaries that explore the social and cultural developments in the world, introducing at the same time a number of new side sections and events based on important works by new documentarists. Films of the main programme will be candidates for the FIPRESCI and also the AUDIENCE AWARDS.

The Festival attracts a film-going public which discovers, year after year, images of the new century, new film ecritures, new directors, new technologies, but also representatives of the film world who find here a reliable organisation, appropriate for promoting their work. The event revolves around the standard sections: stories to tell, views of the world the recording of memory, and portraits but every year's programme is being enriched by several other sections.

The images of 21st Century make a date every March in Thessaloniki with a film-going public that seeks an in-depth reading of the human landscape through a journey into the art of documentary.

Thessaloniki International Festival of Photography

The Thessaloniki International Festival of Photography (Photosynkyria) takes place in Thessaloniki from February to mid-April of every year, attracting the interest both of the photographic world and of the wider public while at the same time functioning as a meeting place for the Greek and the international photographic scene. Photosynkyria exhibitions and events are hosted in a variety of venues around Thessaloniki, such as museums, heritage landmarks, galleries, bookshops and cafes.

Photosynkyria was launched in 1988 by photographer Aris Georgiou and has been organized in the last 5 years by the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, which annually appoints the artistic director of the festival.

Dimitria

The 3 month long festival of cultural events is held every September-December since 1966. It's named after Aghios Dimitrios (St. Demetrius), that patron Saint of the city, and it has become an institution for the city and very popular with the local population. It includes musical, theatrical, dance events, street happenings and exhibitions. It is organised and overlooked by the Municipality of Thessaloniki and last year it celebrated 40 years of history [3].

Video Dance Festival

The Video Dance Festival started in 2000 at Thessaloniki as an international dance film festival, but soon it widened up to include more kinds of experiment on movement and the moving image.

DMC DJ Championship

The Greek DMC DJ Championship is hosted in Thessaloniki in the International Trade Fair Of Thessaloniki.

DMC’s World DJ Championships, sponsored internationally by Technics and Ortofon, has grown through the years and the formats of the competitions have developed along with the demands. Originally meant to be a DJ mixing battle, DJ Cheese in 1986, introduced scratching in his routine, changing the course of the DMC battles. Since that time, the Technics DMC World Champion title has become the most sought after by aspiring DJs and turntablists worldwide.

The only equipment permitted in Technics DJ Championships worldwide are Technics SL1200 turntables and the Technics EX-DJ1200 mixer. The DJs are allowed a period of exactly six minutes to impress the judges.

Climate

The city experiences a Mediterranean climate. Those north of Thessaloniki experience a continental climate, with cold winters.

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Maximum. [°C]	9	10	13	18	23	28	31	30	26	21	14	10
Minimum temperature [°C]	1	2	5	7	12	16	18	18	15	11	6	2
Rainfall (mm)	40	38	43	35	43	30	22	20	27	45	58	50
Record temperatures [°C]	20	22	25	31	36	39	42	39	36	32	27	26

Transportation

File:Thessaloniki train station.jpg

The train station. Thessaloniki is connected with many Greek towns and various cities in South-Eastern Europe.

File:Makedonia-Airport1.jpg

View of Thessaloniki's Makedonia International Airport main terminal.

Thessaloniki did not have a motorway link until the 1970s. Thessaloniki is accessed with GR-1/E75 from Athens, GR-4, GR-2, (Via Egnatia) /E90 and GR-12/E85 from Serres and Sofia. In the early 1970s, the motorway reached Thessaloniki and was the last section of the GR-1 to be completed. In the 1980s construction begun on the 4-lane bypass of Thessaloniki, which was finally opened to traffic in 1988, running from the west industrial side of the city up to the other side of Thessaloniki to its southeast approaching Thermi and Halkidiki. It has recently been upgraded with new junctions and improved motorway features. The latest motorway expansion was Via Egnatia northwest of Thessaloniki. The construction of the much promised 9.6km long Metro network, will start in June 2006 as was announced by the recent Minister of Public Works. Works will last around 6,5 years and when completed in late 2012, it will improve traffic congestion in the city center. Public transport in Thessaloniki is currently served only by buses.

The city is a major railway hub for the Balkans, with direct connections to Sofia, Skopje, Belgrade, Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, Istanbul as well as Athens and other major destinations in Greece. Air traffic of the city is served by Makedonia International Airport with both International and Domestic flights. The short length of the airport's two runways means that it cannot support long-haul flights, although there are plans for major expansion. There is work being done to expand one of the runways into the Thermaic Gulf (which there is considerable environmental opposition to), to make it a trans-oceanic airport.

As the metropolitan area population expands to over one million inhabitants, so does the emergence of related problems. These primarily include an increase in traffic congestion, the lack of adequate parking facilities as well as an overconstruction of tightly packed, concrete blocks of apartment buildings. The construction of a subway line that will stretch along the city's central districts began on June 25, 2006 and is expected to be completed by the year 2012. A new tunnel is also proposed to link the port area in the western part of the city with the eastern section. However, considerable opposition has been raised to this project.

Hospitals & Medical Centers

Foreign Consulates

Many countries have consulates in Thessaloniki: Albania, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Chile, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America (consulate general).

Sports

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Basketball game in Alexandreio Melathron.

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Toumba Stadium; home of PAOK FC.

Thessaloniki has a long tradition in sports, specially in football (soccer). The first team that was established officially was Iraklis in 1908. Aris was established by a group of young friends in 1914. PAOK and Apollon Kalamarias were established in 1926 by Greek refugees from Constantinople (Istanbul) and Pontus in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. Today there are many football teams in Thessaloniki, while the four major teams participate in the Super League Greece and on many occasions in the UEFA Cup.

The current stands of the major teams are:

Aris FC - Super League Greece (2006-2007: 4th place)
PAOK FC - Super League Greece (2006-2007: 6th place)
Apollon Kalamaria - Super League Greece (2006-2007: 12th place)
Iraklis FC - Super League Greece (2006-2007: 13th place)

Aris and PAOK are also major team in greek basketball having won many championships and cups.

The main football stadiums in Thessaloniki are the Kaftanzoglio Stadium which was heavily renovated before reopening to host football matches for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the Toumba Stadium (PAOK's home stadium), the Kleanthis Vikelides Stadium (Harilaou) (Aris' home stadium). The major indoor arenas are the Alexandreio Melathron which is the home arena of Aris Thessaloniki and is used for many cultural events, and the PAOK Sports Arena.

Communications

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Newspapers

Makedonia-Thessaloniki
Agelioforos

Television

ERT3 [6] - division of Elliniki Radiophoniki Tileorasi (ERT)
TV Macedonia [7]
TV100
Apollon TV
Best TV (local)
TV Balkania
Europe One
Omega TV
Orion TV
Panorama TV
Gnomi TV
TV Thessaloniki
Vergina TV
4E, Church TV Station

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Radio

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List of notable residents