Anyhow, the Monkey had limited time to go to Greece, also known as the Hellenic Republic. Of course, the first place most anyone thinks of going in Greece is either Athens or one of the white-washed islands. Fair enough, but Thessaloniki is an intriguing place to visit in its own right. A large port city on the Aegean Sea, it was the second city of the Byzantine Empire (after Constantinople) and the predominant cultural center of the region of Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire, when it was known as Salonika. At that point, Athens was a shadow of its former self and Salonika was the gem of the region, a center of learning, commerce, and cultural life, home to significant Greek, Turkish, Slavic, Armenian, Albanian, and Jewish communities.

It was here, to the relative religious freedom of the Ottoman Empire, that many of Iberia's Jews came after their expulsion by the Inquisition in the late 15th Century. Boasting some 60,000 Jews as late as 1918, Salonika was the most Jewish city of the Balkans, a distinction it held until the Nazi occupation led to mass deportations to the concentration camps.

As the Ottomans were overthrown in the First Balkan War (1912), Bulgarian and Greek allies raced each other for the prize of occupying Salonika and its surrounding region. The Greeks won the race by a matter of hours and Thessaloniki became the great city of northern Greece. Today, Thessaloniki retains a Balkan atmosphere that Athens, deep in the Peloponnese, lacks.

Pithikos' arrival in Thessaloniki. He took the overnight train from Sofia, Bulgaria and arrived feeling surprisingly refreshed.

Home——Region Selector——Special Features——Monkey FAQ——Contact——Links

Copyright monkeytravel.org 2002-2005. The Monkey respects your right to use his photos for your personal, non-profit entertainment or for educational purposes.