While checking the headlines at a newsstand, the Monkey also takes a gander at the Arch of Galerius, one of Thessaloniki's Roman-era ruins. The arch was built around 305 CE to commemorate the Roman Emperor Galerius' defeat of the Persians in 297. It was part of an imperial complex that included a palace (the foundations of which are excavated below street level) and a large Rotonda that served under the Byzantines as a church and under the Ottomans as a mosque before becoming a secular museum today.

The Monkey takes a breather while climbing the hill into the upper town, Ano Polis, where the Ottoman administrative class lived above the bustle of the low town. In the background are more remnants of the 14th Century Byzantine walls and another tower similar to the waterfront Lefkos Pirgos.

The old Byzantine city walls slope down toward the seaside and central Thessaloniki. It was a good vantage point for the Monkey to take in the city and the Bay of Thermaikos. Had it been a very clear day (unlikely with summer smog!) the Monkey should have been able to see Mount Olympos, the home of the ancient Greek gods, far in the distance across the water.

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