Thessaloniki presents us with a paradox not usually encountered in Greece-that of a city whose renown is based on both commercial and historical grounds. In this country of a venerable past, most places attract us by their archaic remains, and those whose presence is due to commerce are of very little interest at all. Not so in this city. Built in the form of an amphitheatre below the Chortiates Mountains, and at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, it has one of the few good harbours of this northern coast. The building of the Via Egnatia, the famous east-west road of the Roman Empire, which here crossed the termination of the Trade Route south along the Vardar valley, further assured prosperity.
Today, although traffic has fallen off somewhat, owing to the popularity of air travel, the city is still an important junction of routes, including the inter-continental railways. You might well arrive here in that favourite of fiction, the Balkan Express. As people have been travelling through Thessaloniki on business since time immemorial, the city early acquired an important status. This it has held through all its trials and turns of fortune, and it is still not only capital of Macedonia and its intellectual heart, but also the second city of Greece.
For the visitor, Thessaloniki offers something from almost every period of its two thousand and more years of history. The Hellenistic walls were extended by the Romans, who have also left a carved arch. Among the many early Christian edifices are the galaxy of Byzantine churches whose beauty of exterior design, or of interior decoration in mosaic or fresco, is the main interest of many visitors, and after which the Macedonian School of Byzantine Art is named. A Venetian tower and a Turkish mosque and bath remain from subsequent occupations. They have amazingly survived siege and sack, fire and fighting, and still stand with their citadel crowning the hill above, looking over the modern city to Mount Olympus.
This new part of Thessaloniki is constantly changing form, for buildings seem to arise almost daily. In the last few years it has changed from a gloomy place of devastation to a bright, busy city of half a million inhabitants, teeming with activity. Owing to the way it lies along the sea front, it has a pleasant appearance, particularly when approached by sea. There are several comfortable hotels and all the usual shopping and other amenities.