The History of Thessaloniki in brief

  written by Anna T.

Thessaloniki was founded in 316 BC by Kassandros and it was named after his wife’s name and the name of Alexander the Great’ s sister. The city was one of the most important cities in the Macedonian Kingdom, because  it was the first port of Macedonia.    

   The city’s presence was also remarkable during the Roman period. In fact, the Roman conquerors declared the city free and it maintained its Greek character. The Byzantine period, though, was the time that the city prospered the most. For more then five centuries, Thessaloniki was considered to be one of the most important cities of the Byzantine Empire and a big center of Hellenism. 

That means that the title “co-capital’’ was not given to it by luck. In 1432 AD the city was conquered by the Ottomans. Since then, the Ottoman period began and lasted approximately 500 year. During the Ottoman rule, the glamour of Thessaloniki was initially lost, but soon things got better and the city began to obtain economic robustness. In 1492 Jews who were ejected from Spain and Portugal settled in Thessaloniki. A substantial economical and cultural development was observed, during the 16th Century. Until the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), the city was a part of the Ottoman Empire.  When the first Balkan War started, Bulgaria tried to conquer the Macedonia territory, including Thessaloniki, but after consecutive successes of the Greek army and navy, the city finally gained its freedom, on 26th October 1912.

The rest of the century was a rebirth for the city which, now being a part and co-capital of the newly independent Greek nation, regained its role as one of the most important cities of the Balkans, whereas the beauty of the city, thanks to its medieval monuments and its famous seafront, made Thessaloniki a  fascinating European city.