Historical Thessaloniki — Ancient Ruins and Monuments | December 2013

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During my visit to Thessaloniki in December 2013, I photographed the historical remains that continue to exist amid the life of the modern city. Today, Thessaloniki is known for its broad avenues, squares, apartment buildings and lively commercial districts, yet its history stretches back some 2,300 years. The Roman Forum, the Palace of Galerius, the Arch of Galerius and the Byzantine city walls bear witness to different periods of this long past. What interested me most was that these monuments were not isolated from contemporary life: they stood within it.

Thessaloniki was founded around 315 BCE by Cassander, king of Macedonia. It was named after his wife Thessalonike, the half-sister of Alexander the Great. Its position on the Thermaic Gulf soon made it an important port and commercial centre. After Macedonia came under Roman rule, the city retained its strategic role as a link between the Balkans and the Aegean world. The Via Egnatia, developed from the second century BCE, connected the Adriatic coast with the eastern Mediterranean and increased the city's commercial and military importance.

Under Roman rule, Thessaloniki was not only a harbour but also an important administrative centre of the province of Macedonia. As its population and economic activity grew, public buildings, squares, baths and monuments were constructed. Many of the archaeological remains visible in the centre today date from this period. A particularly significant transformation occurred in the late third and early fourth centuries CE, when Emperor Galerius chose Thessaloniki as one of his imperial residences.

The Roman Forum — The Public Heart of the City

The Roman Forum, or Agora, in central Thessaloniki was one of the focal points of civic, commercial and administrative life. Today it survives as an extensive archaeological site surrounded by modern buildings. In Roman times, however, it formed one of the city's busiest public spaces.

The principal surviving architectural phases date from the second and third centuries CE. A large square bordered by colonnaded porticoes was associated with shops, storerooms, public buildings and meeting spaces. Commerce, administration and social life took place here. The forum was not simply a marketplace; it brought together many functions essential to the Roman city.

One of its most distinctive features is the odeon, a small theatre-like structure used for musical performances, meetings and other public occasions. Beneath the forum, covered passageways known as cryptoporticoes demonstrate the engineering and architectural skills of the period. Stone pavements, arches, column foundations and the remains of shops help us imagine the activities that once filled the site.

The rediscovery of the forum is itself part of Thessaloniki's modern history. In the 1960s, plans for a new courthouse led to excavations that uncovered significant ancient remains. The building project was abandoned and the archaeological area was preserved. Instead of a modern public building, the foundations of an ancient civic centre became visible once more.

Another story associated with the Roman forum concerns the sculptural group known as Las Incantadas, or 'The Enchanted Ones', during the Ottoman period. These mythological figures, once part of a Roman monument in the city, were removed in the nineteenth century and entered the collection of the Louvre in Paris. They remain an example of how elements of Thessaloniki's heritage came to be dispersed across different countries.

While photographing the forum, I was struck by the apartment buildings rising immediately behind the ancient stones. The square that had once been at the centre of Roman civic life now seemed to exist within another city. Columns, walls and paving stones shared the same frame with the everyday life of modern Thessaloniki.

The Palace of Galerius — Remains of an Imperial Residence

In the late third century CE, the Roman Empire faced serious political and military difficulties. Emperor Diocletian established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by four emperors intended to make the vast empire easier to govern. Within this system, Galerius gained an important position, particularly in the Balkans and along the eastern frontier.

Galerius's decision to establish an imperial residence in Thessaloniki marked a new chapter in the city's history. The palace complex, constructed in the late third and early fourth centuries, was far more than a private residence. It was an extensive architectural ensemble containing ceremonial halls, reception areas, courtyards, private quarters and spaces associated with imperial administration.

The remains visible today around Navarinou Square belong to this much larger complex. Excavations have revealed wall foundations, columns, floors, mosaics and rooms of different shapes, suggesting the original scale and splendour of the buildings.

One of the most notable structures was a large octagonal hall, commonly known as the Octagon, thought to have served ceremonial or official purposes. Alterations and reuse during later periods indicate that the complex continued to play a role in the city long after its initial construction.

The palace should be understood as part of a broader imperial setting. Together with the nearby hippodrome, triumphal arch and Rotunda, it formed one of the most important surviving examples of late Roman imperial urban planning in Thessaloniki.

As I photographed the remains, I tried to imagine the original height and grandeur of the buildings. Today, the walls lie below the level of the surrounding streets, but they once belonged to spaces associated with the government of the Roman Empire. The modern city developed around, and in places above, this former imperial centre.

The Arch of Galerius — Victory Carved in Stone

One of Thessaloniki's best-known Roman monuments is the Arch of Galerius, commonly called the Kamara. It stands today beside one of the city's busiest streets.

Built around 299–303 CE, the arch commemorated Galerius's victories over the Sasanian Persian Empire. The success of the eastern campaign, culminating in 298 CE, was represented in the monument's elaborate carved reliefs.

Originally, the arch formed part of a much larger ceremonial structure, with multiple openings supported by eight piers. Only portions of it survive. Even so, the remaining piers and sculpted panels are impressive expressions of Roman imperial power.

The reliefs are the monument's most remarkable feature. They depict military campaigns, imperial victories, ceremonies and symbolic figures associated with the authority of the emperor. These carvings were not merely decorative: they conveyed a political message and made imperial achievements visible to the public.

The arch stood on a ceremonial route connecting the palace complex with the Rotunda. It was therefore both a triumphal monument and a significant point of passage within the architectural organisation of the imperial residence.

Today it is surrounded by students meeting, pedestrians passing and the traffic of a busy city. The stone arch, approximately 1,700 years old, remains part of Thessaloniki's everyday life.

Photographing the monument both by day and at night allowed me to record two very different impressions. In daylight, the details of the carved reliefs became more visible. Under evening illumination, the monumental shape of the arch and its relationship with the surrounding city came to the fore.

The Byzantine Walls — The City’s Defensive System

The walls of Thessaloniki are another defining element of the city's historical identity. Although the origins of its fortifications reach back to the Hellenistic period, substantial parts of the surviving defences were constructed, rebuilt or reinforced during the Late Roman and Byzantine eras.

Major fortification works in the late fourth century CE, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I, helped give the city's defensive system its enduring form. Thessaloniki's strategic location made it an important stronghold against threats approaching from the Balkans.

The walls were more than simple barriers. Towers, gates, lookout positions and other defensive features formed a complex military system. Their alternating use of stone and brick is characteristic of Byzantine military architecture.

Throughout its history, Thessaloniki faced numerous sieges and attacks. Slavic and Avar incursions, the Arab capture of the city in 904, the Norman assault of 1185 and later political struggles all demonstrated the importance of its defences. The walls were repaired, strengthened and sometimes rebuilt, becoming witnesses to the city's changing political fortunes.

After the Ottoman conquest in 1430, the fortifications remained in use and underwent further repairs and modifications. The White Tower, now the city's most recognisable landmark, was built in the Ottoman period as part of the strengthened defensive system.

During the late nineteenth century, as Thessaloniki expanded and modernised, significant sections of the walls, particularly those along the waterfront, were demolished. The relationship between the city, its harbour and the shoreline changed, and the old defensive circuit lost much of its original continuity.

Today, some of the most impressive surviving sections stand in Ano Poli, the Upper Town. Its towers, high walls and narrow streets preserve an important part of Thessaloniki's historic urban character.

The Byzantine walls are among the Early Christian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988. Their significance therefore extends beyond local history to the shared cultural heritage of the world.

A City Living Among Its History

What makes Thessaloniki's historical remains especially compelling is the way so many of them survive within the modern city. The Roman Forum lies beside an urban square; the Palace of Galerius is surrounded by apartment buildings; the Arch of Galerius stands beside a busy thoroughfare; and the Byzantine walls continue through older neighbourhoods.

The city has developed in layers. The Hellenistic port, the Roman administrative centre, the Byzantine commercial and cultural city, the multicultural Ottoman city and the major port of modern Greece all left their marks on the same landscape.

The great fire of 1917 and the modern urban planning that followed significantly altered the appearance of the historic centre. Yet archaeological excavations and conservation projects have brought many fragments of the earlier city back into view.

During my photographic work in December 2013, I wanted to record more than architectural details. I tried to see these monuments in relation to the contemporary life surrounding them. Although they no longer serve their original functions, they have not disappeared from the city's daily experience.

People meet beneath an arch where imperial ceremonies once passed. Children play and pedestrians walk near the remains of a former centre of government. Ancient defensive walls continue to shape the streets and neighbourhoods of the Upper Town.

I made these photographs as a record of how nearly two thousand years of architectural heritage remain present in Thessaloniki today. Among the stones, columns, arches and walls, I sought not only traces of earlier civilisations but also the ways in which history continues to inhabit a living city.

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