Even now that it has become a modern megalopolis, Thessaloniki is still a city with a very special appeal This may be due to the fact that it has preserved a variety of monuments that represent a number of historical periods, while still retaining a distinctly Byzantine flavour. Archaeological sites, Roman buildings, long stretches of the city walls, early Christian, Byzantine, and post-Byzantine buildings, together with Islamic structures from the Ottoman period, all compose the picture of bygone ages, when Thessaloniki, no less of a megalopolis, had a different form and played a different role. Modern Thessaloniki, like the city of yesteryear, is a multicultural city, whose inhabitants, whether or not they realise it, are receptive to the old, the new, and the very special. This European city, at the crossroads between East and West, North and South, has always had an important role to play, and for this reason it will always be a focus of keen interest. [...]

Professor Chryssanthi Mavropoulou - Tsioumi
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki