Take a break in Thessaloniki, one of the oldest cities in Europe that has come to be regarded as Greece’s gastronomic capital.

Situated just over 300 miles to the north of Athens and set on a deep, cruise-ship friendly harbour with a long waterfront, Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city.

Its position at the heart of the Balkans has placed it at a crossroads of history. Its chequered past dates back to 315BC, making it one of the oldest cities in Europe.

Named after the wife of founder King Cassander of Macedon, its multi-ethnic past encapsulates Romans and Sephardic Jews from Spain who gave it the nickname “Mother of Israel and Ottomans”.

Today it remains an open museum recognised by Unesco for its plethora of fine Byzantine and Ottoman monuments. It’s also home to a spectacular clutch of Byzantine churches. The Church of the Acheiropoietos is one of the oldest Christian places of worship anywhere in the world while the Church of Agios Dimitrios, an enormous 5th-century structure that honours Thessaloniki’s patron saint, a Roman soldier, contains five precious 8th-century frescoes.

Stationed on the waterfront is the city’s most famous landmark, Lefkos Pyrgos, the White Tower, a fortification and prison that was once the scene of a terrible massacre. The Rotonda, an ancient Roman mausoleum, runs it a close second in terms of importance.



Despite its rich history, Thessaloniki refuses to be locked in the past. It has a modern, cosmopolitan feel, a busy cultural life with 30 museums and galleries, including the State Museum of Contemporary Art, which houses the Costakis Collection, one of the world’s best collections of Russian avant-garde art. The Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki is considered one of Greece’s most important museums. Its collection includes important artefacts from the local area and wider northern Greece.

Meanwhile the city also has a bustling nightlife, plenty of bars and clubs, a cool alternative scene and one of the major film festivals in southern Europe.

One of the many legacies of Thessaloniki’s cultural melting-pot past is its strong culinary tradition. It has come to be regarded as Greece’s gastronomic capital, home to a banquet of Mediterranean flavours.

The city is crammed with busy tavernas and mezedopolia, Greek tapas bars which serve a cornucopia of savoury delicacies.

Its two excellent main markets, Kapani and Modiano are food heaven, crammed with fresh vegetables, meat, fish, delicacies, herbs and spices of all shapes and colours, plus lots of little stand-up eateries.

“The most famous feature of Thessaloniki food culture is its bakeries”

The most famous feature of Thessaloniki food culture is its bakeries. The Ottomans’ sweet tooth left its culinary mark in the shape of a multitude of patisseries which abound in the city serving up local pastries which are famous all over Greece.

The local population helps itself daily to things like pastes (large slices of cake), siropiastá – syrupy Turkish-style sweets such as baklava; kadaïfi and halva as well as tsourekia and bougatsa (breakfast pastries).

To show the tradition is alive and still developing, bougatsa became a big hit a couple of years ago when they appeared in Café Estrella on Pavlou Mela Street in the city centre.

Cafe Estrella is a new addition to the scene but there are a number of long-standing pastry shops competing for the sweet spot in the city, many with their own signature nibbles.

Trigona Elenidis was the city’s original source of trigona – crunchy pastry funnels soaked in syrup and filled with cream. These were known as Panorama triangles (Trigona Panoramatos) named after the suburb where Elenidis’ first café was founded. Today the family still bake trigona to the original recipe.

Operating since 1908, when Thessaloniki was still an Ottoman city, Chatzis is a city favourite serving rich Turkish desserts such as rizogalo and malempi masticha (cream and rice porridge, flavoured with masticha, an aromatic resin from Chios island and served with rose syrup).

Located near Aristotelous Square, Terkenlis is not quite as old (it was founded in 1948) but is still as traditional as Thessaloniki bakeries come and now boasts 11 branches around the city and airport. Its trademark offering is tsoureki (braided egg bread brioches) in a variety of sweet and salty ways including chestnut, lemon, orange, chocolate, walnut praline or Chios cream.

Konstandinidis was founded in the Twenties by a Greek teacher from Asia Minor who turned to pastry making. When he was forced to leave the country he came to Greece and taught the art to his sons. Today Konstandinidis has branches all over town serving hundreds of items of confectionery including its signature fresh millefeuille.



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