Our most comprehensive proposal for discovering Jewish Thessaloniki is our Grand Tour, which allows you to explore much more beyond the historic city center, neighborhoods, and monuments that are usually not discovered by visitors on their own, giving you the opportunity to see Thessaloniki from different perspectives and get the most out of it.
The Grand Tour lasts approximately 6-7 hours, with part of it being on foot and the rest by car or minivan. We will uncover the history of all the different empires and minorities that influenced Thessaloniki, from its establishment to the Roman and Byzantine eras, the Ottoman occupation, and finally to the city’s liberation, connecting the past to the present lifestyle, explaining how Thessaloniki maintains such a multicultural and unique identity.
Starting with a walking tour of the traditional central markets, you will get a sense of a lively city that combines tradition with a modern lifestyle. In a short walking distance, Thessaloniki preserves evidence of its rich history with various historic buildings, squares, monuments, and remarkable areas. Going deeper into our Jewish heritage, we will visit all the remaining sites and monuments of a community that thrived in Thessaloniki from the 15th century until its almost total extinction during WWII.
You will understand why Thessaloniki was once called “Madre d’ Israel” and “Jerusalem of the Balkans.” History combined with our family’s narratives will give you a comprehensive understanding of how this community settled in the city, flourished, and almost disappeared, with only a few survivors returning.
Driving west, we will pass through Baron Hirsch quarters, which used to be the transit stop in the transportation of Thessaloniki Jews for their forced displacement to Auschwitz-Birkenau from the nearby railway station, where we will make a stop. Then, we will head east, driving along the waterfront, where you will have the opportunity to admire the beauty of our coastal city and make a few stops at some of the most important sights and landmarks, such as the Holocaust Memorial and the White Tower. In the eastern part of the city, we will find some of the most beautiful and characteristic villas of the 19th century, most of them owned by prominent Jewish families of the past. As we return to the city center, we will stop at the Memorial of the old Jewish cemetery, the largest one in Europe. Before the end of our Grand Tour, we will head uphill to Ano Poli, the natural “balcony” of Thessaloniki. One of the most picturesque areas of the city, surrounded by city fortress walls and castles, you will have the opportunity to admire a completely different architecture in the
neighborhood that follows the Ottoman style, giving you the essence of a short time travel to the
past.
Duration: 6-7 hours walking and driving tour