november-2011

FEATURE | THESSALONIKI
MY FIRST GLIMPSE OF THESSALONIKI was on a
damp November day about fi ve years ago. I had been
invited to talk at the university and had fl own there for
the night with a change of clothes in my hand luggage
and a few notes. It had not even occurred to me to buy
a guidebook.
As I was taken by taxi to the campus, I peered
through a thick grey mist and saw very little apart
from people scurrying along dark, tree-lined streets,
men and women alike in black puffa jackets hunched
against the rain. I distinctly remember thinking, “I’m
glad I won’t be here long.”
The next morning, everything changed. The fog
had lifted and Thessaloniki’s magic revealed itself.
From my hotel window, I found myself looking across
a huge, glittering bay to Mount
Olympus, Greece’s highest
mountain, and I began to be
amazed by this city on the sea.
In the bright sunshine of that day
(this is a city where the weather
is almost as constant a topic of
conversation as it is in the UK),
I decided to take a walk.
It was right then that my love
affair began – and the fi rst seeds
were sown for the idea of writing
a novel about the city. Like most
metropolises, Thessaloniki has
sprawled in recent years but,
unlike many, it has discernible
boundaries: the sea on one side
and a steep slope on another.
I knew I could wander without
getting lost because there would always be a glimpse
of a sparkling bay to orient me.
And what I saw captivated me: Thessaloniki
seemed to have a little of every period and style. There
were magnifi cent 3rd century remains, including
a massive triumphal arch on which are carved the
achievements of the Emperor Galerius and also a
perfect rotunda, reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome.
Called the Church of Agios Georgios, it stands at the
crossroads of what are now Egnatia and Dimitriou
Gounari streets. I learned that it has had many
56 | TRAVELLER
different chapters in its history: originally
it was a polytheistic temple, then a church,
afterwards a mosque and it was then
reconsecrated as a church in 1912.
There were plenty of quickly erected,
1970s, fi ve- or six-storey concrete blocks
which are ubiquitous in all Greek cities,
but I also saw magnifi cent neo-classical
mansions, with pillars and double stairways leading
to grand front doors, and many art-deco buildings as
well. In contrast, there was an atmospheric district
full of Turkish-style houses and cobbled streets
(known as the Upper Town), an area of old oil
warehouses that had been converted into restaurants –
Zythos (5 Katouni, Ladadika; tel: +30 231 054 0284)
became one of my favourites – and dozens of bars.
There was also a building which had been the
old Ottoman baths and the atmospheric Modiano
Market (32 Vasileos Irakleiou; tel: +30 231 023 7315),