Thessaloniki_EN

60
7 th walk:
WEST OF THE CENTRE-STAVROUPOLI
68.
Mylos multipurpose
venue is one
of the most
popular places
for hosting
events and
entertainments
in Thessaloniki.
69.
Moni
Lazariston
building
complex
houses
the State
Museum of
Contemporary
Art, among
other
foundations.
2.6 Holy Twelve Apostles
Church
(see p. 8).
2.7 West City Walls.
Sections of the city’s west walls
remain along Arkadioupoleos and
Eirinis Streets and finds related
to Litaia Gate have recently
been located at the corner
of Agiou Dimitriou and Agiou
Nestoros Streets. This gate
used to be one of the seven
great gates of the fortified city
and formed part of the Early
Christian period walls; it was
named after Liti, a Byzantine
town to which the gate led.
The Golden Gate was also
located on the Egnatia
Street level.
2.8 Pasha Hamam
[Paşa Hamami] (Phoenix
Bath house).
It was built during the
1520s by Cezeri Kasim Paşa.
Also known as Phoenix Bath
house, this used to be the
last ottoman bath house open
in town, as it closed down in
as late as 1981. It is located
at the corner of Kalvou and
Pineiou Streets, near the west
walls and the church of the
Holy Twelve Apostles, and the
structure of the building was
planned with great care.
68
3 WEST OF THE
HARBOUR
The area began to grow in
the late 19 th century, after the
demolition of the seafront city
wall and the ensuing pulling
down of large sections of the
city’s west and east walls.
The short distance to the
harbour and the rail system
construction were two decisive
factors which led to large
industrial unit installations
in the area. In recent decades
many of these buildings
were changed into culture
and entertainment venues,
while others are scheduled
to become sports or cultural
centres. An example would be
the listed building of the old
Municipal Slaughterhouse (early
20 th c.), near the FIX factory,
after which the entire district
was named.
MUST SEE:
3.1 Vilka multi purpose
venue.
This is the old textile factory
of Torres and Co., renamed
Vilka, which closed down in
1988 and is now restructured
into a space reserved for various
events and entertainment, as it
includes a theatre, concert halls,
cafés and bars.
69
3.2 Mylos multi purpose
venue.
It is housed in the premises
of the old Flour Mill [Mylos
in Greek] of Chatzigiannaki-
Altinalmazi (1924). In 1991
it passed to private owners
and was changed into a
culture venue that is wellknown
throughout the country.
The biggest names of the
domestic and international
music scene have chosen to
appear here; the cafés, bars
and restaurants found in the
complex are very popular with
Thessalonians.
3.3 FIX Brewery.
The brewery was founded
in 1893 by Misrachi and
Fernandez. Later on, annexes
were added to the original
installations and the firms
Olympus Brewery and Olympus-
Naoussa Brewery were
successively set up. In 1926
FIX company took and retained
ownership of the brewery until
the mid-1980’s when it was
closed down. Today the place
is deserted with the exception
of certain newer storehouses
which were restructured into
concert halls. Since 2001, the
Water Museum (see p. 79) is
housed in the adjacent old main
pumping station of the Water
Company (1890-94), which was
running until 1978.
4 TERPSITHEA DISTRICT
(STAVROUPOLI)
This is a relatively quiet area
in Stavroupoli Municipality near
the city centre; the urban and
free space arrangement shows
a good town planning. Along
downtown Lagkada Street,
you will see the old military
camp and Lebet mosque,
which will be changed into a
park. Since 1938, the Jewish
cemetery has been located
in the space between Karaoli
Dimitriou and Dendropotamou
Streets; a number of marble
pieces have been carried from
the old cemetery which used
to be within the grounds of
the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, (see p. 38) and
was destroyed by the Germans
during World War II. Once
you’ve completed your tour you
can return to the city centre
taking the 27 and 29 bus lines
(in the direction from Lagkada
St. to Egnatia St.).
MUST SEE:
4.1 Allied Military
Cemetery (Zeitenlik).
This is the largest military
necropolis in Greece. There
are five sectors to it and over
21,000 soldiers of the Entente
powers were buried here
(8,089 French, 8,000 Serbs,
3,000 Italians, 1,648 British
and 400 Russian soldiers),
all killed on the Macedonian
front during World War I.
Coming in from the main
entrance (Lagkada Street)
you will meet the impressive
Serbian monument at the
back of which there is a small
Serbian church. The city’s
catholic cemetery lies in the
neighbouring Koutifari Street.
4.2 Moni Lazariston
[Lazarists Monastery].
This impressive building
was erected in 1886 by
monks of the order of St.
Vincent de Paul, also known
as Lazarists after Saint
7 th walk:
WEST OF THE CENTRE-STAVROUPOLI
61