Athonos

What I can see

Right next to Aristotelous Street and Aristotelous Square, we find Athonos Square, otherwise known to Thessalonians as Athonos, which refers to the wider, bustling neighbourhood. Buildings with traditional patterns stand next to shops with delicacies, food stores and woodcarving workshops, all together making a very picturesque corner of the city. This used to be a much more diverse neighbourhood. Today, the aura of “the old days” is more potent near Aristotelous Street, while other sections such as the ones nearer to Ermou and Egnatia Streets, are representative of the city’s contemporary feel. At Athonos Square, one can buy anything and everything: hempseed for birds, rice, many varieties of herbs, oatmeal, honey, melissovotano, pies, traditional Pontic foods and other gourmet ingredients. The dominant feature of this area is without a doubt the local food industry, with an abundance of very similar tavernas, a lot of which feature live music performed in the typical acoustic style found around Greece.

What I can't see

There is strong evidence that a market existed here starting from the Ottoman period and that it was modelled after the eastern markets of the Medieval Times. After the 1917 fire, the new urban plans did not alter the neighbourhood’s appearance significantly.

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