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Athonos

Buildings with traditional patterns stand next to shops with delicacies, food stores and woodcarving workshops, Athonos Square, all together making a very picturesque corner of the city.

  1. Modern and Contemporary era (1912 - )


  2. Ottoman era (1453- 1912)


  3. Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)


  4. Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)


  5. Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)


  6. Classical era (478-323 BC)


  7. Archaic era (800-479 BC)


  8. Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)


  9. Prehistory (-1100 BC)


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.

Bibliography

Athanasiou F, Zygomalas D., Koniordos V., Makri E., Steriotou I., (2009), Περίπατοι κληρονομιάς στη Θεσσαλονίκη, [Heritage walks in Thessaloniki], Centre of History of Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greek Society of Environment and Culture, Thessaloniki branch

Zafeiris Ch., (1997), Θεσσαλονίκης Εγκόλπιον, ιστορία, πολιτισμός, η πόλη σήμερα, γεύσεις, μουσεία, μνημεία, διαδρομές, [Thessaloniki Handbook, history, culture, the city today, flavours, museums, routes], Athens: Exantas

Toulas G., (d.u..), Ο χάρτης της πόλης: Πλατεία Άθωνος,  [City map: Athonos Square], in Parallaxi,

http://www.parallaximag.gr/thessaloniki/o-hartis-tis-polis-plateia-athonos

Last visit 21/7/2014