What I can see

The Byzantine Walls of Thessaloniki, one of its most prominent monuments, have survived in good condition. Their construction began during the Hellenistic period but the main structure dates to the 4^th century AD, even though the walls continued being maintained and built during subsequent centuries. The surviving parts are divided into an eastern, a northern and a western section and consist of stone, bricks, adobes with mortar and marble-walled parts of Hellenistic and Roman monuments. The walls’ floor plans reveal a useful alternation of rectangular towers and defensive triangular brackets especially at the lowland points where they were most vulnerable to invasion. At the northern wall, the enclosure of its acropolis is adjoined, while at the eastern wall, one can see the Tower of Hormisdas (probably a commander during Emperor Theodosius’ reign) with an inscription that boasted his fortification of  the city with “impregnable walls”.

What I can't see

The walls have a total length of 8 km but nowadays, what remains is 4.3 km in length, after the biggest part of the eastern walls was demolished in 1873 and in 1902 during the Ottoman period, together with those on the seafront. The demolition was part of the expansion, landscaping and Europeanization of the city. Standing at a height of 10-12 metres, although in some places they reach 15m., these walls had many gates and were more than just the city’s defence line, but also a distinct boundary between the “asty” (= city) and the countryside. To the west, towards Vardaris Square, we find Litaia Gate, the city’s second most central gate and close by, the Golden Gate, the city’s main entrance, where the city’s main street “Via Regia” (the current Egnatia street) started. During Hellenistic and Roman times, the inner side of the western wall was the religious centre of the city. Three more gates existed in the eastern walls: the New Golden Gate, the Asomaton Gate and the Roma Gate.

Bibliography