Tsimiski Street

What I can see

Tsimiski Street is the most commercial street in the city, with small and large shops, shopping centres, offices, banks and some of the city’s best-known patisseries. It offers an opportunity for an enjoyable walk in its shopping area or even a stop for a coffee amidst an authentically urban cityscape. The rich market of Tsimiski Street has suffered considerably in recent years, due to the economic crisis but continues to attract Thessalonian consumers and visitors.

What I can't see

Before the annexation of Thessaloniki by Greece, it was called the “Second Parallel” because it opened a path parallel to the coastline. In the Ottoman period, it united the Coast Gate (now Emporiou Square) with Defterdar Hane Gate, near the White Tower. The fire of 1917 destroyed many buildings on this street. Its present form is the result of new urban planning by Ernest Hebrard, designed after the fire. Its commercial character is associated historically with the Jewish community of the city, which engaged in strong commercial activity for a long time. The name of the street comes from the Byzantine Emperor Ioannis Tsimiskis I, who was of Armenian origin. Tsimiskis had repelled the Bulgarians during his rule. It was no coincidence then, that when the Turks handed over the city to the Greeks instead of the Bulgarians in 1912, the Greek government chose the symbolic name of the Emperor for the street.

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