Northern Greece
Discovering Thessaloniki
We had been to Greece before in 2009 on a Regent Cruise. We did the obligatory things such as do a pre-cruise stay in Athens to see the Acropolis and the Agora. Then it was off to visit the islands of Greece. These are surely beautiful places to visit and a “must-do” for anyone who wants to explore Greece. But we knew there was more to Greece than just that.
So, we decided—rather suddenly—to plan another trip to Greece. The plan was to start in Thessaloniki and then rent a car and travel to several places within northern Greece. Since this trip was decided rather late in the game, we already had reservations at Texas Timeshare in Lakeway, Texas near Austin. So we used the timeshare as a staging point before our flight from Austin to Thessaloniki.
Exhausted from the 24 hours of traveling—not mentioning the jetlag from the difference of 8 time zones—we did our best to keep active and explore the beautiful city of Thessaloniki. We found the city easy to navigate and the Beach Promenade—or what the locals simply call the “New Beach”—is an exciting place to be as it becomes a major gathering place of residents each evening. After dinner, we returned to our hotel—the Makedonia Palace Hotel—and retired to rest up for the next day.
While we thought we did a decent job of exploring the city, the next day we realized we had only barely scratched the surface as we had a 5 1/2 hour guided walking tour with Ioannis. We have used private guides before to get a better understanding of a city, but Ioannis was exceptional—very likely the best private guide we ever had and we highly recommend him. He gave us a great understanding of the role that Thessaloniki—named after the Alexander the Great’s half-sister—had had in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine history.
Alexander the Great was born just 30 miles (50 KM) away in Pella and the city would become the most important city in Macedonia. Then the Romans made the city the capital of its province of Macedonia in 148 BC. It was during Roman rule, that the apostle Paul visited the city and would write letters to the Christians of the city. First and Second Thessalonians are among the first books written in the Christian New Testament. Despite this connection, there are no sites in Thessaloniki which are tied to Paul (Spoiler Alert: we will visit one such place in Veria which is just over 40 miles away).
When Galerius became one of the four rulers of the Roman Empire which Diocletian split the empire, Galerius based his rule out of Thessaloniki. Ioannis was careful to explain Galerius’s importance as we visited the ruins of his palace including the Arch of Galerius.
The split of the Roman Empire gave way to the Byzantines taking over the city. During the Byzantine period, Thessaloniki would second to only Constantinople in importance to the empire. It is during this period of time that so many beautiful Churches were built and still stand today. Ioannis took us through many of these churches, including the Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki which like so many other sites we visited, are UNESCO World Heritage locations.
But as the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottomans, so did Thessaloniki. It is during the Ottoman rule that White Tower of Thessaloniki was rebuilt over a previous Byzantine fort. The tower served as a prison during the Ottomans, but since when the city was retaken by the Greeks in 1912, it has become the symbol of the city.
And up to Mt. Olympus
The morning after a spectacular dinner with our friends Simos and Morphi (Simos was also a major reason why our trip was so wonderful as he and his team made most of the arrangements as so much more), we rented our car and set off to visit Mt. Olympus—about a 2 hour drive away. There we stopped to take a short hike up to a waterfall and back to the trailhead restaurant for a couple cold beers and a small snack.
Next was off to village of Palios Panteleimonas. This village is situated on the slope of Mt. Olympus and quickly became one of the most memorable places that we’ve ever stayed. It easily is the most quaint, small village we have ever visited. Our lodging was at Guesthouse Ourania and we loved the room. It is literally a few steps to the center of the city and extremely comfortable. Dinner that night was at Taverna Olympos which is the center of the village, right across from the church. We found the food to be good, filling and moderately priced. But then it was time to get some sleep as the next day we would go to Meteora.
The Lofty Heights of Meteora
Today was the day that we had probably had discussed the most before getting on the airplane to come to Greece. This is the day we would visit Meteora. Excited for the day, we got up before sunrise to see the light of the sun cast itself over our small village of Palios Panteleimonas. Then after a HUGE breakfast, it was back into the car and another 2 hour car ride to Meteora.
Even before you reach the town of Kalabaka—the closest town to Meteora—you see the rock pillars on your drive. These massive rock formations seem to randomly stick out of the ground, reminding one of a terrain that would only be described in a science fiction tome. The rock pillars were created around 60 million years ago when moving tectonic plates thrust up the seabed that once covered this area. Since that time, wind and rain weathered this high plateau away exposing these rock pillars.
The first people are thought to have inhabited the area 50,000 years ago, but it was hermit monks who moved into the caves of the pillars in the 9th century AD who began the interesting story of Meteora’s monasteries. These early monks found the caves high into the rock pillars ideal places to escape from other people. By the 141th century, it is believed that the monks had begun to gather together into an order. Then in 1344, Athansios Koinovitis brought more followers to Meteora and would establish the Great Meteoron Monastery. As the Ottomans began moving into Greece, more Byzantine monks would come to Meteora and build additional monasteries on the top of these rock pillars. As access to the monasteries was only possible by rickety ladders or rope, the location of these monasteries made them secure from Ottoman raiders.
Fortunately, we had Nikki—our tour guide—who made accessing these monasteries much, much easier. A native of the region, Nikki made the story of the monasteries come alive. But it was in Meteora that we learned an important Greek word that would be relevant for the rest of our stay: ζεστό (zesti) which means hot. And with temperatures over 100 degrees (it would be 107 degrees F the next day), we were able to use this term quite a bit on our visit to Greece. So, after we had visited our last monastery, we said goodbye to Niki and retired to our hotel in Kalabaka—the Divani Meteora Hotel—to attempt to cool off. Fortunately, not only was the Divani Hotel comfortable, it also had a pool.
The next morning, we woke up at 5am, gathered our cameras, and drove back up into Meteora from Kalabaka to see the sunrise over these awe-inspiring rock formations. As the sun crept up, any frustrations of having to wake up so early were wiped away by the breathtaking scenery. Standing there watching the changing colors of the rocks, we were reminded of how fortunate we were to have such an opportunity.
Yes, the episode order is out of order here. This place was so amazing and so special that we had to put this video out before any of the others. Watch and you’ll see why.
The Death of a Republic…The Birth of an Empire: Nicopolis and Ioannina
After returning from our sunrise experience in Meterora, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, packed and set off again for another day of adventure in northern Greece. This time we were off to the site of where Octavian (soon to be known as Augustus Caesar) defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra. We drove for almost 3 hours to the peninsula where Ambracian Gulf dumps into the Ionian Sea. It was off the shore in the Ionian Sea in 31 BC that Octavian’s forces defeated those of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and set the stage for Octavian to become the sole ruler of Rome. With the crowing of Octavian he would now be known as Augustus Ceasar and Rome would no longer be a republic, but an empire.
To celebrate the victory of the Battle of Actium, Augustus founded the city of Nicopolis/Nikopolis (“The city of victory”) upon the site where his headquarters had been pitched. Quickly, the town became a bustling city of trade as it was close to two ports on the Ionian Sea. The apostle Paul wrote to Titus stating “Come to me at Nicopolis” (Titus 3:12).
As the region came under the Byzantine control from Constantinople, walls around Nicopolis were built to protect them from barbarian attacks. Unfortunately, the walls were not effective and the Vandals, Ostragoths, and other barbarian tribes would raid the city multiple times. During the medieval times, the city was abandoned.
It was the ruins of this abandoned city that we visited. Despite being on the tentative list for adoption as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we don’t know what surprised us more: that we spent nearly two hours walking among the ruins with not another visitor being seen or that entry to the archeological site was only 4 euros per person. And there is a great deal to see. One can walk among the ruins of buildings and basilicas and begin to imagine what life must have been like 1700 years ago; marvel at the mosaic floors that once adorned the Basilica of Dometios; visit the small Nymphaeum where the city’s people would gather water delivered by aqueduct; or even single a few songs at the Odeon. Nicopolis is certainly worth the trip to go see.
The museum—again also included in that price of 4 euro—is also exceptionally well done. Perhaps even more important on the day that we visited—it is AIR CONDITIONED.
We left Nikopolis and drove to our next destination, Ioannina. After checking into our hotel—the Grand Serai—we took a quick swim and got some dinner. Then it was off for a 10 minute boat ride across Lake Pamvotis to the “Island with no name”. The island has several restaurants, bars, and places to get souvenirs. But the must-see on the island is the Ali Pasha Museum. The museum lies in what was once the Monastery of Saint Pantaleon, built in the 15th century, and through its exhibits, tells the story of the Albanian ruler who controlled the Ottoman territory that included Ioannina and this part of Greece. While he was respectful of other religions and courted the west, he also was a brutal and vengeful ruler. When he began to actively oppose Ottoman military reforms, the Ottomans sent agents who killed Ali Pasha in this building in 1822.
Resting Place of a King: Philip II’s Tomb at Vergina
After Ioannina, we traveled to Veria to meet with our guide from Thessaloniki—Ioannis. It was in Veria—approximately 50 miles (70km) west of Thessaloniki—that the apostle Paul made two visits in 56 and 57 AD. While there are no sites in Thessaloniki which can be traced to Paul, the Tribune of Paul lies the steps where Paul is said to have stood on while preaching of Jesus’s love. But the Tribune of Paul was just a warm-up act that was to come. After visiting the site, we drove just over 7 miles (12 kilometers) outside of Veria to Vergina.
Vergina was the first capital of Macedon. While the capital would later move to Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, at the beginning of the 4th century AD, Aigai (as it was known at the time) would continue to be the site of a royal palace and the royal tombs. One of the most important Macedonian kings was Philip II of Macedon who united Greece and was the father of Alexander the Great. Unfortunately, in 336 BC Philip II was assassinated at his daughter’s wedding by a body guard and was laid to rest here in Vergina.
Unfortunately, throughout the ages royal tombs across the globe were the target of looters who would ransack the tomb and take the treasures away. This is why the discovery by Greek archeologist Manolis Andronikos in 1977 was so significant. Andronikos had become convinced that a hill in the area likely was the site of the royal tomb and began excavation. In 1977, his hunch was proven correct as well as the fact that of the four tombs uncovered, two—Tomb 1 and Tomb 2—had never been disturbed. Most important of the discovery was that within Tomb 2 lay the remains and treasures of Philip II just as they were laid to rest 2,203 years ago.
The discovery by Andronikos was not without its critics. While Andronikos declared that Tomb 2 was that of Philip II, other archeologists claimed that bones removed from Tomb 1 were consistent with the injury to the King’s leg, thus Tomb 1 was the true resting place of the King. Yet, not only were leg armor seemingly designed for such a leg injury found in Tomb 2, examination of the skull bones found in Tomb 2 are also consistent with an eye injury that Philip 2 had endured as well. This had led the Greek government to decree that Tomb 2 is where the Macadonian King was laid to rest.
Whether Tomb 1 or Tomb 2, the museum is remarkable. Designed to resemble the tumulus or hill in which Andronikos first found these treasures, the museum is truly a world-class expedition of the treasures of ancient Greece—and all for 12 euros a person.
Once again, having Ioannis with us to give us the history and details of this place was incredible. Once our time in the museum was over, we returned to Thessaloniki.
Back to Athens
The title is a bit misleading as with the exception of our connection flight from the United States to Thessaloniki, we actually hadn’t visited Athens this trip. However, we did spend several days in Athens in 2009 so it isn’t completely dishonest. After spending the day at Isla Beach in Halkidiki (Chalkidiki), we spent one last night in Thessaloniki and boarded a train for Athens. In Athens, we stayed at the Divani Palace Acropolis with its beautiful roof-top restaurant watching the Acropolis and ventured into the Plaka. The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens—and considering the history of Athens, that’s saying something. But it also is home of tons of shops and restaurants. After making our best effort of staying cool, we make it back to our hotel for dinner and one last night in Greece before returning to the United States.
