Walls of Thessaloniki

The Walls of Thessaloniki (Greek: Τείχη της Θεσσαλονίκης, Teíchi tis Thessaloníkis) are the city walls surrounding the city of Thessaloniki during the Middle Ages and until the late 19th century, when large parts of the walls, including the entire seaward section, were demolished as part of the Ottoman authorities' restructuring of Thessaloniki's urban fabric. The city was fortified from its establishment in the late 4th century BC, but the present walls date from the early Byzantine period, ca. 390, and incorporate parts of an earlier, late 3rd-century wall. The walls consist of the typical late Roman mixed construction of ashlar masonry alternating with bands of brick. The northern part of the walls adjoins the acropolis of the city, which formed a separate fortified enceinte, and within it lies another citadel, the Heptapyrgion (Seven Towers), popularly known by the Ottoman translation of the name, Yedi Kule.

Walls of Thessaloniki
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The eastern walls
LocationThessaloniki, Greece
Part ofPaleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki
CriteriaCultural: i, ii, iv
Reference456-002
Inscription1988 (12th session)
Coordinates40°38′00″N 22°57′10.5″E
Location of Walls of Thessaloniki in Greece
Growth of Thessaloniki and its walls in Antiquity (left) and in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods (right).
  • The walls c.1919
  • Part of the walls with one of the surviving gates on the background
  • Part of the walls
  • Gate of Anna Palaiologina
  • Part of the walls beside the street
  • Walls in Ano Poli
  • "Portara" Gate
  • Trigonio tower (“Triangle Tower”)
  • View from the Triangle tower
  • Another view

Sources
  • Kourkoutidou-Nikolaidou, E.; Tourta, A. (1997), Wandering in Byzantine Thessaloniki, Kapon Editions, pp. 15–26, ISBN 960-7254-47-3
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