The Nymph of Thermaikos, the City of St. Demetrius! Those are two of the names by which Thessaloniki is known and hailed by. Tightly held in the embrace of the Gulf of Thermaikos, Thessaloniki extends from the coast all the way back to the nearby foothills of Hortiatis Mountain. It has the second largest population in Greece and is located in Central Macedonia. Ever since its foundation by Kassandros some 2,300 years ago, Thessaloniki flourished as a Hellenistic city and continued to be prominent under Ottoman rule, taking advantage of its strategic location. A cross-cultural melting pot, Thessaloniki was given its name by Kassandros in 315 BC in honor of the sister of Alexander the Great. Its steady growth began under Roman rule when the Romans built Egnatia Way, an ambitious project, which linked Thessaloniki with Constantinople and Rome. During Byzantine times, Thessaloniki rose to further prominence and acquired the title “Symvasilevousa”, the Co-Reigning City, ruling in tandem with Constantinople. It came under Turkish rule in 1430 and was liberated in 1912.

Today, Thessaloniki is a contemporary, cosmopolitan city with districts and sights cloaked with the aura of its erstwhile glory that beckon to visitors in pursuit of authenticity to make them their own. The White Tower (part of the city’s old fortifications), Ano Poli, a district where Macedonian and Balkan architectures predominate, the Rotonda, the squares and Byzantine churches are but some of the Thessaloniki’s points of interest. It’s a city whose beauty takes your breath away whether you’re after plain sightseeing or seeking inviting corners where the past meets the present. It is a city that affords visitors the perfect opportunity to have fun, enjoy the premium services offered by traditional Greek hospitality, and leave their heart at the feet of Macedonian gastronomy.

Fusion, fragrant, delicious are but a few of the adjectives that could be attributed to the cuisine of Thessaloniki, which proudly boasts a dizzying array of mouthwatering dishes and pastries. Each dish, each pastry is a tribute of taste and flavor to the memory of the people this hospitable city took into its embrace, people from diverse cultures, religions, customs, and traditions. Thessaloniki is where Byzantine cuisine came together with Jewish cuisine, where the Middle Eastern and Turkish culinary traditions wedded local cuisine where all melded together, converting into a single, rich culinary tapestry of creative cooking: the cuisine that established Thessaloniki as the capital of taste or, as the locals call it, “kibar” cuisine, a Turkish word that means “lavishly generous and great-hearted”. No visitor ever feels left out in Thessaloniki. The city scoops you up and sings you songs of natural beauty, of tradition comfortable with the present, of spectacular entertainment and gourmet experiences. Thessaloniki: the city of feeling good and having a good time, a city that never sleeps!