On the road

Archi­tec­tural Culture in Nor­thern Greece: A journey through the ages

From modern concert halls to ancient sites and contemporary museums: a tour of the architectural world of Thessaloniki and Verginas in northern Greece shows how old and new can coexist harmoniously.

by Jan Dimog in October 2024

The con­stant inter­action between past and present is evident in Thes­sa­loniki, from the eclectic new City Hall to the Megaro Mou­sikis Concert Hall by a Pritzker Prize winner. The buil­dings tell not only of power and religion, but also of the city’s cul­tural wealth and its ability to reinvent itself. In this respect, the archi­tecture is not just a backdrop, but shapes the coll­ective memory and identity of the second largest city in Greece after the capital Athens.

As the European Capital of Culture, Thes­sa­loniki expe­ri­enced a glo­rious high point in 1997. The title was an ack­now­led­gement of the city’s rich history and an oppor­tunity that the city seized to showcase its his­to­rical archi­tecture, museums and cul­tural life. Num­erous reno­vation and res­to­ration pro­jects were initiated to present the archi­tec­tural heritage in an appro­priate way. The Rotunda of Galerius, the Byzantine churches and the White Tower Museum shone in new sple­ndour.

Both during the year of the Capital of Culture and after 2000, new pro­jects were pursued that also aimed to improve the quality of life for resi­dents. ‘Nea Paralia’(New Shore) is a park that con­nects the city centre with the Kala­maria dis­trict over a length of 3.5 km. The winning design by Niki­fo­ridis-Cuomo Archi­tects was imple­mented from 2006 to 2014. The pro­menade is cha­rac­te­rised by its modern archi­tec­tural ele­ments, a generous green space and a wide range of leisure acti­vities. A walk along the ‘New Shore’ is like a journey through time: the White Tower was built by the Ottoman grand architect Sinan in the 16th century, and next to it is the Alex­ander the Great Monument, a monu­mental equestrian statue by the sculptor Evan­gelos Moustakas (1974).

Nearby, George Zon­go­lo­poulos’ ‘Umbrellas’ reach for the sky – a 13-metre-high sculpture made of ver­tical steel rods set at an angle. It is very ‘insta­grammable’ and a popular photo motif with locals and tou­rists alike.

The ‘Hotel Make­donia Palace’ just a few minutes from the umbrellas is a five-star hotel and a prime example of late modern Greek archi­tecture. Kon­stan­tinos A. Doxiadis (1913–1975) designed an eleven-storey rec­tan­gular building with grid facades, which was reopened in 2017 after a com­plete reno­vation. The city planner and architect was one of Greece’s most pro­minent builders, with over 100 pro­jects in his home country as well as in Pakistan, Brazil, Iraq and the United States.

At the other end of Nea Paralia stands the ‘Megaro Mou­sikis’ Concert Hall. The complex for the per­forming arts, con­fe­rences and con­gresses con­sists of the buil­dings M1 (designed by Vas­silis Sgoutas) and M2 (designed by Arata Isozaki). The former has a brick façade and its design draws on the Byzantine archi­tec­tural tra­dition (round arches, domed struc­tures). M1 was com­pleted in 2000, M2 in 2010. The design by the Japanese Pritzker Prize winner Isozaki (1931–2022) represents a con­trast to the neo-modernism of M1, both archi­tec­tu­rally and with its clear, geo­metric lines.

The way in which clarity, lines and Byzantium can be inter­woven was demons­trated by the architect Kyriakos Krokos, who came from the island of Samos. He designed the building of the ‘Museum of Byzantine Culture’, which com­bines con­tem­porary design with Byzantine ele­ments and opened in 1994.

Nearby stands the ‘Archaeo­lo­gical Museum’ by Patroklos Karan­tinos (1903–1976). The clas­sical modernist architect designed an atrium building. The complex was built around a central cour­tyard. Slender round columns support the dominant flat roof. The museum opened in 1962 and has since been moder­nised and con­verted several times, espe­cially the inte­riors.

The new Thes­sa­loniki City Hall was built in the same neigh­bourhood as the Krokos Karan­tinos buil­dings. Planning for the project began in the 1980s and was com­pleted in 2009. The archi­tects Ana­stasios and Dimi­trios Mpiris designed a complex of bars, edges and tri­angles made of glass, con­crete and water sur­faces, which they arranged around a large city hall square. The area is freely acces­sible even after opening hours, both on the ground floor and partly also in the upper areas. The sharp-edged con­crete design is idio­syn­cratic, yet it appears open and faces the city with the neigh­bouring museums and the nearby Nea Paralia.

Outside Thes­sa­loniki, a cul­tural building in Vergina in par­ti­cular has caused a sen­sation. The opening at the end of 2022 was a state ceremony attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mit­so­takis and other high-ranking offi­cials. About an hour’s drive away is the ‘Poly­centric Museum of Aigai’ by Greek architect and uni­versity lec­turer Alkmini Paka.
Aigai was the poli­tical cradle of the ancient Mace­donian Empire, where the family of Philip II (382 BC-336 BC) and Alex­ander the Great ruled for over three cen­turies. For many cen­turies, the signi­fi­cance of the his­toric area was for­gotten. It was only in 1977 that the archaeo­logist and uni­versity lec­turer Manolis Andro­nikos came across signi­ficant tre­asures during excava­tions. It was a sen­sa­tional find that rewrote the history of Mace­donia. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the archaeo­lo­gical site houses the remains of the ancient city and the royal palace, as well as the tombs of several Mace­donian kings, including the tomb of Philip II.

The central museum building of Aigai was created to connect these sites. Paka, who comes from Thes­sa­loniki, designed large window fronts and open spaces that allow visitors to remain visually con­nected to the sur­rounding land­scape. The colour scheme of the light-coloured façade allows it to blend into the sand-coloured sur­roun­dings despite the size of the building. Several exhi­bition areas high­light dif­ferent aspects of Mace­donian history and culture. Museum director Angeliki Kot­taridi explains the concept as a kind of gateway: the new museum forms a com­pre­hensive portal into the ancient history of Mace­donia. According to Kot­taridi, this includes the stories of the deceased, their everyday objects, customs and desires. The Poly­centric Museum of Aigai: a journey through time by means of exhibits, archi­tecture and the special atmo­sphere of the Central Mace­donian low­lands and the foot­hills of the Vermio Moun­tains.

Text: Jan Dimog

Photos: Art instal­lation ‘Umbrellas’, Thes­sa­loniki (title picture, 4, 5), Rotunda of Galerius, Thes­sa­loniki (1,2), New Embankment, Thes­sa­loniki (3), Hotel Make­donia Palace, Thes­sa­loniki (6), Concert Hall ‘Megaro Mou­sikis’, Concert Hall M1 (7), Concert Hall ‘Megaro Mou­sikis’, Concert Hall M2 (8), Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thes­sa­loniki (9–11), Archaeo­lo­gical Museum, Thes­sa­loniki (12, 13), New City Hall Thes­sa­loniki (14–16), Poly­centric Museum of Aigai (Aegae), Vergina (17–19)

Picture credits: © Hendrik Bohle und Jan Dimog / thelink.berlin

Author info

Jour­nalist Jan Dimog runs a digital magazine on building culture tog­ether with architect Hendrik Bohle. On thelink.berlin they have been telling about their dis­co­veries in Europe for years, espe­cially about the con­nec­tions between people and archi­tecture.

When they are not on the road, they curate high-profile exhi­bi­tions, such as the tra­velling exhi­bition on Arne Jacobsen’s archi­tecture.