Around Agia Sofia in Thessaloniki

Just off the International Exhibition Centre in Thessaloniki is Agelaki Avenue, 

with these gorgeous, old olive trees lining one side of the road.

Turning left after a while you find yourself on Alex Svolou Street, a street we got to know quite well since we liked having lunch here.

The street is full of restaurants, cafes and bars.

Eu Mikro, looked particularly appealing and we kept saying we should come here, but we did not manage it somehow

I took this photograph early in the morning - all the other times we went by it was packed: mostly students as the University is near

most places have seating outside and are nicely decorated inside

Yok Balik is the reason why we kept coming back here. It has a lovely, lively atmosphere, and the food is exceptionally good - I became addicted.

The central library is housed here

gorgeous buildings

vibrant and buzzing

We ate at the Chriso Pagoni (Golden Peacock) twice - the food is very good, but not as good as Yok Balik

We sat outside and I was intrigued by this tree - the yellow band on the trunk is to repel insects that cause a disease - I know this because the same yellow bands are used on pine trees in our area in Greece

but it was the condition of the leaves that intrigued me - they have gone all dry and transparent.

It's a gorgeous street

Some intriguing posters

shops that sell vinyl

The remains of the Palace of Galerius (there will be a post on this)

the remains of the Palace and the Rotunda in one straight line

political graffiti to be found everywhere, just like the rest of Greece

lots of bookshops

gorgeous Art Deco building

some new apartment buildings as well

the whole street is dominated by cafes and bars

We got to a square and the end of the street, and facing us, the back of the church of Agia Sofia 

Majestic entrance

With its current structure dating from the 7th century, this is one of the oldest churches in the city still standing today. Its architecture is based on the church of Agia Sofia in Constantinople (Istanbul).

 

Very imposing, very grand.

The mosaic in the dome represents the Ascension with the inscription: 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?' The dome is ringed by the figures of all Twelve Apostles, Mary and two angels.

Various avenues lead on from this square

 but on that day we went down Agias Sofias Avenue

Queues outside the Pinochio shop

This is a wide, pedestrian avenue where people shop, wander, window-shop or just relax

Eventually, it leads - where else? - to the sea .

Thessaloniki - the International Exhibition Centre

Thessaloniki has been hosting an international fair in the first week of September every year since 1926. It's held at the International Exhibition and Congress Centre, the entrance of which is pictured above.

The Centre is located in the YMCA Square, named like this

because of the iconic YMCA building which is situated across from the entrance to the fair.

The archaeological museum is situated here as well

On the other side of the square MOMus Contemporary is to be found.

The OTE Tower is 76 metres tall, and is located in the centre of the Exhibition Centre. It was designed by Alexandros Anastasiadis and it opened in 1970: the first black and white broadcasts on a Greek television network took place from the Tower in 1971. A revolving restaurant, The Skyline Cafe-Bar, operates on the top floors o that it allows people to get a panoramic view of the city - full rotation takes 60 minutes.

We visited, of course. In fact, we went twice. The first day was a Saturday and it was packed

it was difficult getting a window seat, but we managed it. You get a panoramic view of the city. Our first visity was on our second day so everything was new and exciting.

Our second visit was a weekday and only a few tables were occupied. It was the last day of our visit, we by then, we knew all the landmarks and we were able to identify most of what we saw, so that was very exciting too.

The Archaeological Museum

The sea, the promenade and one of the many green spaces by the promenade

The YMCA building and YMCA Square

the city and the church of Agios Dimitrios dominating the whole

Upper Town, the city walls and Eptapyrgio on top of the hill

zooming in

The International Exhibition Centre - it consists of 17 pavillions, and we can see no. 12 here

The University 

and we are back to where we started from.