GO CITYBREAK:Looking for an unusual weekend break? Thessaloníki has a lively cultural scene, vibrant street life and a reputation as a culinary capital, writes Deirdre McQuillan
CALLED AFTER a woman, Greece's majestic second city has an allure and a laid-back style distinctively its own.
Although Athens and the Acropolis hog the visitor routes, Thessaloníki, by contrast, is less crowded, more manageable, full of antiquity and relatively free of crime and tourist tat. Its northerly location on the Thermaic Gulf, with its famous 14th-century White Tower and Mount Olympus in the distance, is glorious on every visit. Be it summer or winter, its charm bewitches.
Sitting in one of the cafes on the lovely Katouni Square recently, my friend Yiorgos Bakirtzis summed up the cities succinctly. "In Athens they live to work. Here in Thessaloníki we work to live. That is the difference."
It certainly shows in the lively cultural scene and vibrant street life. It's Greece's biggest university city, with 50,000 students. There are film, song and dance festivals, book fairs and art biennales.
The cuisine is justly celebrated. The city's tavernas and restaurants make Thessaloníki the culinary capital of the country and a Mecca for gastronomes. There are great book shops and wonderful markets. And don't get me going on the distracting number of shoe shops, the best in Europe.
Locals love rambling - so many sofas and armchairs line the pavements and open-air cafe bars on the seafront and on Aristotelous Square that it's like one vast metropolitan drawing room. Even the cats don't lurk around. Like everybody else, they lounge. It's that sort of place.
According to Darren Allen, editor of Thessaloniki Pressmagazine, who has lived in the city for more than 15 years, "Greeks know a hell of a lot about their history. Every Greek I have ever met can tell you everything about it."
Thessaloníki's past is long, illustrious and turbulent. The city was founded around 315 BC by Cassander, king of Macedonia, who called it after his wife, a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It was the Byzantine city par excellence and, under long Ottoman rule, remained an important trading port and commercial centre right up to the 19th century.
As a Balkan capital it was extraordinarily diverse, with a population of multilingual metropolitan Christians, Muslims and Jews living amid minarets, Byzantine churches and Roman ruins.
With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and ensuing Balkan Wars, the early years of the 20th century were traumatic. In August 1917 the lower city went up in flames, leaving 70,000 homeless.
In the terrible "exchange of populations" of 1923 between Greece and Turkey, the first example of what is now called ethnic cleansing, more than 30,000 Muslims were forced to leave the city and 100,000 Christian refugees from Asia Minor arrived to take their place.
Yiorgios's orphaned grandfather was just one of the many refugees, arriving at the age of eight from Smyrna (now Izmir) with three younger siblings, all barefooted and not speaking a word of Greek. Worse was to come. Under the Nazi occupation from 1941, more than 90 per cent of the city's Jews - about 45,000 people - were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz.
Today, vestiges of the past are evident in any walk around the city centre, from the unearthed Roman agora and breathtaking Arch of Galerius to the wonderful Byzantine churches with world-famous mosaics. My favourite spots include the now hip Ladadika area, formerly the Jewish quarter, full of cafes and restaurants, and the bustling Modiano Market, where the vegetables and fruits are displayed like jewellery.
Another welcome feature is the tree-lined streets: Constantinople acacias, mimosas and Judas trees form a shady, scented canopy on sunny days.
"Rejoice evermore," wrote St Paul to the Thessalonians in AD 51. "Hold fast to that which is good." These days, as any visitor will discover, its citizens are certainly taking his words to heart.
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go during a visit
5 places to stay
Capsis Bristol. 2 Oplopious and Karouni Street, Ladadika, 00-30-2310-506500, www.capsishotels.gr. A converted 19th-century Ottoman post office with high ceilings, stained-glass windows and marble floors. It's a laid-back upmarket boutique hotel, without hip pretensions, right in the centre of the old city, near the port. Francis Ford Coppola was a recent enthusiastic guest. Twenty rooms. Doubles from €160.
Hotel Tourist. Odos Mitropoleos 21, 00-30-2310-270501, www.touristhotel.gr. Well-appointed city-centre hotel in a listed 1925 building on a quiet street between the two main thoroughfares. Rates from €55 to €72 for singles, €75 to €95 for doubles.
City Hotel. 11 Komninon, 00-30-2310-269421, www.cityhotel.gr. A smart four-star "contemporary chic" hotel just off Tsimiski, the fashionable shopping street. This is a favourite of the business crowd. From €120 for doubles.
Minerva Premier. Egnatia 44, 00-30-2310-566440, www.minervapremier.gr. An excellent low-cost option in the heart of the markets area, in a historic building on a narrow street. From €70 to €105 for a single room; €90 to €115 for a double.
Daios Hotel. 59 Nikis Avenue, 00-30-2310-250200, www.daioshotels.com. The latest five-star luxury hotel, right on the seafront near the White Tower. From €168 for a single and €180 for doubles.
5 places to eat
Sotiris Adelakis. 1 Hapsa Street, 00-30-2310-544844. A tiny fish restaurant with a gigantic reputation, now recognised as one of the best in Greece. No written menu, no sign and tricky to find. Unforgettable food from a culinary virtuoso.
Tsinari Tavern. 72 Papadopoulos Street, Ano Poli district, 00-30-2310-284028. Traditional Greek taverna in the old town, with great food and atmosphere and good service.
Calendari. Katouni Street, opposite Capsis Bristol Hotel. Go there for the legendary chocolate soufflé.
Aristotelous. 8 Aristotelous, 00-30-2310-233195. A shady little ouzerie down a quiet alley with tables under trees, serving delicious meze, including the classic mussels in spicy tomato sauce with melted feta cheese.
Miami. 18 Thetidos, Nea Krini, 00-30-2310-447996. Pricey but beautiful fish restaurant overlooking the sea, with blue-and-white decor. An inexpensive taxi ride from the city centre.
5 places to go
Museum of Byzantine Culture. 2 Leof Stratou, 00-30- 2310-868570, www.mbc.gr. Award-winning new museum that gives a vivid sense of life before Christianity and how motifs and symbols common to both were interpreted in different ways.
The Rotunda. Egnatia Street, beside the Arch of Galerius. A great round building, a national monument, one of the most unusual in the city. Of Roman origin, it was a Byzantine church before being converted into a mosque in 1591. It was returned to Christian use in 1912. Gaze on the mosaics and be awed.
The Upper City and Vlatadon Monastery, Eptapyrgio Street. Enjoy a great view of the city and see the only active Byzantine monastery in Thessaloníki, with marvellous frescoes.
The Vergina Museum. Imathia prefecture, Macedonia, 00-30-23310-92347, www.museumsofmacedonia.gr. Take a trip to the most spectacular museum in Greece, 80km southwest of Thessaloníki, which houses the royal tombs of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. This was uncovered in 1978, revealing fabulous gold treasures and even the ashes of the great king.
Basilica of Agios Dimitrios. 83 Aghiou Dimitriou Street. The city's holiest place and the largest church in Greece, home of the beardless Jesus. Wonderful mosaics, paintings and a labyrinthine crypt.
Cool coffee break
Can't beat the wonderful Kitchen Bar (Warehouse B, Limani, 00-30-2310-528108), on the water's edge inside the port of Thessaloníki, with good food and jazz and lovely pistachio biscuits served with coffee or with frappe.
What to avoid
Watch out for the city's precarious pavements and potholes. A metro system that is being built has the city upside down. Everybody is complaining. Avoid driving in the city if possible.
Hot spot
Mylos(56 Andreou Georgiou, 00-30-2310-551836, www.mylos.gr), a club in a former flour mill past the port.
Shops
Don't miss Modiano roofed market for sheer atmosphere and local produce. Nearby on Saturday mornings is the Bit Bazaar flea market. Glou, on Tsimiski Street, has classic well-made menswear at inexpensive prices. Fenafresh is a funky fashion and design store. Shoe shops are ubiquitous, with colourful, well designed and well priced footwear. Among the city's wonderful bookshops is the outstanding family-owned Molho, on Tsimiski. The Cultural Foundation of the National Bank has just opened a lovely bookshop specialising in art, history and science books on the same street.
Go there: Malév (www.malev.com) flies daily from Dublin to Thessaloníki via Budapest. British Airways (www. britishairways.com) flies several times a week from Dublin and Cork via London Gatwick.