36 Best Sights in Thessaloniki and Central Macedonia, Greece

This art gallery has a distinctive icon collection from the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods, engravings that highlight the development of the craft of icon making in Greece, and a representative collection of modern Greek art. One section shows the work of three generations of Thessalonian artists, documenting modern art in the city from the turn of the 20th century to 1967. The museum collection, once housed in the nearby Villa Mordoh, is now in Casa Bianca, a large three-story art nouveaux villa.

The forum in the ancient agora, or market, dates back to the end of the 2nd century AD. The small amphitheater here, which hosted public celebrations and athletic and musical contests in ancient times, is now often the site of romantic concerts on balmy summer evenings. In 2011 a new museum opened here, with items from the Hellenic era through the 4th century AD.

Also known as Agios Giorgios, this brickwork edifice has become a layered monument to the city's rich history. Built in AD 306, it was probably intended as Roman emperor Galerius's mausoleum. When he died in Bulgaria, however, his successor refused to have the body brought back. Under Theodosius the Great, the Byzantines converted the Rotunda into a church dedicated to St. George, adding the impressive 4th-century AD mosaics of early saints. The Ottomans made it a mosque (the minaret still stands). It was restored after damage suffered in a 1978 earthquake and is still undergoing restoration at this writing. Once a month and on major holidays a liturgy is held here, as are occasional art exhibits and concerts.

This moody box of experimental and conceptual art, inside a remodeled warehouse on Thessaloniki's port, features a wide range of new-media art and video installations. It showcases some of the most exciting young Greek artists around and hosts cutting-edge, temporary exhibitions.

Ouranoupolis was settled by refugees from Asia Minor in 1922–23, when the Greek state expropriated the land from Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. The settlement, known as Prosforion, was until then occupied by farming monks, some of whom lived in the Byzantine Tower of Prosforion, its origins dating from the 12th century. The tower subsequently became the abode of Joice and Sydney Loch, a couple who worked with Thessaloniki's noted American Farm School to help the refugees develop their rug-weaving industry. The tower was burned, altered, and restored through the centuries. Now it's a breezy and open place to take in the view on a sweltering day. Take a lovely 6-km (4-mile) hike to the Zygou Monastery. Now in ruins, it can be explored in its entirety and is a fine example of a Byzantine monastery unique to Mt. Athos.

From this survivor of the city walls, you can see the city spread out below you in a graceful curve around the bay, from the suburbs in the east to the modern harbor in the west and, on a clear day, even Mount Olympus, rising near the coastline at the southwest reaches of the bay. There is, however, little of historic interest to see within the walls.