Exploring Ancient and Not-So-Ancient History in Northern Greece

By Marni Patterson

When most people go to Greece, they visit Athens to see the Acropolis, Katakalon to see the ancient site of Olympia and popular islands like Mykonos and Santorini.

Most don’t include places like Veria, Vergina, and Thessaloniki on their itinerary. They would if they knew what they were missing.

My travels through Northern Greece took me on an odyssey spanning centuries of history. I walked in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, stood where Paul the Apostle preached the word of Jesus Christ, and saw monasteries that date back hundreds of years.

In Thessaloniki, I saw monuments to heroes of the Greek Revolution and World War I heroes and poignant vestiges of Nazi atrocities during World War II.

Veria, Greece’s “Cradle of Christianity”

I left Thessaloniki for Veria–about an hour’s drive west. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, Veria was the third most important city in the Byzantine Empire, after Constantinople and Thessaloniki, and is often referred to as the “cradle of Christianity” in Greece. The Apostle Paul visited Veria in 50 AD and 57 AD when he traveled from Asia Minor to Greece. He wasn’t well received in Thessaloniki, but Veria residents were very receptive to his teachings about Christianity.

After seeing the Tribune of Apostle Paul, where Paul preached the teachings of Jesus Christ, I wished I could go back in time and tell my former Sunday teachers what it felt like to see one of the places we discussed in class.

Vergina, The Original Capital of Macedonia

The tiny town of Vergina (Aigai in ancient times) is a few miles east of Veria. It’s the original capital of Macedonia, where Philip II (Phillip of Macedonia) ruled and where Alexander the Great, his son, became king when he was just 20 years old.

I headed underground into the Royal Tombs of Aigai Museum to see the burial site of the family of Alexander the Great and various treasures archaeologists discovered in the tombs.

King Philip II’s (Philip of Macedonia) tomb is so enormous that you walk down a staircase to see it. As I stood at the top of the stairs, several people were at the bottom, and his tomb was three times as tall as they were.

Burial vaults for rulers and the royal family were large because they included furniture, dishes, silver, jewels and other items they’d need in the “afterlife.” King Philip’s tomb included a magnificent gold larnax containing his ashes and a gold oak crown. I wonder what it would have felt like to be the archeologist who discovered those two items!

Ouranoupolis, The “City of Heaven”

After a pleasant drive through hilly pine forests with occasional glimpses of the Aegean coast, I reached Ouranoupolis (“City of Heaven”) on the Halkidiki Peninsula.

The Halkidiki Peninsula consists of three “fingers” that jut into the Aegean Sea: Kassandra, Sithonia, and Mt. Athos (from west to east). Ouranoupolis is on the Mt Athos (easternmost) finger and is the launch point for boat tours of the monasteries on Mount Athos.

I boarded a Mount Athos Cruise and chatted with passengers from all over Europe as the boat sped to the remote west side of the Mt. Athos peninsula. The monasteries are perched on cliffs high above the Aegean Sea. Some date back as far as the ninth century. All are imposing, even from the deck of a boat offshore.

The only way to see them is by boat. Few men are allowed on Mt Athos, and no women are allowed for religious reasons. Boats are permitted as long as they stay 1,500 feet offshore.

The tour is in seven languages: Greek, English, Russian, French, German, Italian and Spanish. So, by the time the tour recording gets through all seven languages, the boat has reached the next monastery, and the process starts again.

Thessaloniki, Where Ancient And Modern History Meet

Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia. Guidebooks recommend visiting the White Tower, the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Byzantine Culture. I saw those but also went “off the beaten path” and discovered fascinating, little-known facts about the city.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Metro

Anyone who’s driven in Thessaloniki knows the city desperately needs a metro. Most locals leave their cars at home and rely on buses and taxis to get around, with good reason.

The city started building a metro in 2006, but it’s now 15 years later, and there’s still no metro. During construction, workers uncovered Byzantine and Roman ruins dating back to the 4th century and architectural remains of 15th- to 17th-century Hellenistic and Roman buildings.

Work stopped while archaeologists worked with the city officials to determine how to finish the metro while preserving the ruins. They decided to create an underground metro museum commemorating Thessaloniki’s history. The city will also have its long-awaited metro system by the end of 2024.

Salute to World War I Heroes

Many people pass a large park northwest of downtown without realizing it’s a World War I memorial. Over 20,000 soldiers from France, Serbia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Italy are buried in the Zeitenlik Allied Military Cemetery.
Many Serbs visit on or near Remembrance Day (November 11th), and a group was holding a memorial service on the day I visited.

I followed a group of them to the British section, where they paid their respects to Katherine M. Harley, a nurse with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. She established a motorized ambulance unit attached to the Royal Serbian Army that operated near the front line and was killed in action.

Serbian soldiers created her gravesite, and her tombstone reads (in English and Serbo-Croat), “On your tomb instead of flowers, the gratitude of the Serbs shall blossom there. For your wonderful acts, your name shall be known from generation to generation.”

Thessaloniki’s Painful World War II Legacy

At the beginning of World War II, Thessaloniki had a thriving Jewish community of around 65,000 people. In 1943, the Nazis herded them into ghettos and deported them to concentration and labor camps. Most of them never returned, and only 1,200 Jews live in the city today.

The Nazis also tried to wipe out all traces of Judaism throughout the city. Thessaloniki’s Jewish cemetery was established in the 15th century and grew to be one of the largest in Europe. The Nazis dismantled it, scattered the remains and used the headstones to construct buildings and repair roads.

Throughout the city, you can see blocks of stone with Hebrew writing embedded in buildings and walls, which were originally headstones in the Jewish Cemetery. Pictures of them are also in a gallery at the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki.

Where Have All The Muslims Gone?

Greece is almost exclusively Christian Orthodox, even though it was part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. An interesting exhibit in the War Museum of Thessaloniki explains why.

After World War I, attacks increased on Greek Orthodox Christians who lived in Turkey and Muslims who lived in Greece. In 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne established the former Ottoman Empire as the Republic of Turkey. It also mandated a forced relocation of all Muslims in Greece to Turkey and all Orthodox Christians in Turkey to Greece—a situation similar to the India-Pakistan partition in 1947. So, it’s common to meet Greeks whose parents or grandparents are from Turkey.

Before You Go to Northern Greece

People are surprised when I tell them I made much of this trip alone by car. I don’t speak Greek and can’t read the alphabet, much less the language.

It wasn’t a problem because highway signs are in Greek and English in and near cities. I found Google Maps to be remarkably accurate in cases where they aren’t. These are other helpful tips for driving in Greece and general travel advice.

• Be sure your smartphone plan includes service outside the U.S.

• Internet service can be unpredictable in small towns and rural areas. Ensure your plan includes unlimited data to avoid excessive roaming charges.

Bring a USB connector to use Google Maps on your smartphone in case your rental car doesn’t include GPS.

If you live in the U.S. and Canada, your auto insurance policy probably doesn’t provide coverage in Greece. Check your credit cards to see if any offer rental car insurance. If they don’t, purchase insurance from your rental car company.

You need an international driver’s license in Greece. Complete this application and take it to a AAA office, or apply for one online through the International Drivers Association.

Not all Greek hotels provide toiletries. One of my hotels only provided liquid soap in the shower. Bring small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body lotion and save the ones from other hotels.

There’s no Uber or Lyft in Greece, but taxis are inexpensive. Taxi drivers speak limited English, even in large cities. Ask the concierge or desk clerk at your hotel to write the name and address of your destination and the name and address of your hotel in Greek to ensure you arrive at the right destination and can return to your hotel.

Robert Frost said, “I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.” Visiting Northern Greece will be the trip of a lifetime wherever you go.

If you follow the road less taken, your reward will be seeing things that few visitors experience.

Find out more about Northern Greece on Misfit Wanders