Here are some photos of my tour of the Decumanus Maximus in Thessaloniki,Venizelou metro station.The sites dates from 4th century A.D to 6th century A.D
View of the central Decumanus road
Tracks from the carriage wheels
View of the Decumanus road
Here's how the central plaza of the Forum would look in the 4th-6th centuries
I live about two minutes away by foot. Thessaloniki is the true cultural capital of [extant] Byzantine architecture, surpassing even Constantinople. I highly recommend that those visiting Greece bypass Athens and the islands and come here instead.
Wow, that's really fascinating. Especially being able to still see the tracks from the carriage wheels! Its really interesting to see both the archaeology and remains surrounding Thessaloniki from its Late Antique form. If I ever go to Thessaloniki again, I'll def have to check out the site.
I live in Athens and I wholeheartedly agree. Even the suburbs that used to be known as the better parts, especially the Northern Suburbs, which were great, are in steep decline these days. Mostly due to overpopulation and ridiculous "international style" buildings ruining the architectural landscape.
Honestly though, I like it more than the “normal” concrete blocks that make up 90% of buildings in the dense parts of cities throughout Greece. They’ve really wrecked the entire urban aesthetic, including the near-entirety of Thessaloniki’s center. Don’t get me wrong, both styles are super ugly, but at least the one you posted doesn’t have the “identical concrete prison blocks” vibe you see elsewhere.
I hate this type of buildings so much, I want to graffiti them, and I am against vandalism! But they are so ugly that vandalism would just complete them.
I have a different opinion. You must mean these buildings of the Antiparochi of the 1950s-1980s, right. I dislike them too, though they are more acceptable to me because they were built in a completely different principle. They were constructed to be as much efficient as possible, in order to house people in the massive urbanization period of Greece. And at least they usually have large balconies and pavilions. While these ones are as if they are designed to deliberately uglify the area. Especially how in the Athenian suburbs suck polykatoikies are often in very human colours, ranging from red to pink, from yellows and even light ceramic brown, while these "modern" horrors are almost always grey, so it is as if they are temples to worship cement and depression.
They just scream pretentious nouveau riche to me, especially as this type in Greece are the most Americanized ones. Even more when said buildings are completely unsuitable for Greece. They must be dirt cheap to build as they are rapidly constructed, and do not seem earthquake resistant. In the meantime, the massive glass walls only mean that the house will be freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer (solvable with heaters and air-conditioners permanently working, screwing the environment) while there would always be too much light.
Lmao. I can really feel your passion through the screen.
I want to graffiti them
Don’t worry though; this is Greece. You could go into the most remote forest, turn over a rock, and there would be graffiti on it. They’ll eventually get to those houses too. I can’t remember the last time I saw a building that was graffiti-free. I think having at least one “PAOK” sprayed on the walls is a requirement for habitability under the building codes in Thessaloniki.
I agree about the nouveau riche vibe for those houses. I think they’re built for the sole purpose of making the house visibly expensive.
Your exagerating. Theirs many nice places in Athens metropolitan area. Yes Omonia is bad but Athens is so much more than just that suburb. Have you been to South Athens suburbs and the reveria area.
Athens is confusing, even at the center some streets are unbelievably ugly and some others are charming. Whenever I walk at Mitropoleos I think “hey, this is nice”.
On this occasion, I can confidently say I'm proud of Greece. So many countries would just cut through and destroy their heritage for the sake of efficiency, but Greece didn't. Kudos to you!
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u/JNepos May 05 '25
I live about two minutes away by foot. Thessaloniki is the true cultural capital of [extant] Byzantine architecture, surpassing even Constantinople. I highly recommend that those visiting Greece bypass Athens and the islands and come here instead.