About Thessaloniki
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Thessaloniki, or Salonica is the second-largest city of Greece and the capital of Macedonia, the nation's largest region. It is honorarily called the Symprotevousa (lit. co-capital) of Greece, as it was once called the symbasilevousa (co-queen) of the Byzantine Empire.
The metropolitan area of Thessaloniki is home to over 1.000.000 inhabitants. It is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe; its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and its southeast European hinterland. It has been traditional for the country's Prime Minister to set out his government's policies for each coming year in a speech at the annual Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.
Thessaloniki retains several Ottoman and Jewish structures as well as a large number of Byzantine architectural monuments. The city has hosted an annual International Trade Fair, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greeks Living Abroad. In 1997, the city was nominated as the cultural capital of Europe.
The CITY
King Kassander of Macedonia founded the city and named it after his wife, sister of Alexander the Great about 315 BC.
During the last 20 centuries Thessaloniki is the biggest port in Northern Greece. It is magical city-symbol with a modern European face and a sense of a better life.
The city boasts rich cultural events, museus, archaeological monuments, unique churches, monuments that remind of its history and a tremendous nightlife that blends with its famous northern Greek cuisine that can be sampled at the numerous traditional and picturesque tavernas. Some 70 Km to the Southeast lies Halkidiki, a peninsula with some of the best beaches in Greece and home to the monastic society of Athos.
Thessaloniki is connected to major European destinations, Athens and many Greek islands by frequent air services. There are also summer ferry connections with Skiathos, Kavala, Paros, Naxos, Santorini, Crete, Lemnos, Chios and other Greek islands. Train and bus services will also travel you around numerous Greek and Balkan destinations.
Weather looking for pure science through the congress, meeting with old and making new friends, travelling in historic times and cultures or seeking eye-catchning landscapes and nature, Thessaloniki and its surroundings promises an unforgetable stay to remember in the years to come.
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