"And may she be named Thessaloniki", said King Philip of his first daughter. Later, Kassandros, Alexander the Great's general, who succeeded him on the throne, married the young princess and gave her name to the city he founded (316-315 BC). From here, St. Paul, the Apostle of the Nations, spread the Word of Christianity (AD 50). And the Roman emperor, Galerius, made the city his headquarters (AD 300). Here, too, Demetrios, a Roman officer, was martyred, thus becoming Thessaloniki’s patron saint (303). The wealth and glory of Byzantium followed. Along with a succession of enemies (Slavs, Avars, Saracens, Normans, Catalans and Turks), but each time, after each invasion, Thessaloniki survived, clad in the Byzantine and ancient garb for which she was predestined. Her beauty was trumpeted far and wide.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

• THE PALACE OF GALERIUS (300 A.D.) at Navarino Square. The palace of Galerius was built on a massive scale using primarily local materials, perhaps over the destruction layer of a fire that cleared an area for the complex. Expansive areas of mosaic are preserved in several areas. A structure linked to the palace and called the Octagonal Room is at the southwest end of the excavated area; this was thought at one point to be a mausoleum, but may have actually been a monumental entryway to the palace. Beside the palace to the northeast was a Hippodrome.
 
• ROMAN MARKET AND THEATRE: Ruins standing at the Law Court Square (Dikastiria).
 
• ROMAN BATHS: North of the church of Agios Dimitrios.
 
• THE NYMPHAION: An elegant monopteral, circular building.
 
• VERGINA: the ancient site of Aigai and the first capital of Macedonia has extensive ruins including the tomb of Phillip and the summer palace of King Antigonas Gonata.

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