Thessaloniki Day 2

Full day today! Bus tour of the city. First stop The White Tower that is a famous landmark. So named when it was white-washed in 1891. It had been a former prison known as the Tower of Blood.   Also the statue of Alexander the Great. The shields and spears are actual size although originals were made of wood. The Relief is of the famous battle between Alexander the Great and the King of Persia.

 

Here is our whole tour group and then the 11 of us (the Goddesses). 

We then learned that there is not just One Acropolis - an acropolis is the highest vantage point in a city. So we visited the acropolis of Thessaloniki.

Church of St. Demetrios.  (flashbacks to Rome...). Patron Saint of Thessaloniki. Demetrious was imprisoned below the church and died by a lance in 300 A.D. Christians eventually removed his body and buried it in one of the rooms. The church used to be a Roman bath. After the body was buried oils started leaking from the room and people made pilgrimages here believing that the oil would cure them from disease. 

Lots of important stuff about this church over the centuries. Our takeaway was that in 1917 two old women were cooking in their home nearby and started a fire. The fire spread destroying 40% of the city including this church. The fire burned for 32 hours making 70,000 people homeless and over 10,000 buildings were destroyed including this church. The church was rebuilt using both old and new materials and is now a 5-aisle Bascilica. Lesson: cooking is bad. 

The relics (bones and stuff) of St Demetrios are housed here. 

Relics....

Next...a walk through the market in the city. A little like a flea market but with raw meat and fish. 

 

Then: wine tasting!  We traveled to Gerovassiliou winery. Spectacular grounds and vineyard. Beautiful tasting areas, and a private tasting room for us in their Wine Museum. This first chandelier is all one piece of Murano glass.