Description

Jewish Sights – Thessaloniki Private City Tour

Jewish Sights in Thessaloniki.
Explore the heritage of Thessaloniki’s major Jewish community through salvaged buildings and spots linked to the Holocaust

Old mansions belonging to prominent Jewish families, synagogues, shopping galleries, banks and other buildings that survived the Nazi German occupation, various demolitions carried out over the years, as well as the wear of time, stand to highlight the robust presence of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community, 96 percent of which perished as a result of the Holocaust. Though most surviving buildings are nowadays used for different purposes, they remain loaded with memories of the past.

Jewish Sights in Thessaloniki, Private City Tour Options

1. Walking Tour
2. Transportation with car or minivan

Jewish Sights – Thessaloniki Private City Tour | Description

Jewish Sights | Inclusions

• Pick up and drop off service from your hotel in Thessaloniki
• Transportation with car or minivan (if required)
• Professional chauffeur (English-speaking)
• Wifi on board (free)
• Bottle of water and coffee during the route (free)
• After the trip you will receive with email edited photos and a small video of your trip.

Jewish Sights | Exclusions

• Gratuities (optional)
• Guide who speaks your language
• Entrance fees
• Coffee, tea, refreshments, drinks or juice at local coffee place
• Lunch at the best, chosen, restaurant. “Value for Money”
  (We do not get a commission from any restaurant or coffee place. The selection always based on quality, service and price.)

Jewish Sights | Additional info

• There are many beautiful sights. You are encouraged to bring a camera along. But if you don’t… we have a camera for you!
• Weather will not affect the operation of the tours.
• However if canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions, you will be given the option of an alternative date
• Pick up from your hotel in Thessaloniki
• Departure time: 09:00 am (approx)
• Duration: 3 hours (approx)
• Return details: Returns to original Pick up point

What we can see…

1. Villa Allatini, 198 Vassilissis Olgas Avenue.
   Villa Allatini, designed by Italian architect Vitaliano Poselli, was built before 1888 as the country house of Charles Allatini, near the family mills. Along with the Modiano family, the Allatini family were among the most powerful business families in the city. This villa was the largest and most luxurious in the Exoches area. The building is located in the centre of a particularly large courtyard and stands out for its red brick construction. From 1909 to 1912, Sultan Abdul Hamid was exiled after the Young Turk Revolution and stayed at the villa. In 1926, it housed the newly founded University of Thessaloniki for just a year and was also used as a Military Hospital. From 1979, it has housed the services of the Ministry of the Interior, the Prefecture of Thessaloniki and, at present, the Region of Central Macedonia.
2. Casa Bianca, Junction of 214 Vassilissis Olgas Avenue & Th. Sofouli Street.
   (1912). In 1911, Dino Fernandez-Diaz, a Jew of Spanish origin, purchased the plot for his Swiss wife, Blanche. The Fernandez family was a key player in the business life of that era. The mansion was erected according to designs by Pierro Arrigoni. It came to be known as Casa Bianca from the name of his wife. Despite its eclectic temperament, it is mostly an Art Nouveau building and is one of the best known mansions of the city, both for its architecture and for a romantic story: the romance between the daughter of the family, Alina, and Second Lieutenant Alibertis, at a time when the difference between social classes and religious belief was a deterrent. It currently belongs to the Municipality and houses the Municipal Art Gallery.
   INFO: 180 Vas. Olgas Ave. & Them. Sofouli St, Wed.- Fri.: 10:00–17:00, Sat.: 11:00- 15:00
3. Villa Modiano, 84 Vassilissis Olgas Avenue. (1906).
   (1906). The building was constructed for Yako Modiano according to designs by Eli Modiano. It is one of the first buildings of the famous civil engineer after returning from Paris. The French influence is obvious, with dominant Art Nouveau elements. The building stands out for its trapezoid scaled roof. In 1913, the building was purchased by the Municipality and was offered to King Constantine as a palace. It was then used the residence of the governors of Macedonia, which is why it is known in the city as the Palaion Kyverneion (Old Government House). It later housed the Military Medical School. Since 1970, it has housed the Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace, which is open to the public with occasional and permanent exhibitions.
4. Agora Modiano, Junction of 24 Ermou Street, Vassileos Irakleiou Street & Komnenon Street. (Not available due to renovation work)
   (1922). The largest indoor market of Thessaloniki was built by architect Eli Modiano, a member of the renowned family that dominated the business life of the city. It is organised into arcades surrounded by lofts, in accordance with European standards of the time. At present, it remains the central marketplace of the city, with stalls selling meat, fish, spices and other wares, as well as tavernas and bars. Its condition urgently requires preservation work.
5. Stoa Saoul, Junction of Ermou Street, Venizelou Street & 15 Vassileos Irakleiou Street.
   A commercial arcade complex built by Saul Modiano, a renowned Jewish banker, connecting Vassileos Irakliou Street with Ermou Street and Venizelou Street and Ionos Dragoumi Street. The arcade housed the offices of architect Eli Modiano and the Modiano Mortgage Bank. It was constructed between 1867 and 1871, while a section of the arcade was destroyed in the fire of 1917. It was reconstructed in 1929, modifying the arcade to a Γ-shape. It serves as a historical document to the flourishing of the Modiano family, which began with Saul, a poor employee who became one of the richest men in the Ottoman Empire.
6. Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki
   Representing the historic center of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community, this museum serves to acquaint the public with the city’s Jewish historic and cultural heritage. Founded in 2001, it is housed amid a listed building dating back to 1906. In the early 20th century, it housed the Bank of Athens and the French-language Jewish newspaper “L’ Intependant”. The museum’s permanent exhibition features headstones from the old Jewish cemetery destroyed by the Nazis during the Greek Occupation, family and religious heirlooms, as well as old Jewish newspapers and costumes. The Holocaust Room, an emotionally charged space, includes items from the Nazi crematoriums, yellow stars worn by Jews in the ghettos, and the authentic metal press used to make these.
   INFO: 13 Agiou Mina St., Mon- Fri: 10:00-15:00, Wed: 10:00-15:00 and 17:00-20:00, Sun: 10:00-14:00, Sat: closed
7. Monastirioton Synagogue
   The official Thessaloniki synagogue, it is the city’s only synagogue that remains in its pre-Holocaust state. Unlike all of the city’s other old synagogues, the Monastirioton synagogue was not destroyed by Nazi German forces during the occupation of Greece as it was used as a warehouse by the Red Cross. It was built between 1925 and 1927, served as a religious center for Jewish refugees arriving from the city Monastiri – nowadays located in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and named Bitola – and was used as a ghetto center by Nazis forces in the densely populated Jewish Syggrou area before the eventual displacement of Jews in 1943.
   INFO: 35 Syggrou St, Mon- Fri: 10:00-15:00, Wed: 10:00-15:00 and 17:00-20:00, Sun: 10:00-14:00, Sat: closed
8. Jewish Holocaust Memorial
   The Jewish Holocaust Memorial, established in remembrance of the 50,000 Greek Jews exterminated at Nazi concentration camps is located at the southeastern corner of Eleftheria (Freedom) Square, nowadays transformed into a parking facility. Nazi forces had rounded up Jewish men here on July 11, 1942 for processing procedures prior to their deportation to concentration camps. The captives were tortured in broad daylight. The memorial’s monument, a bronze sculpture of a seven-branched menorah, a Jewish symbol, whose flames are wrapped around human bodies in demise, was created by Nandor Glid, a Serbian Professor of Applied Arts in Belgrade, and his son. It was unveiled in 1997 and, since 2006, has stood at the parking space opposite the port at the beginning of Nikis Avenue. The Thessaloniki Municipality plans to revamp the square to further highlight its association with the city’s Jewish heritage.
   INFO: Eleftherias Square, Nikis Ave. & El. Venizelou St.
9. Jewish Cemetery of Thessaloniki
   It was founded during the early Roman era and developed after the settlement of the Sephardic Jews in 1492 in Thessaloniki. Unfortunately, during the German Occupation and after the war, all the burial monuments were destroyed and today in its place is the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where in 2014 a relevant monument was built. Today the Jewish community uses the Stavroupoli cemetery.

Let’s explore more Jewish Sights together!

Summary

Service Type

Jewish Sights - Thessaloniki Private City Tour

Provider Name

Hello Thessaloniki,

Thessaloniki, Telephone No.+306907798620

Area

Thessaloniki

Description

9 Stops in Jewish Thessaloniki. Explore the heritage of Thessaloniki’s major Jewish community through salvaged buildings and spots linked to the Holocaust