Greece - Korina Miller [214]
After a short period of Serbian rule under Tsar Stefan Dusan in the 14th century, Macedonia and the Balkans were overrun by the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman system distinguished subjects by religion, not race, something that would exacerbate the strife of the late 19th century, when myriad guerrilla movements arose to fight the Turks, pledging to annex Macedonia for Greece, Bulgaria or even an independent ‘Macedonia for the Macedonians’; for a time in the very early 20th century, great powers such as Britain favoured the latter solution.
Ottoman atrocities against Macedonia’s Christian populations caused the European great powers to enact a rather toothless monitoring mission (called the Mürzsteg Reform Programme, from 1902 to 1908), but it failed to stop the bloodshed. In the First Balkan War of 1912, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia united to drive the Turks from Macedonia; however, the Bulgarians were unhappy with their share of the spoils, and declared war on their former allies in 1913 (the Second Balkan War). However, Bulgaria’s defeat then resulted in the loss of its allotted portions of eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and thus, access to the Aegean. Greece emerged as the big winner, taking half of geographical Macedonia, with Serbia taking 38%. Bulgaria was left with just 13%, while newly-created Albania received a sliver of Macedonia around Ohrid and Prespa lakes.
In 1923, with the massive Greek-Turkish population exchanges, the Athens government chose to resettle many Anatolian Greek refugees in Macedonia, to the disadvantage of the indigenous (non-Greek) populations. A vigorous program for assimilating non-Greeks was already underway, primarily through the levers of education and the Church. In WWII, Greece was occupied by the Nazis, who deported and killed most of Macedonia’s very significant Sephardic Jewish population. Immediately after, during the Greek Civil War (1944–49), authorities targeted ‘communist supporters’ – all too often, a convenient label for ethnic minorities – leading to the expulsion of thousands of (Slavic) Macedonians, many of them children, as well as Bulgarians and others. Greek Macedonia today thus bears little similarity to what it was even 60 years ago.
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THESSALONIKI ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ
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Thessaloniki (thess-ah-lo-nee-kih) is at once the hippest, most cultured and most expensive place to sleep and eat in northern Greece – though budget options are thankfully starting to emerge. As Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki (also called Salonica) offers the best nightlife, shopping, fine dining and cultural events outside of Athens, but with a friendlier, less hectic vibe. And, being northern Greece’s central transport hub, Thessaloniki also has convenient connections within the region and with neighbouring countries.
As with Athens, the enduring symbols of a glorious history are visible here. These include the White Tower, watching over the cafe-lined waterfront, erstwhile Ottoman hammams (Turkish baths)-turned-art-galleries, and lengthy Byzantine walls culminating at the Ano Poli (Upper Town), an enchanting neighbourhood of colourful old houses, where little Byzantine churches peek from winding alleyways. Thessaloniki’s grand-scale structures include the 5th-century Church of Agios Dimitrios, the enormous Roman Rotunda, and Roman Emperor Galerius’ 3rd-century palace ruins.
Thessaloniki is also a major college town, fleshed out by some 80,000 university students who enliven the city’s innumerable cafes, restaurants and bars. Thessaloniki thus remains lively during the long months when the more touristy parts of Greece hibernate. And, though one could easily spend weeks here, Thessaloniki and its sites are compact enough for travellers with only a few days to spare.
History
Thessaloniki was named in honour of a woman who herself had been named to commemorate a military victory, that of her father, Philip II, over a tribe in Thessaly with the help of crack Thessalian