The MGS Forum
Places to visit => Places to visit => Topic started by: Hilary on June 01, 2017, 11:05:56 AM
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Pine trees and the White Tower
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Part of the Western Wall and Ailanthus altissima Tree of Heaven
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The church of Agioi Apostoloi, Holy Apostles,
Pomegranate Punica granatum
Fig Ficus carica
and Bay Laurus nobilis
The church is known for its mosaics of 1315.
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With those walls clearly visible, there's a splendidly bloodthirsty silver platter in the Benaki Museum, Athens, purporting to show St Demetrios saving the city by killing the Bulgarian pagan czar Kaloyan and thus lifting the siege
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I like his expression
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Municipal planting near the church of Agioi Apostoloi, Holy Apostles
Hypericum and Phlomis
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Hedera, Robinia pseudoacacia and a language lesson.
Near the church of Agios Dimitrios, Saint Demetrius
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This photo was taken for all of you concerned with
URBAN GREEN INFRASRTUCTURE
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The last time we were in Thessaloniki was in 2008 and I don't think the Forum, and its underground Museum, was open to visitors then.
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The Roman Forum dating from the late 1st century A.D.
It looks as if, after the excavations finished, the surrounding banks were covered with plants to stabilize the earth.
Some plants were more successful than others
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The Odeon
Now used for open air events.
The wide open space of the Forum has been sown with grass. Solanum elaeagnifolium, Germanos has invaded this area
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The underground Stoa
The entrance to the Stoa and some dandelion like plants
The Stoa entirely plant free
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INFRASTRUCTURE
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The Rotunda
On the way up to the Rotunda from the Arch of Galerius
Pink roses in the Rotunda garden
The Ablution fountain outside the door of the Rotunda
Note the thick trunk of a Jasmine plant covering the fountain.
The Rotunda was damaged in the 1978 earthquake. This was the first time I have been there since the scaffolding was taken away. Apart from the building itself the point of visiting the Rotunda was to see the mosaics again.
Here is a short film all about the Rotunda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8aGl9g0MdY
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To continue my Byzantine mosaic trail round Thessaloniki I went to the church of Acheiropoietos. This is one of my favourite churches as it is so light and airy. The mosaics are in the arches between the columns and there is a very informative notice on the wall.
The mosaics depict natural and symbolic designs. I did not manage to get a good photo; this is a scan from an old leaflet
In the yard there was a long hedge of Trachelospermum jasminoides at its best.
There was also a structure for two bells which was covered with greenery, ivy, I think.
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I must look for this church next time I'm in Thessaloniki.
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http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/456
The UNESCO website about the churches of Thessaloniki with a photo of Acheiropoietos from an angle I have never seen.
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Hilary, thank you for the Thessaloniki video. I am more informed now. We have never been there but my fellow village choir members were in Thessaloniki about 2 weeks ago and took part in a musical festival. They were telling me how beautiful the place is and the welcoming people they met. Some of them have booked holidays for this summer so they can explore the flora of the place. By the way, I apologise for my 'idiot' husband and his 'clues'. Imagine, I have had to put up with his 'thinking' for 49 years and English is my second language.
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I highly recommend a visit to Thessaloniki, although the city is not exactly famous for its parks or gardens, there a very few. But you should take a walk along the seafront, which has been redeveloped recently, from the White Tower to the concert hall, the walk is 5 km long and consists of 13 different garden ‘rooms’.
There is also a tiny botanic garden in Stavroupolis, I haven’t seen it myself, but I’ll try to do so soon.
The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has a Forest Botanic Garden a few kilometres east of the city. According to their web site (https://www.auth.gr/en/units/8162), it covers an area of about 6.2 hectares with trees and shrubs that grow in Greece, as well as a small number of foreign plant species which are suitable for reforestation and are also grown for aesthetic purposes. As far as I can see it’s not open to the public.
Although there are not many green lungs in the city, Thessaloniki has its own suburban forest v called Sheik Sou, north of the city.
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JTh thanks fr the extra information about Thessaloniki and the botanic gardens.
We had intended visiting this botanic gardens which I suppose is the one you mention as being near Stavroupolis, unfortunately neither the time nor the weather helped
https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0020/
Lakes Kerkini and Doirani were also on our list.
We will just have to go up north again
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Aghia Sophia
No photographic evidence of the environs of this church. A man was energetically trying to dig up the roots of a Canary Island Palm which is all too depressing to record.
I first visited this church in 1967 and I quote from the Fodor guide book I had with me at the time.
Besides the Madonna and Child in the apse, the great work is the Ascension in the cupola, showing Our Lord seated on a rainbow, surrounded by a ring of angels and apostles alternating decoratively with olive trees.
I just love the apostles in their white Roman togas and the Olive trees.
No photo but scans from a very old leaflet.
It would be a good idea to take binoculars to all these churches as the mosaics are usually very high up.
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We tried to visit The Balkan Botanic Garden in the Kroussia Mountains (Kilkis region) a few years ago, but arrived just a ferw minutes after closing time, the announced schedules were not updated. Lake Kerkini is definitely worth seeing, especially in spring when it is full of migrating birds.
Yes, there are so many beautiful mosaics in Thessaloniki; by the way, there is a book called The Rotunda in Thessaloniki and Its Mosaics
by Bente Kiilerich (Author), Hjalmar Torp (Author), whic was published in English and Greek last year.
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Plants in Thessaloniki in the rain near
The Museum of Byzantine Culture and
The New Town Hall
An Olive tree
A Cypress tree
Santolina and Hypericum
Oleander and Santolina rosmarinifolia
Santolina rosmarinifolia , identified by the MGS Forum
Smoke trees
Smoke tree, wet
Smoke tree, drenched
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Municipal planting between the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center.
The OTE Tower presiding over all.
It was raining so much I didn't see the huge SAW in the garden of the Museum
Pansies, in the rain and Perovskia, identified by this Forum
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On our last day in Thessaloniki we took a taxi to the Ano Poli, upper city, to visit the church of Osios David, Monastery of Latomou to see its mosaic.
Although the church is one of the 15 monuments of Thessaloniki listed as UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES there is no helpful notice to explain the details of the mosaic and I had not done my homework. However, the young man, who was looking after the church, gave us an explanation of all the symbols depicted in the mosaic, the Dream of Ezekiel, the symbol of Saint Mark, a lion, the symbol of Saint Luke an ox and a beardless Christ sitting on a rainbow.
In GREEK MOSAICS OF THE BYZANTINE PERIOD, a book issued in 1964 by FONTANA UNESCO ART BOOKS, I found this photo of part of the mosaic. I like that Ezekiel is standing among some, what looks like, grass and has a river at his feet.
I quote from the book
“The reproductions show us, first, two important details from one of the loveliest mosaics of the earliest period, a composition which occupies the apse of a modest chapel known as Hosios David, or Christ Latomos, and situated on the heights of Thessaloniki.This mosaic, which dates from the fifth century, depicts Christ surrounded by the attributes of the Evangelists and encircled by a large aureole of light, appearing in a vision to two prophets. One of them is seated placidly in the midst of a rocky landscape , recording the miracle in a book ,while the other [Ezekiel] is standing before the theophany with both hands raised in an attitude of fear , gazing with awe at the miraculous apparition”
Some of the history of this small church can be read here,
ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Hosios_David
There are a few plants in pots in the small church yard and a very handy Fig Tree, just ready for a photo opportunity.
A good view is to be had over the red tiled houses of the Ano Poli down to the grey buildings of central Thessaloniki and on to the waters of the Thermaikos Gulf
The new seafront walk, mentioned by Jorun on June 7th in this thread, can be seen as a green area on the left of the photo and now we know the pink building at the end of the new walk, hardly visible in the photo, is the Thessaloniki Concert Hall.
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The Ano Poli of Thessaloniki is encircled by the old walls.
Here is the North Wall.
Apparently this area had once housed refugees from the Asia Minor catastrophe and when they were rehoused, many years later this area was cleared and is now partly planted
Some poppies in the wild area and olive trees among grass nearer the tower.
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There are steps with useful hand rails and gently sloping roads to help you descend from the Ano Polis to Central Thessaloniki, a good bus service too if you don't have the time. Quite by accident we came across the Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos and its quiet garden.
I tried to get a photo of a tortoise which seemed to be in a great hurry another was sleeping in the shade of some plants.
There was a small collection of containers and flowers near the church door.
Of course there was also the inevitable rose bush in this quiet area and thankfully benches to sit on,
Here I learned if you come across a church with its door open go in before it closes.
Apparently this is another church on the UNESCO list, information can be found here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Nicholas_Orphanos
I see there are no mosaics so not on my list
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An olive tree and some poppies in front of the Thessaloniki City Hall, in May
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Ginko biloba , one of a row, on a stretch of Manoli Andronikou road next to the Archaeological Museum Thessaloniki, in May
Not to mention the ubiquitous Oenethera speciosa
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Agia Sophia, Thessaloniki
Roses in bloom in front of the church
The wonderful mosaics inside the church were in darkness.
I am so pleased to have a book about Byzantine mosaics where I can see the details
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CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, THESSALONIKI
A dark red Oleander in the foreground and the 14th century church behind.
Again, the famous mosaics are hardly visible in the darkness
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THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, THESSALONIKI
The Pomegranate tree in the church yard was in full flower in May
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PLANTING NEAR THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, THESSALONIKI
A row of roses and grass
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THE CHURCH OF SAINT GEORGE, THE ROTONDA
More beautiful Byzantine mosaics very high up in this huge building.
The photos were taken in the green area around the Rotonda, a hedge of red plants, pink roses and a tree giving cool deep shade
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The Basilica of Acheiropoietos
As beautiful, light and cool as ever. I think this is my favourite church in Thessaloniki. The remaining Byzantine mosaics are under the arches and although, my photos do not do them justice I do enjoy just sitting and looking at the floral mosaics
This time I had with me a very good book which explained in detail the architectural points of this building and this time I noticed the capitals with their two rows of acanthus leaves. Apparently, they were made in the 5th C in a Constantinopolitan workshop
I would recommend this book, which is printed in several languages to anyone intending visiting Thessaloniki. They had run out of the English version where I bought mine
The railings on the side of the steps leading up to street level were covered with Trachelospermum jasminoides, Confederate jasmine
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MUNICIPAL PLANTING IN THESSALONIKI IN MAY
I liked the white and purple pansies
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Saint Gregory Palamas, Metropolitan Cathedral, Thessaloniki
Planters are scattered in the yard and the surrounding flower beds are filled with various flowers and bushes.
I like the two pots containing dianthus sitting on top of the stump of what had been a palm tree and generally all the flowers which someone had planted to brighten the church yard
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The YAHUDI HAMAM, a 16th C Ottoman-era Bath in Thessaloniki
This building is now closed and looks rather dilapidated with all the wild plants growing on the walls.
We remembered eating a meal inside this building during our visit to Thessaloniki in January 1998.
I quote from a newsletter I wrote to my parents
“ We did sample as many eating places as we could, one in a tiny, claustrophobic, disused Turkish baths.”
Thessaloniki was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1997 and the various exhibitions were still in place in January 1998
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A SHORT WALK BY THE SEA IN THESSALONIKI
We saw this art work by Kostis Georgiou named Meteoron on a traffic island in front of the City Hall
Then this old olive tree donated by the Diamandis Masoutis family to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their company