Thessaloniki, past its six main sights
A Roman mausoleum turned church turned mosque, a monastery with free-roaming peacocks and a five-century-old Ottoman market — three places the hour-by-hour plan passes but never explains.
- The Rotunda
- Emperor Galerius's mausoleum, around 306
- Vlatadon Monastery
- Founded in the mid-14th century
- Bezesteni
- An Ottoman market from around 1455–1459
The six main sights fill the hour-by-hour plan; these three places are what is left once that plan is done. Emperor Galerius built the Rotunda as a mausoleum, and it changed faith three times; Vlatadon Monastery in Ano Poli keeps free-roaming peacocks in its courtyard; Bezesteni is a five-century-old Ottoman market, still full of shops.
The Rotunda — a mausoleum that changed faith three times
Emperor Galerius built the Rotunda around 306, probably as his own mausoleum, part of the same complex as the nearby arch on Egnatia Street. It became a church, then a mosque — the minaret from that period still stands beside it — then a church again. The building is a cylinder with walls over six metres thick, built to carry its dome without internal columns.
Vlatadon Monastery — the only one still active
It was founded in the mid-14th century by the brothers Dorotheos and Markos Vlatis, students of Gregory Palamas, with support from Empress Anna Palaiologina Notara. It has been UNESCO-listed since 1988, alongside the city's other Byzantine monuments, and it is the only monastery in Thessaloniki still active today. Free-roaming peacocks live in its courtyard, and the terrace beside the church looks out over the whole gulf — the same view as from the Trigonion tower, a short climb further up.
Bezesteni — a market five centuries old
It was built for Sultan Mehmed II, around 1455–1459, as a covered textile market: six lead-covered domes, entrances on all four sides. Before the 1917 fire it held a hundred and thirteen shops; more were added around the outside afterwards. It still sells textiles and jewellery today, five centuries after it opened — few markets from that era anywhere have kept the same trade.
An order that makes sense
The Rotunda sits on the route through the lower town, by Navarinou Square — an add-on to the same walk that leads to the White Tower. Vlatadon Monastery is in Ano Poli, near the Heptapyrgion, so it naturally follows the climb through the upper town. Bezesteni sits between Kapani and Modiano, two streets from where you are already eating.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Why does the Rotunda have a minaret if it's a church?
Because for a time it was a mosque — the minaret is left over from that period, one of the few still standing in the city, and the building later became a church again.
How much does Vlatadon Monastery charge for entry?
Nothing — entry is free, including the courtyard with the peacocks.
What is sold at Bezesteni today?
Textiles and jewellery, the same trade the market opened with in the 15th century, just in shops added around the building after the 1917 fire.
Ready for Thessaloniki?
Where to next
What to eat in Thessaloniki
→What Thessaloniki eats and what it costs — and why the story that it is cheaper than Athens no longer holds.
Meteora · 151 km
→Monasteries built on rock pillars, as if floating
How well does Thessaloniki suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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