Greece, Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is Greece's second-largest city and the capital of Macedonia, the nation's largest region. The Thessaloniki Urban Area extends around the Thermaic Gulf for approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) and comprises 16 municipalities. According to the 2001 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a population of 363,987, while the metropolitan population approximates one million inhabitants.

History

The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon (Μακεδονία), on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and twenty-six other local villages.

Thessaloniki developed rapidly and as early as the 2nd century BC the first walls were built, forming a large square.

Thessaloniki's acropolis, located in the northern hills, was built in 55 BC after Thracian raids in the city's outskirts, for security reasons.

During the First Balkan War, the Ottoman garrison surrendered Salonika to the Greek Army, on November 9 November [O.S. 27 October] 1912.This was a day after the feast of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrios, which has become the date customarily celebrated as the anniversary of the city's liberation.

Thessaloniki fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on April 22, 1941, and remained under German occupation until 30 October, 1944.

On 20 June 1978, the city was hit by a powerful earthquake, registering a moment magnitude of 6.5. The tremor caused considerable damage to several buildings and even to some of the city's Byzantine monuments; forty people were crushed to death when an entire apartment block collapsed in the central Hippodromio district.

Demographics

Although the population of the Municipality of Thessaloniki has declined in the last two censuses, the metropolitan area's population is still growing, as people are moving to the suburbs.Today approximately 1 million people live in the metropolitan area, making it the second largest metropolitan area in Greece after Athens.

Economy

Thessaloníki is a major port city and an industrial and commercial center. The city's industries centre around oil, steel, petrochemicals, textiles, machinery, flour, cement, pharmaceuticals, and liquor.

Culture

Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, in the heart of the city, the fair is organised by HELEXPO, which also organises themed exhibitions and congresses throughout the year.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival was launched in March 1999, inspired by Dimitri Elpides and benefiting from the local public's enthusiastic response, alongside extensive coverage in the local and international press. In 2005, 22,000 admissions were registered.

Sports

The first football team to be officially established in the city was Iraklis, in 1908. Aris was established in 1914. PAOK and Apollon Kalamarias were established in 1926 by Greek refugees from Constantinople, Pontus and Asia Minor in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War; today there are many more football teams in Thessaloniki, while the four major teams participate in the Super League Greece and on many occasions in the UEFA Cup.

Transportation

Public transport in Thessaloniki is currently served only by buses. The bus company operating in the city is called Organismos Astikon Sygkoinonion Thessalonikis.

The construction of the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway was under discussion for more than fifteen years, but construction began in 2006 and is scheduled to last around six and a half years, with a completion date envisaged for late 2012.

The city is a major railway hub for the Balkans, with direct connections to Sofia, Skopje, Belgrade, Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul, alongside Athens and other major destinations in Greece.

Air traffic to and from the city is served by Makedonia International Airport, for both international and domestic flights. The short length of the airport's two runways means that it does not support intercontinental flights, although there are plans for major expansion.