Thessaloniki

Roman Forum

I left Bethlehem at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday via taxi to travel to Ben Gurion Airport (where security was not as brutal as usually is—only the jar of fruit that Rajya was sending to Swopnil got extra scrutiny) to Athens to Thessaloniki by 10:30 a.m. My hotel was brand new, named “Colors.” Very lovely and accommodating. The first thing I did was to take a long hot shower, letting the water stream onto my head and body, and stepping out into a warm bathroom with large towels and a hair dryer. I don’t usually care so much about such things, but after weeks of no hot water, sparing hot water, hot water with guilt, lukewarm or cold water with cold rooms, I hope I will always feel this grateful when enjoying such luxury as a hot shower on a cold day. 

Benizelu

Thermaic Gulf

Panageia Chalkeon Church

And it was a cold day. The wind was icy. I walked to a square with a big statue of a Greek leader named Benizelu to meet my friend Eleni, and from there we walked to see the Roman Forum, a Greek Orthodox monastery, the Thessaloniki marketplace, the waterfront, and then to a wonderful restaurant facing the water for a late lunch of salad and various small dishes such as feta cheese and zucchini croquets (the small dishes are called mezze in the Middle East, but here are mezedhes, though it is a common concept from the Turkish period).

Carnival Costume

Then we walked to the Ottoman symbol of Thessaloniki, the White Tower, and then past the museums that I would come back to later to another tower, the OTE telecommunications tower, which had a revolving restaurant at the top something like the Seattle space needle, only covered with cell phone antennas. There we drank hot chocolate and looked at the sights of the city. I also learned—because the servers were all in costume—that this is the beginning of a couple of weeks of Dionysian carnival, eating lots of meat from grills set out on the streets, drinking lots of beer, wearing various odd costumes, preceding the Lenten 40-day fast.

White Tower and Gulf

At the Archaeological Museum

Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece, and is in the far north of Greece, pretty much due west of Istanbul. It sits on the Thermaic Gulf of the Adriatic Sea and was (and continues to be) an important shipping port in the region of Macedonia, which was made wealthy in ancient times in part because there was so much gold mined nearby. The tomb of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II, was found 80 km. from Thessaloniki in the town of Vergina. The riches of that family were immense, and the exhibit is said to rival that of King Tut. Alexander’s own grave has never been found.

Ancient gold head wreath

Thessaloniki also has the distinction of having received the first letter the Apostle Paul wrote that is still in existence (1 Thessalonians, of course). Churches here occasionally date to the fourth century but mostly the sixth. Greek Orthodox churches are on almost every corner. Inside they are filled with color and light and sound. The city itself is very easy to get around in by bus, and even easier by walking. The people I met were incredibly friendly, even when we couldn’t communicate. I stopped at a little deli nearby my hotel to ask for a salad. The chef looked like Bill Murray. No English, but he was so sweet that I ended up eating there twice.

The city walls, Byzantine with Ottoman additions

Friday morning I walked the sidewalk along the sea, and visited the White Tower, which is a history museum, and the archaeological museum, which is filled with exhibits on ancient Macedonia. Then I went to the Theological Faculty to meet some friends of Eleni who were expecting me, and sat in the office of the homiletics professor Dimitra Koukoura, who it turns out knows my colleague Kathryn Johnson from ecumenical dialogues. As a Greek Orthodox woman, she can teach preaching but she can’t preach in a church. The first student I met was wearing the black robes, headdress, and beard of an Orthodox priest, but he turned out to be from Halifax, Canada. Others, both men and women, were from Armenia and Greece.

Dimitra’s sister is a tourguide. So after some phone calling, Dimitra said, “It’s your lucky day. My sister Eugenia is leading a group this afternoon. Get in a taxi, give this note to the driver, and go meet here in a cafeteria in the upper city by the Byzantine city walls." She had a group of school teachers from all over Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria) and was guiding them in English to two churches. The first was a small little fifth-century church called Osios David. We couldn’t take pictures inside unfortunately, but there was a rich mosaic that dated from the fifth century, which had been preserved because it had been covered up during the Ottoman centuries, when it was converted to a mosque. 

Macarena with candles for the dead

While we were there many women came in bringing bowls of what looked like white pudding with decorations, usually crosses, made with raisins in the top. Eugenia explained that these were “macarena” (in Italian, according to her, “macaroni”). I swear that is what she called them, though I couldn’t find it on the internet, where it was called instead “koliva.” They are made with boiled wheat kernels sweetened with honey or sugar, and are brought to the church, where the names of the dead are recited during a mass. By the time we got to the next church, the very large St. Demetrios Church, the service was going on and we heard one priest singing the Kyrie over and over while another recited the names of the dead. Everyone was huddled over a large table spread with bowls of the macarena, each with a lit candle in them.

Arch of Galerius, 3rd-4th century emperor, whose palace was here

That evening I had dinner with Eleni at her home, and met her husband George and her three beautiful children Angelos, Sophia, and Alice. Angelos is a tenor and wants to be a famous singer. Before he left for his lesson I was treated to his rendition of I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You. Beautiful, beautiful voice. I hope he fulfills his dreams.

The next morning I went to the Agia Sophia Church and sat for a long time listening to the chanting, which was incredibly beautiful. Then I walked to the Byzantine Museum and walked around for a little while before going to the train station to travel to Athens.