SUPERMENG MALAYA: KEMBARA BALKAN - GREECE | 12 THESSALONIKI : Thessaloniki

Awal pagi pagi aku dah tersedar dari lena. Sedap tidur walaupun sekejap je. Tak leh lama lama. Tak leh ikut mata.

Aku ada misi penting hari ni, iaitu mendapatkan tiket bas dari Thessaloniki ni ke destinasi seterusnya.

Lepas siap siap semua aku terus check out

Mamat reception hotel tu aku dah pesan carikan info pasal bas ke Skopje tapi dia tak dapat. Hampeh. So aku tawakal je la nanti pegi ke station bus harap harap ada tiket.

Sebab masih awal pagi, so aku plan nak gi merayau rayau sekitar Thessaloniki ni dulu. Memang asalnya tak de dalam plan aku tapi dah sampai ni, baik lah aku usha usha tengok kawasan. Lagipun aku terbaca bandar Thessaloniki ni sendiri adalah diwartakan sebagai UNESCO site.

Thessaloniki (520 km. north of Athens) is the second largest city of Greece and the most important centre of the area. Built near the sea (at the back of the Thermaïkos Gulf), it is a modern metropolis bearing the marks of its stormy history and its cosmopolitan character, which give it a special beauty and charm.

At about a million inhabitants, it is considered Greece's cultural capital, renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general and has recently been ranked by Lonely Planet as the world's fifth-best party city worldwide. More importantly, it is also a city with a continuous 3,000 year old history; preserving relics of its Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman past and of its formerly dominant Jewish population. Many of its Byzantine churches, and a whole district of the city in particular, are included in UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Berbekalkan peta yang orang hotel bagi

Dari penginapan aku jalan kaki menuju ke downtown area.

Awal pagi lagi

Sebuah bangunan lama yang dalam pemulihan

Bangunan bangunan

Seawalnya aku tuju ke kawasan Aristotelous Square - Vast, waterfront public square, designed by Ernest Hebrard & surrounded by mansions & cafes.

Aristotelous Square (Greek: Πλατεία Αριστοτέλους, IPA: [plaˈtia aristoˈtelus], Aristotle Square) is the main city square of Thessaloniki, Greece and is located on Nikis avenue (on the city's waterfront), in the city center. It was designed by French architect Ernest Hébrard in 1918, but most of the square was built in the 1950s. Many buildings surrounding the central square have since been renovated and its northern parts were largely restored in the 2000s.

The twelve buildings that make up Aristotelous Square have been listed buildings of the Hellenic Republic since 1950.

Cafes

Hotels

Pandangan

Aristotle Sq

Aristotle Statue

Aristotle Square

Thermaic Gulf

Waktu tu masih awal pagi, tak nampak banyak orang dan kenderaan berkeliaran lagi. Aku jalan kaki menyusuri tepi laut di mana terletaknya pelabuhan Thessaloniki.

Tak jauh dari situ ada Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki.

The Metropolis of Thessaloniki (Greek: Ιερά Μητρόπολις Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek Orthodox metropolitan see based in the city of Thessaloniki in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is part of the so-called "New Lands", belonging to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but being administered by the Church of Greece. The see traces its history to its foundation by the Apostle Paul in the 1st century. Since 2004, the incumbent metropolitan is Anthimos Rousas.

Usha dekat sikit

Church

Interior

Inside

Dari situ aku jalan semula di tepi Thermaic Gulf dan usha usha kawasan....

Port

White Tower

View of the seafront (Nikis/Victory avenue). Pagi ada yang dah start jogging

Port

Bangunan

View White Tower, landmark of Thessaloniki

White Tower

Statue by white tower

White Tower

Cari port lepak jap.

The White Tower of Thessaloniki (Greek: Λευκός Πύργος Lefkós Pýrgos; Turkish: Beyaz Kule; Ladino: Kuli Blanka) is a monument and museum on the waterfront of the city of Thessaloniki, capital of the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. The present tower replaced an old Byzantine fortification, known to have been mentioned around the 12th century, that the Ottoman Empire reconstructed to fortify the city's harbour sometime after Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki in 1430. The tower became a notorious prison and scene of mass executions during the period of Ottoman rule.

The White Tower was substantially remodeled and its exterior was whitewashed after Greece gained control of the city in 1912. It has been adopted as the symbol of the city.

Aku lepak kat park tepi tepi ni sebab kaki macam sakit. Kasut baru tu seakan akan makan kaki aku !

Pastu sambung jalan lagi....

Bangunan YWCA

Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center

OTE Tower

Fountain Square

City Center

Bulding

Eastern Orthodox Church

Square

Arch of Galerius

The Arch of Galerius aka Arch of Triumph of Galerius

Arch of Galerius, stands on what is now Egnatia & Dimitrios Gounari Street. The arch was built in 298 to 299 AD and dedicated in 303 AD to celebrate the victory of the tetrarch Galerius over the Sassanid Persians at the Battle of Satala and capture[citation needed] of their capital Ctesiphon in 298.[2] The structure was an octopylon (eight-pillared gateway) forming a triple arch that was built of a rubble masonry core faced first with brick and then with marble panels with sculptural relief.

The central arched opening was 9.7 m wide and 12.5 m high, and the secondary openings on other side were 4.8 m wide and 6.5 m high. The central arch spanned the portion of the Via Egnatia (primary Roman road from Dyrrhacium to Byzantium) that passed through the city as a Decumanus (east-west major street). A road connecting the Rotunda (125m northeast) with the Palace complex (235m southwest) passed through the arch along its long axis.

Usha kawasan sekitar Arch of Triumph of Galerius........

Rotunda UNESCO site - started life as a Roman temple of Zeus, built by ceasar Galerius, and is almost as old as the Pantheon in Rome.

The altar view of the Rotunda of Galerius, initially a Mausoleum of Roman Emperor Galerius, later a Christian church, and then a mosque. It is now the Church of the Rotunda and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Jalan jalan lagi ikut kaki...........

The Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia (Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, Holy Wisdom) in Thessaloniki, Greece, is one of the oldest churches in that city still standing today.

It is one of several monuments in Thessaloniki included as a World Heritage Site on the UNESCO list.

Interior

Entrance

Dome

Gate

Area kawasan Hagia Sophia di Thessaloniki

Masa tu tengok jam dah melepasi pukul 8 pagi. Cepat cepat balik ke jalan besar untuk ambik bas ke station bus Thessaloniki.

Sebenarnya banyak lagi tempat tempat bersejarah yang ada di Thessaloniki ni tapi aku memang tak sempat nak explore. Kalau berkesempatan boleh usha. Bandar dia tak besar dan banyak tarikan juga.

Usha gegambar sikit lagi....

Naik bas tak sampai 20 minit, sampai ke station bus.

Bus station

Usha tiket

Dan malangnya bas ke Skopje bergerak jam 8 pagi ! Memang aku dah missed. Next bus pukul 4 petang. Tak daya lah aku nak menunggu. Bosan kang tak tau nak buat apa.

Duduk depan kaunter tiket tu menimbal balik mana aku nak pegi sebenarnya ni?

Lari dari plan asal dan sebab tiket ke Sofia je ada pukul 9 pagi nanti.

Belasah je lah. Sofia.... here I come !