The City Walls

The two walls of Thessaloniki were built to be part of the defensive structures against invaders. For a long time, there was a ditch behind the walls, filled with sea water and wooden bridges that were destroyed during the war years. The two walls were divided into east and west walls, forming a quadrilateral with two right angles to the sea sides and two parallel (the coastal wall and the wall of the Acropolis hill). For the most part there was, outwardly, another wall (the outside walls or partitions or outside “periteichon” outwork so called by the Byzantines). They were built with stones and mortar, along with repeated rows of wide horizontal bands of brick that increase the strength and polish their surfaces. In some other parts of the zones with bricks, there are recurring blind brick arches, and elsewhere throughout the construction there is brickwork. In some cases these are decorated with crosses, suns and tourbillions. During the Turkish occupation, a part of the walls were built with ordinary bricks. At some points, a small portion of the wall is saved at 4-6 meters from the main wall, and these are called ramparts. The outwork was useful to the beleaguered as it was difficult to attack with siege engines since in front of it there was a water ditch. So include the city walls in your exploration of Thessaloniki, which you can visit with a low cost rental car and you will surely feel captivated by the beauty and the imposing presence of the walls.

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