Castles of Thessaloniki #1335

Description

The White Tower, the Eptapyrgion, and the Vardari Fortress—key parts of Thessaloniki's fortifications—are featured separately on this site as individual castles.

Thessaloniki was founded in 316 BC by Kassandros, who named the city after his wife, Thessaloniki, the sister of Alexander the Great.

The city has been fortified since its foundation, but the current walls date from the early Byzantine period, around the mid-5th century, and incorporate sections of an earlier wall from the late 3rd century. These walls are built in the typical late Roman style, using alternating layers of ashlar masonry and bands of brick. The northern part of the walls connects to the city’s acropolis, which had its own separate fortifications, and within this area lies an additional citadel, the Eptapyrgion.

Extensive rebuilding of the walls took place in the 5th century, likely in the 440s, under Ormisdas. Frequent barbarian raids in the 5th and 6th centuries (by Slavs, Avars, and others) made it necessary to continuously reinforce the walls. When the Saracens easily captured the city in 904 due to lax defense, the walls were further strengthened to better protect against future threats, particularly from the Bulgarians.