Geschiedenis
Hoe het ontstond
An Ottoman tower was raised here in the 15th century on the site of an earlier Byzantine fortification, anchoring the southeastern corner of the sea walls. It later served as a garrison and a prison, and after the mass executions carried out here in Ottoman times — including of rebellious Janissaries in 1826 — it earned the grim nickname 'Tower of Blood'. It shed that reputation in 1890, when a prisoner whitewashed it in exchange for his freedom and it became the 'White Tower'; after Thessaloniki passed to Greece in 1912, the walls that once joined it to the city were demolished to open up the seafront.
Wat Je Ziet
Bij een bezoek
A ramp spirals up past themed rooms on the city's Roman, Byzantine, Jewish, and modern eras, ending at a rooftop terrace with the best central view over the Thermaic Gulf and, on clear days, Mount Olympus.
Hoe te Bezoeken
A flat ten-minute walk along the promenade from Aristotelous Square. Step-free at street level; the upper floors are reached by the internal ramp and stairs.
Beste Tijd
Late afternoon for the light and the rooftop sunset view
Galerij
Bereikbaarheid
Goed om te Weten
Yes. The interior is a museum of Thessaloniki's history, and the ticket includes the rooftop viewing terrace.
It was whitewashed in 1890 by a prisoner in exchange for his freedom, and the name stuck even though the lime wash has long since worn back to honey-coloured stone.
General admission is €6 in summer and €3 in winter (reduced €3), and under-18s and EU under-25s go free, as does everyone on the Greek state free-admission days such as 28 October. A €15 combined three-day ticket also covers other central Thessaloniki monuments. The price includes the climb to the rooftop viewing terrace.
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