The West of the East The East of the West

Thessaloniki is a classical city,a Hellenistic city,a Roman city,a Byzantine city,a Balkan city,a city of the Orient,a city of Europe,a city with an outstanding presence through time.

The first recognized town which developed on the shores of the Thermaikos Gulf,was neolithic.This was the pre-history of Thessaloniki, a city which was named after the sister of Alexander of Macedonia. In its long history through the centuries,the city,which is today the capital of the Greek North,has distinguished itself as the foundation of the hellenistic world,as the royal seat of the Roman Empire,as the joint-reigning capital of Byzantium and,in more recent years,as the metropolitan centre for the Balkans.

Thessaloniki,a city established by Cassander,embodies into its own culture all kinds of religions,customs and traditions.Conqueror or conquered,it remained hospitable to all people who chose it as their home,for the quality of its land,its relationship with water and the roads which join it with the other worlds. The succession of cultures is depicted on the golden sepulchre of King Philip of Macedonia,the palatial edifices of the Emperor Galerius,on Egnatia Way and on the domes of the churches,on the mosaics and murals, the multiplicity of the fortifications,the houses of the Upper City,the Ottoman temples and the Art Deco architecture of the buildings of the city.

The churches,the marketplace,the palaces,the hippodrome,the basilicas, the churches,the bath-houses and the temples.Hellenistic traces,Roman traces,Ottoman traces... Traces of a city that has excelled.

Thessaloniki

a city at the crossroads of East and West,at the outlet of the North into the South,a cosmopolitan city in the East of Europe.

For centuries now,the West had been discovering the East and the East is crowned in the West.The exodus of the Macedonians to the East acquainted Thessaloniki with the civilisations of the Indus and the Euphrates.Egnatia Way connected it with the Rome of the West.

Byzantium entrusted it with its relations with the North,when the interest in the East surpassed the Medi- terranean shores.The Ottomans kept the city in the East,while the Jews of the Iberian and the Franks of the East cultivated its new turn towards the West.Thessaloniki was the cradle where religions and cultures crossed ways, where the 'Olympians' and the 'Pythians' took place at the same time as the 'Katherians'.Crowds of merchants and pilgrims came to the 'Demetrians',a prominent festival of Byzantium.

A city which passed over from Aristotle to Orthodox thought,which participated in the western cogitation and became familiar with eastern philosophy.A city of the Orthodox Faith,which saw, beside the Bible,the teaching of Moses and the Koran.

A city of labourers, refugees, a city also known as the 'Second Jerusalem', it proved worthy of the cocmopolitanism which was held in store for it by the history of more recent years. Philip, Alexander, Aristotle, the Apostle Paul, Galerius, Cassander, Saint Demetrius, Cyril and Methodius, Armenopoulos. Heroes, governors, saints, apostles, philosophers, thinkers, permanent or transient, determined its power and maintained the myths of Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki

a city of the sea,a city of the sun,a city of communication and exchanges,a port-city of the Mediterranean.

A meeting station of sea routes and road arteries,a populous port which facilitates the contact of the peoples of the Balkans with the economy and the cultures of the whole Mediterranean: Thessaloniki, Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, Algiers, Marseilles, Genoa. The exit to the Indian Ocean opened new horizons for Thessaloniki.The existing conditions in the Black Sea today,re-connect the city with familiar routes. The cultures of the North meet with the cultures of the wheat,the wine and the olive tree,primeval cultures,where hospitality was considered as a favour of the Gods.The Mediterranean of poets,the Mediterranean of painters, the Mediterranean of musicians, the Mediterranean of people, the Mediterranean of the Gods, the Mediterranea, mother of civilisations.

The Thessaloniki of today,with the modern port,a flourishing industry and dynamic commerce,with horizons and established relations in the Balkans,Eastern Europe and the countries of the Euxine Sea,a city characterised by the liveliness and restlessness of the young,the researchers and the scientists of the largest university in the country, is getting ready to show and promote its face to its citizens,the country and the world.

The Thessaloniki of 1997 is a city which has excelled through the centuries, the foundation of the hellenistic world,joint-reigning city of Byzantium, metropolis of the Balkans,will confirm the continuity of exchanges between East and West,in the fields of philosophy,ideology,behaviours,concepts and artistic creation,demonstrating the lively role of the city in the spreading of ideas.

A cosmopolitan centre,a crucible of peoples and traditions,cultures and religions, it will declare the cultural multiplicity,the freedom for different opinions,the respect for the right to differ,as these are formed not only by the agreements and exchanges but also by the clashes,the contrasts and interconnections,re-affirming the historical role of the city in the convergence of cultures.

A city of the sea,a junction of Mediterranean exchanges,the outlet of a disturbed North into the seas of the South,it will cultivate the convergence of the cultures of the sea with the cultures of the mainland, of ancient cultures with more recent ones,in a country of the sun that always sheds light on their traces,through a route which had been temporarily interrupted by historical phenomena,revealing the partici- pation of the Mediterranean in the formation of the cultures of the European south.

From now and until 1997,the Thessaloniki of the meetings,is getting ready so that:

• -the cultural initiatives for the purpose of widening the exchanges between East and West bear fruit.
• -the efforts to promote Thessaloniki as a Balkan centre for cultural co-operation are fruitful.
• -the programmes which bring out those aspects of culture which until now have,for various reasons,been ignored,are successful.

In 1997,in Thessaloniki,

the city of the sun,a charming and indolent city, a lively and dynamic city,a city of tastes and colours, n open and tolerant city,a city of religions and letters,we shall undertake to :

• -declare the diverse nature of European culture and the peculiarities of the national intellectual creation.
• -extol the dynamics of cultural intervention in the understanding among people and in their peaceful co-habitation.
• -seek out the contribution of the Orthodox Faith in the peaceful co- existence of the modern world.
• -encourage the local intellectual and artistic forces to achieve autonomous creation and innovative co-operations and reinforce the intellectual initiatives that support the local cultural market with an international orientation.
• -promote the controversies,the quests,criticism and the creative intervention of new proposals and innovative artistic initiatives and give vent to forms of artistic and intellectual expression which have been repressed.
• -support organizations and events which expand the boundaries of cultural activities from the city to the rural regions and lay the foundation for co-operation with wider regions of Northern Greece.
• -assist activities of a trans-local character which define and promote the city as a centre of national and international cultural activities with a permanent nature.
• -provide the ground for action to the intellectual and artistic forces of Hellenism that do their creative work outside Greece.
• -support intellectual and artistic events which connect education to culture so that art can belong to everyone.
• -promote the quality of everyday life and the ecological point of view, which recognizes the culture of tastes and colours,the culture of the town square,of the marketplace and of moving about,which recognizes the right to free time and space,the right for the green of the land and the blue of the sea.
• -combine the possibilities offered by the established business activities of the city with the wider area by developing ties of cultural co-operation and artistic exchanges.

Thessaloniki and its people are not alone in their efforts.The inhabitants of the city,the citizens of the country,the dispersed Greeks and the citizens of the world who participate in the vision of Thessaloniki as Cultural Capital '97,stand side by side,co-operate and create one more tile in the mosaic of our common culture.

Back to previous page..

---