After exploring some of the cliff-top monasteries in Meteora, we headed to the coastal city of Thessaloniki. The destination’s moniker combines the Macedonian princess’ name “Thessaly” (half sister of Alexander the Great and wife of King Cassander of Macedon) with “Nike,” the Greek word for victory. The city pays tribute to philosopher Aristotle with a major university and central square named after him. The statue pictured above stands in Aristotelous Square. 

Our daily walking route often included parts of the beautiful promenade. 

Not surprisingly, a major focal point of the promenade is the statue of Alexander the Great with his distinguished horse Bucephalus in front of a row of sarissas (long pikes) and shields. The 20-meter-tall statue looks imposing, but is dwarfed by the similar statue we saw in Skopje. The monument in the capital of North Macedonia stands 28 meters high, including the giant, round pedestal. 

The “colorful” history of the city’s landmark, the White Tower, includes use as a prison when the Ottomans invaded Greece. During that time the structure became known as the Tower of Blood or Red Tower. Many years later a prisoner painted it white in exchange for his freedom. Even though much of the lighter paint color has disappeared, the tower is still referred to today as the White Tower. The 23-meter-diameter stone structure on the promenade, now a museum, has also served as a place of execution, an air defense tower, and a home for a university meteorology center. 

The Arch of Galerius, built at the end of the 3rd century, honors the Roman Emperor Galerius’ win over the Persian army in the Battle of Satala. 

The architect of the 7th century Agia Sofia, one of the oldest churches in the city, used the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul as inspiration. 

Even though we did not climb Mount Olympus, the tallest mountain in Greece, we did spend a day exploring the beautiful Prionia section of Olympus National Park. 

We spent a day visiting Delphi, known as the “Navel of the Earth.” This UNESCO World Heritage Site designates an important place in Greek mythology. Zeus released two eagles, one towards the east and one towards the west. The large birds met at Delphi which sits on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The sacred complex includes temples, treasury buildings, monuments, a stoa, a stadium, a gymnasium, a theatre, and the Castalian Spring. 

According to legend, the original Temple of Apollo is where high priestess Pythia shared the Greek god’s messages with men seeking divine guidance. Pilgrims from around the world plus foreign leaders came to learn of Apollo’s will. We saw the ruins of the 5th Temple of Apollo, built at the end of the 6th century BC. Just outside the southeast end of the temple stands the bronze Tripod of the Plataeans. The monument of three twisted snakes commemorates the Greek victory at the Battle of Plataea. The tripod we saw is a copy of the original that stood in the same spot. Most of the original monument was destroyed. Only one of the snake heads survived and it is displayed at the archeological museum in Istanbul. 

More remarkable features of Delphi

One of the most photographed spots at Delphi is the Temple of Athena Pronaia.  It’s a grouping of three temples, altars, and treasuries in homage to the goddess Athena. Sixth and 7th century BC builders used porous stone for the first two temples. Only bits and pieces of those structures still exist today. The 3rd temple, constructed in the 4th century BC from limestone, included an adjacent circular building called a tholo. Three of the original 20 outer columns of the round structure have been reconstructed and make a wonderful subject for a photo. Archeologists believe that the tholo, with a diameter of 13.5 meters, featured colorful walls. 

We photographed several significant artifacts in the onsite museum. They were discovered during late 19th century excavations. The Delphi Museum is the second-most visited museum in Greece.

On our way to back to Athens we stopped for a few nights at Livadeia, a small town with about 23,000 residents. The Oracle of Trophonius, also called the Cave of Trophonious or the Cave of Nightmares, used to attract some tourists to the area. Trophonius, a hero in ancient Greek mythology, built the oracle for his divine father Apollo. Over the centuries pilgrims visited the site to receive a nighttime prophecy from the oracle. And, according to historical tales, many of them died, went insane, or were too terrified to remember the experience. The cave was excavated many years ago and the artifacts were taken to a nearby museum. All that remains of the collapsed oracle is the entrance. 

Hiking up to the two cliff churches in the Gorge of Kyra was a memorable part of our visit to Livadeia. We first reached the Chapel of Agios Minas. In Greece there are many chapels and a cathedral named after Saint Minas, a brave martyr in the 4th century. This chapel may be the smallest one in honor of the saint. 

We climbed 700 steps to arrive at the second cliff chapel, the Agia Ierousalem Church (Chapel of Saint Jerusalem.) The most important yearly celebration at the church is held on the first Friday after Easter Sunday. 

We have just four more Balkan countries to visit: Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania. Future travel destinations!