Port of Thessaloniki

The history of Thessaloniki begins in 316 BC the founding of when king Cassandros founded the city under the name of his wife, sister of Alexander the Great.

The creation of Thessaloniki’s harbor is estimated to be at the same period.  The Port of Thessaloniki was the strategic and financial center of the city.

In ancient times it is stated that there were shipyards, where the Macedonian fleet manufactured and preserved its ships.  During the reign of Constantine the Great, there are also scripts referring to the existence of a large square port.  It also seems that in the “Middle Ages” the communication and the commerce through the harbor of Thessaloniki was very well organized.  There was a small port on Thessaloniki at the area of the White Tower, and a pier right in the center of the Thessaloniki.

During the times of John Kameniatis (secretary of the Patriarch in Thessaloniki) there are scripts describing an extensive breakwater which it was going along the seaside walls.

The port of Thessaloniki is a living history for the city holding a crucial factor of the city as it’s the meeting point of East and West.