How many stops are on the Family Friendly walking tour in Thessaloniki?

The Family Friendly route in Thessaloniki includes 6 curated stops.

How long does the Family Friendly tour in Thessaloniki take?

The Family Friendly walking tour in Thessaloniki takes approximately 3 hours at a leisurely pace.

Is the Family Friendly walking tour in Thessaloniki free?

Yes, Promenario's Family Friendly tour in Thessaloniki is free to download and use, with full offline support.

🇬🇷 Thessaloniki, Greece

Family Friendly in Thessaloniki

Easy-access places suitable for mixed-age groups. Explore 6 curated stops in Thessaloniki, including Aristotelous Square, Hagios Demetrios, and Roman Forum. Highlights include Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos, rated 4.8/5 by 227 visitors.

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6 places in this collection

Family Friendly places

6 places in this collection

Image by JFKennedy

Aristotelous Square

Πλατεία Αριστοτέλους

Aristotelous Square is the main city square of Thessaloniki, and is located on Nikis avenue (on the city's waterfront), in the city center. It was designed by French architect Ernest Hébrard in 1918, but most of the square was built in the 1950s. Many buildings surrounding the central square have since been renovated and its northern parts were largely restored in the 2000s. The twelve buildings that make up Aristotelous Square have been listed buildings of the Hellenic Republic since 1950. The history of Aristotelous Square begins with the Great Fire of 1917 that destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki. Before the Great Fire of 1917, the city lacked much of what was considered to be 'essential' in European architecture. Until 1912, Thessaloniki had been part of Ottoman Turkey for almost 500 years. Under Ottoman rule, the city grew without the guidance of a general plan for expansion and had narrow streets. Today, Aristotelous Square is one of the most famous places in all of Greece and almost synonymous with the city of Thessaloniki itself. The square plays an important role in the sociopolitical life not only of the city, but of the wider country as well. Numerous large rallies and political speeches have been organized in Aristotelous Square, such as the rally for Macedonia in 1992. Additionally the square is used for many cultural events, such as festivals and the annual Christmas and carnival celebrations. It is an important tourist attraction for the city, and the numerous cafes and bars that line up the square make it popular with the younger generations.

Image By Andrew Zorin, CC BY-SA 3.0

Hagios Demetrios

Άγιος Δημήτριος

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος), is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki, dating from a time when it was the second largest city of the Byzantine Empire. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988. The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown. The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Image by Evilemperorzorg, CC BY-SA 3.0

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum of Thessaloniki is the ancient Roman-era forum (or Agora) of the city. It is a large two-terraced forum featuring two-storey stoas, dug up by accident in the 1960s. The forum complex also boasts two Roman baths, one of which has been excavated while the other is buried underneath the city, and a small theater which was also used for gladiatorial games. Although the initial complex was not built in Roman times, it was largely refurbished in the 2nd century. It is believed that the forum and the theater continued to be used until at least the 6th century. In the area of the forum, in the 60s it was planned to be built the central City's Court (in Greek: Δικαστήρια), but after the discovery the project was stopped. This intension still survives in the name of the nearby "Dikastirion (Ancient Agora officially) Square".

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Image By Konstantinos Stampoulis CC BY-SA 2.5

The Church of Panagia Chalkeon

Παναγία τῶν Χαλκέων

The Church of Panagia Chalkeon is an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. With the conquest of the city in 1430 by the Ottoman Turks, the church was turned into a mosque, named Kazancilar Camii ("Mosque of the Cauldron-Merchants"). It served as a mosque until the end of the Ottoman occupation in 1912. The building underwent a restoration in 1934 following the Chalkidiki earthquakes of 1932. According to the founder's inscription above the west entrance, the church was built in 1028 by the protospatharios Christopher, katepano of Longobardia, and his wife, son, and two daughters. The inscription reads: This once profane place is dedicated as an eminent church to the Mother of God by Christopher, the most illustrious royal protospatharios and governor of Lagouvardia, and his wife Maria, and their children Nicephorus, Anna, and Catacale, in the month of September, indiction XII, in the year 6537.[2] (The Byzantine Calendar year 6537 Anno Mundi is equivalent to the year 1028 Anno Domini.) Christopher's tomb was probably located in an arcosolium on the church's northern wall.

Image by LucT, CC BY-SA 3.0

Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos

Ἅγιος Νικόλαος ὁ Ὀρφανός

The Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos is an early 14th-century Byzantine church. The church's name, "Saint Nicholas the Orphan", is first attested in the 17th and 18th centuries, and presumably refers to its otherwise unknown ktetor (founder). From its interior decoration, the building is dated to the period 1310–1320. The church originally formed part of a monastery, traces of which (remnants of a gate) survive to the east. The church was originally built as a simple, single-aisled edifice with a wooden gabled roof. Later, aisles were added on three sides. They form an ambulatory, under whose floor several graves have been found. The masonry features irregular layers of brick and stone, with a few ceramics on the eastern side and brick decoration on the eastern and western sides. In the interior, the central aisle is connected to the others with double openings decorated with reused late antique capitals. The church's original marble templon survives. It is most notable for its frescoes, contemporary with the church's construction, which cover almost the entire interior surface. The frescoes are an example of the Thessalonican school at the height of the "Palaiologan Renaissance", and their creator may be the same who decorated the Hilandar monastery in Mount Athos in 1314. The church has been linked to the Serbian king Stephen Uroš II Milutin (r. 1282–1321), who is known to have sponsored churches in the city, on account of the depiction in the main aisle of St George Gorgos, the Serbian ruler's patron saint, and of St. Clemens of Ohrid, a favourite motif of the Serbian churches. The monastery continued functioning throughout the Ottoman period. The frescoes were uncovered in 1957–1960 during restoration works.

Image by By CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0

Alaca Imaret Mosque

Αλατζά Ιμαρέτ

Alaca Imaret Mosque or Ishak Pasha Mosque, literally the "colourful mosque", is a 15th-century Ottoman mosque in Thessaloniki. It was built by order of Ishak Pasha in 1484 or 1487. It consists of a mosque with an imaret (public charity kitchen). The mosque and imaret are not in use anymore. The mosque has a reverse T plan common to early Ottoman architecture, the prayer hall is covered by two large domes, it has a portico covered by five smaller domes. It had one minaret, which was destroyed after 1912, after Thessaloniki was liberated by the Greek Army and became part of the modern Greek state. It is under restoration till now.

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