Thessaloniki, also known as Thessalonica, Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece, with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. It is also known in Greek as "η Συμπρωτεύουσα", literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα or "co-reigning" city of the Byzantine Empire alongside Constantinople.
Ancient coin depicting Cassander, son of Antipater, and founder of the city of Thessaloniki
The fourth-century AD Rotunda of Galerius, one of several Roman monuments in the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Section of the Walls of Thessaloniki
Church of the Acheiropoietos (5th century) at the city's centre
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring thousands of islands. The country comprises nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population of nearly 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras.
The entrance of the Treasury of Atreus (13th century BC) in Mycenae
The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, icon of classical Greece
The Antikythera mechanism (c. 100 BC) is considered to be the first known mechanical analog computer (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, built in 161 AD