Heritage Walks
Bey H
amam
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Im Alaca
The vicinities of Aghia Aikaterini, Tsinari and Taxiarchon Church This north-western area of the Upper City corresponds more or less to the old Turkish quarter of Yakub Pasa – known for its many public fountains, school, opium den, poorhouse and mosque with graveyard. The features these buildings share, in common with their counterparts all across the Upper City, are traditional architecture with certain neoclassical features, sahnisia or projecting upper floors and the symmetry of ground plans and facades. The area of Tsinari, (from the Turkish word çinarli, meaning a plane tree) also boasts a few architectural gems, especially The National Map and Cartographic Heritage Centre and the last example of a typical kafeneion of the Turkish period, the Tsinari, opposite the fountain of Murat II. In Iki Serife, around Romfeis Square examples of Balkan architecture dominate. The Gardens of the Pasha A small group of buildings intended to adorn the huge gardens that once belonged to the hospital (where the Ag. Dimitrios hospital now stands), this great open space was surrounded by high walls and planted with pines, with fountains and other decorative features, intended to provide cooling relaxation for the visitor, as well as a splendid view of the city below. Alysseos Tower or Trigonio Tower (Tzintzirli Kule or Kousakli Kule) During Turkish rule, known as Tzintzirli Kule (tower of the chain) or Kousakli Kule (girdled tower), the Trigonio Tower, together with the White Tower and the Vardari Fort, formed part of the system of defences constructed by the Turks to strengthen critical but vulnerable points in the Byzantine fortifications. Eptapyrgio Fort (Yedi Kule) The Eptapyrgio Fort is an adaptation of an earlier Byzantine fort, which underwent modification in 1431, immediately after the capture of the city by the Turks. The Eptapyrgio owes its name, like its namesake in Constantinople, to the seven rectangular towers of which it is composed, together with the curtain wall and the central tower of the gateway, laid out in the shape of the Greek letter P. In the late 19th century, the fort was converted into a prison, Yedi Kule. The prison was closed down in 1989 and the fort now houses the offices of the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities.
22 insider thessaloniki | Issue 01