Monument
The city's acropolis, and the view from the top of it.
Heptapyrgion at the top of Ano Poli: a Byzantine acropolis with Ottoman additions, a prison until 1989, and the best view in the city. What to see and how to get up there.
Heptapyrgion is the fortress at the highest point of Thessaloniki, where the Byzantine walls close off the acropolis. Its core is Byzantine with Ottoman additions after 1430. The walls that tie it to the rest of the city run down the slope of Ano Poli and survive for a long stretch, which makes the way up the walk itself.
The name means "seven towers" — Yedi Kule in Turkish, which is what many in the city still call it. There are in fact ten. The explanation usually offered is that the name came across from the fortress of the same name in Constantinople; it is often repeated and it is not settled. What is settled is the mismatch between the name and the count.
From 1890 and for a century Heptapyrgion was a prison, closing as one in 1989. That is why the name Yedi Kule still carries weight in Greek and turns up in rebetiko songs. The monument is being restored in stages and parts of it are open to visitors.
The fortress is the destination, but the walls are the reason to walk up. They survive for a long stretch along the eastern and northern edge of Ano Poli, and the road follows them: stone and brick in alternating bands, towers at intervals, and houses built against and on top of them in between. On the way you reach the Trigoniou Tower, where the city opens out all the way to the gulf. That is where most people stop.
It is uphill, and worth knowing before you set out: from Ladadika you climb the whole way. On foot it is a walk that repays the effort if you have the time and the shoes, because it goes up through Ano Poli and its cobbled lanes. If you would rather not climb it, a taxi from our door is short, and walking back down is far easier than walking up.
Thessaloniki's monuments sit close together, and most of the distances are measured in minutes. The times below are from our door.
From our door: 35 minutes on foot, uphill. Our suites are in Ladadika, in the historic centre, and most of the city's monuments are walkable from our door.
A continuous climb from the centre to the top. Nothing technical about it, but it asks for stamina and decent shoes, and in summer it is better early in the morning or late in the day.
With one day, the Roman monuments in the centre are closer together and easier to cover. Heptapyrgion earns its place from the second day onward, or if the view matters to you more than anything else.
