PLACE ET RUE ARISTOTELOUS

Thessaloniki's main square (Πλατεία Αριστοτέλους/Platia Aristotelous) is named after the great philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), a native of Stagira, Macedonia. Overlooking the Thermaic Gulf, this 32,500^m2 esplanade extends 400 m north to the wide pedestrian Aristotelous Street. This serves the Kapani (left) and Vatikioti (right) markets shortly before leading to Egnatia Street and Dikastirion Square, itself dominated by the Roman agora. The street and square share an interesting neo-Byzantine architecture of arcades and monumental facades. They were designed in 1918 by archaeologist, town planner and architect Ernest Hébrard (1875-1933). Then head of the French army's archaeological section in the East, this Parisian with a passion for antiquity was commissioned by the Greek authorities to draw up a new plan for the city, which had been devastated by the terrible fire of August 18, 19 and 20, 1917. Having left in 1921 to supervise work in Indochina, Hébrard left the Thessalonians a vast project of squares and monuments... which never saw the light of day. But it is the grid pattern of the "Hébrard plan" that structures the city to this day.

A chic square and a tired street. Aristotelous Square and Street, although completed in the 1970s, also bear Hébrard's stamp: their style, inspired by Thessaloniki's rich Byzantine heritage, breaks with Germano-Athenian neoclassicism. Decorated with a bust of Aristotle and lined with chic cafés, the square is home to the main kiosk of the municipal tourist office. To the north, the square is dominated by two arched buildings, one housing the Electra Palace and the other the Olympion cinema, which hosts part of the International Film Festival (November) and the Documentary Festival (March). Next, Aristotelous Street leaves a mixed impression: a few cafés and vendors of koulouria, the city's typical round sesame buns, but also tired facades, lots of empty stores, beggars and stray dogs. At no. 35, note the police station for tourists. The street ends with the small Aristotelous Park and the bus station of the same name, along Egnatia Avenue and opposite the statue of Eleftherios Venizelos, in Dikastirion Square, which also houses the precious church of Panagia Chalkeon. Finally, 250 m to the west, on Egnatia Avenue, awaits the Venizelou metro station.