DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0150
120
T H BSSALONIC! A.
Von Hammer, the historian of the Ottoman Empire, makes the following observations
about Thessalonica.
“ Thessalonica was placed under the protection of the Cabiri and the Thermean Aphrodite,
whose temples, converted in later times into churches, still exist under the names of the
llotonda and the Ancient Mosque. Favoured by the gods, it was the object of the especial care
of the Macedonian monarchs, who appreciated the advantages of its situation for commerce
and navigation. It appeared no less important to the Homan emperors, who adorned it with
architectural monuments. The gate which leads to the Yenidje-Vardar,— ancient Pella,—
is still ornamented by the triumphal arch which the inhabitants raised to Octavius and Antony
after the battle of Philippi, which took place in the vicinity.
“ Nero built a long colonnade of the Corinthian order, which supported two rows of statues
executed in the best Greek stylo; the admirable groups of Ganymede, Leda, Paris and
Helen, Bacchus and Ariadne, and of the goddess of Victory arrested in her course by Pleasure,
still in their ruined state, are so admirable, that they are considered supernatural.
“ Trajan built tlie Rotonda of tbe Cabiri upon the model of the Pantheon.
“ Under Marcus Aurelius, a triumphal arch was erected, still existing, in honour of
Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. There is also the triumphal arch of Constantine at
the end of the town, dedicated to the conqueror of Licinius and Maxentius.
“ In the time of the Emperor Leo (A.D. 903), a Syrian renegade from Tripoli arrived
before Thessalonica with fifty-four galleys, then the second town of the Byzantine empire
in Europe; he took it without resistance, and received a ransom of one hundred golden
livres to spare the edifices from complete destruction. Pasha Kliair-ed-deen, in the time of
Amurath I., took Thessalonica; it was given up to the Greeks when peace was established.
Bajazet took it again in the year 797 of the Hegira (A.D. 1395). Lost by the Mussulmans,
reconquered by Mahomet I., then again abandoned to tbe Greeks, who sold it to the Venetians,
it fell for the third time under the yoke of the Turks, and was definitively incorporated into
the Ottoman empire by Amurath II.”
1. Port. 4. Church of St. George. 7. Church of St. Bardias.
2. Citadel. 5. Church of St. Sophia. 8. Church of St. Elias.
3. Triumphal Arch. 6. Church of the Holy Apostles. 9. Caravanserai.
Thessalonica preserved its activity in the midst of the disorders of the Middle Ages, but
its population did not increase. Its new masters erected no public edifice, with the exception
of a few mosques, and frequent fires destroyed what remained of the ancient Byzantine
palaces.
Parallel to the harbour there is a long wide street, a continuation of the Via Egnatia, which
commences at the town of Apollonia, in Illyria, traverses Epirus and Macedonia, and is prolonged
as far as the confines of Thrace. This road, entering the town on the west side, passes under a
T H BSSALONIC! A.
Von Hammer, the historian of the Ottoman Empire, makes the following observations
about Thessalonica.
“ Thessalonica was placed under the protection of the Cabiri and the Thermean Aphrodite,
whose temples, converted in later times into churches, still exist under the names of the
llotonda and the Ancient Mosque. Favoured by the gods, it was the object of the especial care
of the Macedonian monarchs, who appreciated the advantages of its situation for commerce
and navigation. It appeared no less important to the Homan emperors, who adorned it with
architectural monuments. The gate which leads to the Yenidje-Vardar,— ancient Pella,—
is still ornamented by the triumphal arch which the inhabitants raised to Octavius and Antony
after the battle of Philippi, which took place in the vicinity.
“ Nero built a long colonnade of the Corinthian order, which supported two rows of statues
executed in the best Greek stylo; the admirable groups of Ganymede, Leda, Paris and
Helen, Bacchus and Ariadne, and of the goddess of Victory arrested in her course by Pleasure,
still in their ruined state, are so admirable, that they are considered supernatural.
“ Trajan built tlie Rotonda of tbe Cabiri upon the model of the Pantheon.
“ Under Marcus Aurelius, a triumphal arch was erected, still existing, in honour of
Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. There is also the triumphal arch of Constantine at
the end of the town, dedicated to the conqueror of Licinius and Maxentius.
“ In the time of the Emperor Leo (A.D. 903), a Syrian renegade from Tripoli arrived
before Thessalonica with fifty-four galleys, then the second town of the Byzantine empire
in Europe; he took it without resistance, and received a ransom of one hundred golden
livres to spare the edifices from complete destruction. Pasha Kliair-ed-deen, in the time of
Amurath I., took Thessalonica; it was given up to the Greeks when peace was established.
Bajazet took it again in the year 797 of the Hegira (A.D. 1395). Lost by the Mussulmans,
reconquered by Mahomet I., then again abandoned to tbe Greeks, who sold it to the Venetians,
it fell for the third time under the yoke of the Turks, and was definitively incorporated into
the Ottoman empire by Amurath II.”
1. Port. 4. Church of St. George. 7. Church of St. Bardias.
2. Citadel. 5. Church of St. Sophia. 8. Church of St. Elias.
3. Triumphal Arch. 6. Church of the Holy Apostles. 9. Caravanserai.
Thessalonica preserved its activity in the midst of the disorders of the Middle Ages, but
its population did not increase. Its new masters erected no public edifice, with the exception
of a few mosques, and frequent fires destroyed what remained of the ancient Byzantine
palaces.
Parallel to the harbour there is a long wide street, a continuation of the Via Egnatia, which
commences at the town of Apollonia, in Illyria, traverses Epirus and Macedonia, and is prolonged
as far as the confines of Thrace. This road, entering the town on the west side, passes under a