The fire of 1917 is one of the most significant events that marked the history of Thessaloniki, as it destroyed a great part of the city. Lacking of a well-organized urban design before the fire, the need of a new urban plan was crucial for the city. Based on European standards, Ernest Hébrard’s new plan fulfilled this task and revitalized the city, altering not only its landscape, but also the city’s operation and way of everyday life. Through a course along the burned zone, we traverse urban axes that resulted from Hébrard’s design and encounter emblematic buildings of the interwar period, which defined the configuration of the modern city.

The purpose of the route is for the visitors to perceive that the fire was a major factor in the future development of the city, become acquainted with the architecture of the reconstruction that followed, but also get the sense of Hébrard’s ambitious project that – even if not fully implemented –  designed a future plan for the city.

DATES
23 & 24 October 2021

OPEN HOURS
11:00-16:00, new tour every 15′

STARTING POINT
statue of Venizelos, Aristotelous & Egnatia St.

ENDING POINT
Lambrakis monument, Venizelou St.

DISTANCE
1,8 km

DURATION
approximately 2 hours

photo: Theodore Dimoschakis