Have you heard of the city Thessaloniki (Thessalonian Victory)? Its the second largest city in Greece, and capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. - Founded in 315 BC (2329 years ago) by King Cassander of Macedonia; named after his wife, the sister of Alexander the Great. -Cleopatras father Auletes was a direct descendant of Alexander the Greats general, Ptolemy I Soter, son of Arsinoe and Lagus, both of Macedon. -It was the second city of the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople, and the most important imperial urban centre in Europe, with a population exceeding 100,000 in the 14th Century - larger than Londons. -Major early centre of Christianity, which was founded in the city by St Paul the Apostle. Pauls First Epistle to the Thessalonians, written in AD 52, is the first written book in the New Testament -Sephardic Jews immigrated to the city following their expulsion from Spain by Christian rulers under the Alhambra Decree in 1492. This community influenced the Sephardic world both culturally and economically, and the city was nicknamed la madre de Israel (mother of Israel). In the early 20th century, Salonica’s 80,000 Jews formed the majority of the city’s population of 157,000. The city’s Jewry maintained 40 synagogues and 50 chapels, was active in all areas of the city’s economic and social life, and owned over half its total real estate. #greece #thessalonikibigheart #athens
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:21:45 +0000
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