Palace of Galerius in Thessaloniki to reopen for visitors on Jan. 30
The remains of the 4th century Galerian Palace Complex in the centre of the Thessaloniki - one of the northern Greek city's most important archaeological sites - will open for visitors for the first time in seven years as of next Tuesday, January 30, the city's archaeological service announced.
According to the announcement on Thursday, the site will reopen following the completion of procedures to hire seven guards to monitor the site during visiting hours. It will operate daily, from 9:00 until 16:00, except on Mondays. Work to clean and tidy up the site will be taking place on the first few days after it opens.
Also open and operating daily from 9:00-15:00 (except Mondays) is the Trigoniou Tower in the city's Byzantine walls, the announcement said.
The Galerian complex is situated in the heart of Thessaloniki, on the corner of Gounari Street and Navarinou Square. The remains were first brought to light in the second half of the 20th century, while a large part of the monument was covered over during the city's development.
The site extends over 9,000 square metres, while the Palace of Galerius is the best preserved imperial residence of late antiquity in Europe. It was built at the time of the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine worlds, with construction starting in the late 3rd century-early 4th century when the Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximianus (293-311 AD) chose Thessaloniki as the seat of the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Source: amna-mpa
(Photo: thessaloniki4all.gr)