Greece is one of the countries of the European Union most interested in a rapid opening of borders due to its high dependence, twenty percent of GDP, on tourism. There they believe that this summer they will be able to receive tourists from European countries and they hope, also North Americans. Most of the tourists will go to the Islands, Athens and the Peloponnese. Only a few will travel to Macedonia.
In that area of the Balkans they fight for everything, for control of the land, for the language, for the country in which to integrate and even for the name. For years, Greece managed to block any attempt at negotiations by the European Union with the Republic of Macedonia, one of those that once made up Yugoslavia, since it considered itself the owner of the brand, forcing the other Macedonians to change the name of his country was renamed North Macedonia.
The real Macedonia, the owner of the brand, which bears those of Alexander the Great and Aristotle, is the northeast region of Greece, a little over a century ago when it became part of the Hellenic Kingdom after the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. .
It had been an independent Kingdom between the 7th and 2nd centuries BC and an Empire during the years of the fleeting Alexander, which dismembered after his death. It later became a Roman province, and then passed into Byzantine hands to end up, now nameless, in Turkish hands. The region was populated by Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Albanians, Turks, who were duly expelled and to a lesser extent integrated.
The current Macedonia is a little bigger than Galicia, and with a similar number of inhabitants. The most interesting of Macedonia is at a reasonable distance from its capital, Thessaloniki. Located in the “Termaio” gulf, it has one of the main ports in the Aegean and a busy history marked by its position on the routes between East and West, on the Via Egnatia that linked the cities of the Ionian Sea with Byzantium. The great Roman Emperor of Hispanic origin Theodosius I had his residence here.
It then passed through Arab, Norman, Venetian and Byzantine hands until the Ottoman occupation in the mid-15th century. Shortly after, the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal began to arrive, enlarging what for almost three centuries was the most important Jewish city in the Mediterranean. After a phase of decline, it had a renaissance in the 19th century, but interwar anti-Semitism caused the emigration of Jews to South America. Most of those still living there during the German invasion of 1941, some fifty thousand, were sent to concentration camps.
The few survivors still make an effort to maintain Ladino, as I was able to verify when at the beginning of this century I asked our honorary consul, a Sephardic one, to organize an event to promote tourism in Spain, which was attended, excitedly, by most of the members of the community who were physically fit.
The city has a lively promenade and some monuments of some interest, such as the paleochristians and Byzantines, a Roman forum and two museums.
A couple of hours by car is Mount Athos, which gives its name to the easternmost of the three peninsulas in the Chalkidian region. They are the three fingers that attract attention on all maps.
Mount Athos can only be reached by boats from the concessionaire line of the service. Only ten non-Orthodox people a day and, as is well known, no women.
In the area there are twenty monasteries and about two thousand monks, who are the only ones authorized to live in the place. Some monasteries have their origin in the 13th century, although the monastic community was founded in 983 under the orders of Byzantium and as an orthodox cult of the Virgin Mary.
They still use the Julian calendar and Byzantine time. To access you must request permission granted by the Office of Mount Athos in Thessaloniki.
The stay and food in the Monasteries are free, but you can only stay one night in each one. To move within the area there is a network of vans that connects all the Monasteries with the capital Karies.
Monasteries are very different. There are Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Georgian foundations. Each Monastery is known for some reason, for the chants, for the frescoes, in the case of the most famous Lavras for being the oldest and having the largest library. Those on the rugged coastline are true fortresses.
In all of them there are night masses that are highly appreciated by visitors. The best seasons to visit Mount Athos are spring and autumn. Back to Thessaloniki is Stagira, the city of Aristotle that travel guides do not recommend.
To the northeast Pellas, the historic capital of Macedonia, just ten kilometers from the gulf, the birthplace of Philip and Alexander, an enlightened city where Euripides premiered, Apelles painted and the best mosaics of the time with delicately colored pebbles were admired. You can visit the Macedonian ruins, the acropolis and the museum.
Also near the gulf, seventy kilometers southeast of Thessaloniki is present-day Vergina – the ancient Aegas – where in 1977 Greek archaeologists discovered the intact tomb of Philip II, Alexander’s father, with the entire treasure, including a crown with three hundred and thirteen leaves and sixty-eight golden acorns and the king’s breastplate. These and other pieces are gathered in the small and elegant museum built near the excavations.
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