Thessaloniki's Temple of Aphrodite

The city of Thessaloniki was officially founded in 315 BC by Cassander and is now the second largest city of Greece, with most of its past buried beneath modern buildings. From time to time, however, new remains are being discovered. 

Thessalonica was a half-sister of Alexander the Great, i.e., the daughter of Philip II by Nicesipolis of Pherae, whom he married to secure Thessaly. She was taken as a bride by King Cassander of Macedon in 315 BC, who named the city after her. Cassander, we know, was a son of Antipater who served as regent in Macedonia while Alexander was marching through Asia. Although Cassander belonged to the group that was educated by Aristotle in Mieza, he did not accompany Alexander and did not share in his glory, much to his chagrin. But Cassander was not really appreciated by his father either, Antipater, who did not allow him to lie on the couches with the men at his dinner parties but put him on a low stool because he never had killed his own boar as required by tradition. After Alexander’s death and Antipater dying from old age, Cassander crowned himself King of Macedonia and, to support his legitimacy to the throne, married Thessalonica, who was of real royal blood.

The marriage cannot have been a happy one, but that was of no importance in antiquity. Cassander’s life was not happy either, and his reign was led by fire and sword. He besieged Pydna in 317 BC to capture Olympias, Alexander’s mother, and had her executed. Roxane and young Alexander IV, Alexander’s wife and son were later on also put to death upon Cassander’s orders.

[Picture from Popular Archeaology]

But, to return to modern Thessaloniki,  an ancient temple, first located in the 1930s and entirely forgotten, was exposed when an apartment block was being torn down. In the backyard of this building located in the modern municipality of Thermaikos were the poor remains of his temple half hidden under lots of garbage and wild-growing trees. Apparently, it belonged to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and dated from the late Archaic period, built in the 6th century BC. Some statues and other artifacts had already been moved to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. However, the original seven meters high columns never could be re-erected at their full length under the low ceiling. But now the temple is threatened to disappear after the demolition of this apartment complex and the plans to build new housing on the very spot. 

The underlying sanctuary could be saved if the land were expropriated by the Central Archaeological Council, but the present owner refuses expropriation. It is a well-known situation in Greece where urban development is fighting against cultural preservation. For the aficionados of Greek culture, the temple is a symbol of national pride and very much part of Greece’s rich history. For modern builders, these antiquities hamper the city’s development and modernization.