White Tower of Thessaloniki
Encyclopedia
The White Tower of Thessaloniki ( Lefkos Pyrgos), is a monument and museum on the waterfront of the city of Thessaloniki
, capital of the region of Macedonia
in northern Greece
and a symbol of Greek
sovereignty over Macedonia. The present tower replaced an old Byzantine
fortification which was mentioned around the 12th century and reconstructed by the Ottomans
to fortify the city's harbour, it became a notorious prison and scene of mass executions during the period of Ottoman rule. It was substantially remodeled and its exterior was whitewashed after Greece gained control of the city in 1912. It has been adopted as the symbol of the city.
The White Tower takes the form of a cylindrical drum 23 m (75.5 ft) in diameter with a height of 27 m (88.6 ft) above ground level, on top of which is a turret 12 m (39.4 ft) in diameter and 6 m (19.7 ft) high. Some of the embrasure
s in the outer wall of the tower are reached by a spiral ramp; others are accessed from a central room on each of the six floors. The turret houses a platform with a diameter of 10 m (32.8 ft), and the platform at the top of the main tower in front of the turret is about 5 m (16.4 ft) wide.
The tower has been altered substantially over the years. Early illustrations show that it was originally covered by a conical roof, like similar towers in the Yedikule Fortress and Rumelihisarı
fortress in Istanbul
. Until its demolition in 1917, a chemise
stood at the foot of the tower, supporting the heavy guns and enclosing an area at least three times the diameter of the main tower. Octagonal turrets on the chemise and caponier
s at ground level provided flanking fire around the tower. It is unclear whether the chemise was part of the original scheme for the tower or was a later addition.
, to which the Byzantines ceded Thessaloniki in 1423. It is now known definitely that the tower was constructed by the Ottomans some time after the army of Sultan Murad II
captured Thessaloniki in 1430. Until 1912, an inscription in Ottoman Turkish
verse above the door dated the structure to AH
942 (1535–1536). The historian Franz Babinger
speculated that the work was designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, who is known to have built fortifications, including a similar tower at the Albanian port Valona
in 1537. The present tower likely replaced an older Byzantine
tower mentioned by the 12th century archbishop Eustathios
.
The Tower was used by the Ottomans successively as a fort, garrison and a prison. In 1826, at the order of the Sultan Mahmud II
, there was a massacre
of the prisoners in the Tower. Owing to the "countless victims of Ottoman torturers and executioners", the tower acquired the name "Tower of Blood" or "Red Tower" , which it kept until the end of the 19th century.
The Tower was for centuries part of the walls of the old city of Thessaloniki, and separated the Jewish quarter of the city from the cemeteries of the Muslims and Jews. The city walls were demolished in 1866. When Thessaloniki was annexed from the Ottoman Empire to the Greek State in 1912 during the First Balkan War
, the tower was whitewashed as a symbolic gesture of cleansing, and acquired its present name. King George I of Greece
was assassinated not far from the White Tower in March 1913.
The Tower is now a buff colour but has retained the name White Tower. It now stands on Thessaloniki's waterfront boulevard, Nikis (Victory) Street. It houses a museum dedicated to the history of Thessaloniki and is one of the city's leading tourist attractions. The Tower is under the administration of the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture.
In the early 1990s, the White Tower became the focus of a major controversy between Greece and the newly independent former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
. Unofficial "Makedonka" souvenir banknotes created by nationalist organizations in the Republic of Macedonia depicted the White Tower of Thessaloniki, VMRO-DPMNE proposed its adoption. However, the government in Skopje rejected its official use and adopted a different design for the new Macedonian denar
, which it issued in 1992.
IMPRES nonetheless printed unofficial banknotes depicting the White Tower, which were sold as souvenirs on the streets of Skopje
, bearing a disclaimer "this is a souvenir banknote and not for official use". The printing of the notes became the subject of a rumor in Greece that the currency of the new neighbouring state did in fact depict Greek symbols — a highly controversial point, given the dispute
with the Republic of Macedonia over its name and flag. The notes were never placed in circulation, as they were not legal tender
, but the episode nonetheless exacerbated the ill will felt between the two countries and helped to aggravate tensions in the Balkans.
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, capital of the region of Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
in northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and a symbol of Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
sovereignty over Macedonia. The present tower replaced an old Byzantine
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
fortification which was mentioned around the 12th century and reconstructed by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
to fortify the city's harbour, it became a notorious prison and scene of mass executions during the period of Ottoman rule. It was substantially remodeled and its exterior was whitewashed after Greece gained control of the city in 1912. It has been adopted as the symbol of the city.
Physical attributes
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
s in the outer wall of the tower are reached by a spiral ramp; others are accessed from a central room on each of the six floors. The turret houses a platform with a diameter of 10 m (32.8 ft), and the platform at the top of the main tower in front of the turret is about 5 m (16.4 ft) wide.
The tower has been altered substantially over the years. Early illustrations show that it was originally covered by a conical roof, like similar towers in the Yedikule Fortress and Rumelihisarı
Rumelihisari
Rumelihisarı is a fortress located in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, Turkey, on a hill at the European side of the Bosporus. It gives the name of the quarter around it. It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before he conquered Constantinople...
fortress in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. Until its demolition in 1917, a chemise
Chemise (wall)
In medieval castles the chemise was typically a low wall encircling the keep, protecting the base of the tower. An alternative term, more commonly used in English is mantlet wall....
stood at the foot of the tower, supporting the heavy guns and enclosing an area at least three times the diameter of the main tower. Octagonal turrets on the chemise and caponier
Caponier
A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" - which strictly means capon-cote i.e. chickenhouse.The fire coming from the feature A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" -...
s at ground level provided flanking fire around the tower. It is unclear whether the chemise was part of the original scheme for the tower or was a later addition.
History
The tower, which once guarded the eastern end of the city's sea walls, was for many years attributed to VeniceRepublic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, to which the Byzantines ceded Thessaloniki in 1423. It is now known definitely that the tower was constructed by the Ottomans some time after the army of Sultan Murad II
Murad II
Murad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....
captured Thessaloniki in 1430. Until 1912, an inscription in Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
verse above the door dated the structure to AH
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
942 (1535–1536). The historian Franz Babinger
Franz Babinger
Franz Babinger was a pioneering historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his authoritative biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II known as the Conqueror, originally published as Mehmed der Eroberer und seine Zeit...
speculated that the work was designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, who is known to have built fortifications, including a similar tower at the Albanian port Valona
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
in 1537. The present tower likely replaced an older Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
tower mentioned by the 12th century archbishop Eustathios
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica was a Greek bishop and scholar. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sack of Thessalonike by the Normans in 1185, for his orations and for his commentaries on Homer, which incorporate many remarks by much earlier researchers.- Life :After being...
.
The Tower was used by the Ottomans successively as a fort, garrison and a prison. In 1826, at the order of the Sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II
Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...
, there was a massacre
The Auspicious Incident
The Auspicious Incident was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary corps by Ottoman sultan Mahmud II in June 1826....
of the prisoners in the Tower. Owing to the "countless victims of Ottoman torturers and executioners", the tower acquired the name "Tower of Blood" or "Red Tower" , which it kept until the end of the 19th century.
The Tower was for centuries part of the walls of the old city of Thessaloniki, and separated the Jewish quarter of the city from the cemeteries of the Muslims and Jews. The city walls were demolished in 1866. When Thessaloniki was annexed from the Ottoman Empire to the Greek State in 1912 during the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, the tower was whitewashed as a symbolic gesture of cleansing, and acquired its present name. King George I of Greece
George I of Greece
George I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers...
was assassinated not far from the White Tower in March 1913.
The Tower is now a buff colour but has retained the name White Tower. It now stands on Thessaloniki's waterfront boulevard, Nikis (Victory) Street. It houses a museum dedicated to the history of Thessaloniki and is one of the city's leading tourist attractions. The Tower is under the administration of the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture.
Banknotes controversy
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. Unofficial "Makedonka" souvenir banknotes created by nationalist organizations in the Republic of Macedonia depicted the White Tower of Thessaloniki, VMRO-DPMNE proposed its adoption. However, the government in Skopje rejected its official use and adopted a different design for the new Macedonian denar
Macedonian denar
The denar is the currency of the Republic of Macedonia. It is subdivided into 100 deni . The name denar comes from the name of the ancient Roman monetary unit, the denarius...
, which it issued in 1992.
IMPRES nonetheless printed unofficial banknotes depicting the White Tower, which were sold as souvenirs on the streets of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, bearing a disclaimer "this is a souvenir banknote and not for official use". The printing of the notes became the subject of a rumor in Greece that the currency of the new neighbouring state did in fact depict Greek symbols — a highly controversial point, given the dispute
Macedonia naming dispute
A diplomatic dispute over the use of the name Macedonia has been an ongoing issue in the bilateral relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia since the latter became independent from former Yugoslavia in 1991...
with the Republic of Macedonia over its name and flag. The notes were never placed in circulation, as they were not legal tender
Legal tender
Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....
, but the episode nonetheless exacerbated the ill will felt between the two countries and helped to aggravate tensions in the Balkans.