Ottoman Thessaloniki
Published 11 September 2026 · by ThessalonikiHub
Five centuries in bath-houses, mosques and a covered market still trading.
Thessaloniki was an Ottoman city for nearly five centuries, from 1430 to 1912. You do not notice it immediately walking down Tsimiski, but if you know where to look the period is everywhere: in bath-houses, in mosques that became exhibition halls, in a covered market still trading.
The bath that opened first
Bey Hamam on Egnatia was built in 1444 and is the city's first Ottoman bath — and the largest surviving in Greece. It worked as a bath until 1968, which is why many still call it the "Paradise Baths". Today it is open to visitors and hosts temporary exhibitions.
Alatza Imaret
Founded in February 1484 by Ishak Pasha. An imaret was a complex with a kitchen for the poor and a hostel — Ottoman social welfare. The name "alatza" refers to the coloured tiles of its minaret, which no longer survive. It now hosts cultural events.
The mosques that changed use
Hamza Bey Mosque, at the corner of Egnatia and Venizelou, is known to locals as the "Alcazar", after the cinema that occupied it for decades. It is among the city's oldest Ottoman mosques.
Yeni Cami was built in the early twentieth century by the Italian architect Vitaliano Poselli for the Dönmeh, the Islamised descendants of the followers of Sabbatai Zevi. Its architecture mixes neoclassical, Renaissance and Islamic elements — a building unlike anything else in the city.
And the Rotunda: a 4th-century Roman structure, then a church, then a mosque. Its minaret still stands beside it, the only one surviving in Thessaloniki.
The market
The Bezesteni, the covered market near Aristotelous, was built in the fifteenth century for the cloth trade. It is still a market, five centuries on.
Atatürk's house
Mustafa Kemal was born in Thessaloniki in 1881. The house where he was born, beside the Turkish consulate, is a museum. Entry requires an ID card or passport and security is strict.
How to see them
The Thessaloniki Tourism Organisation has mapped 26 monuments on an Ottoman route and publishes a trilingual guide. The four in the centre — Bey Hamam, Hamza Bey, the Bezesteni and Alatza Imaret — are an hour's walk apart.
Opening hours change and several monuments open only for exhibitions, so check the official announcements before you go.
