Roman and Byzantine Ruins

Yesterday, we went back through Thessaloniki to see some of the different sights visible throughout the city. For those of you who don't know, Thessaloniki was essentially the number two city in the Byzantine Empire, and has a plethora of ancient ruins and buildings. There are medieval churches EVERYWHERE. We started our tour at the White Tower. This city is the symbol of Greek freedom over the Ottoman Empire because the building used to be used as a prison. It's kinda like the Greek Bastille.


We next worked our way through some of the ancient Roman ruins in the city. The Roman Emperor Galerius was all about Thessaloniki and really set up camp here.

Perhaps my favorite part of the city is the famed Arch of Galerius. It's a structure erected by Galerius to commemorate his victory over the Persians. It's incredible.








After we went to the Arch we visited a number of churches. Most of the churches were originally christian churches which were expanded to become Orthodox Byzantine churches, and then turned into mosques when the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine Empire.







These are pictures from one of the crypts underneath the churches.







Some cool tablets that were inside the church.




Some gelato (basically ice cream) that we enjoyed on the way back to the car.





The trip thus far has been very eventful and enjoyable, but I have also been learning a lot as well. The uptake of information has been enormous. I've been working hard, writing a lot, trying to decipher all of what I've been thinking through. Hopefully some of the upcoming posts will be more philosophical than just pictures and captions as I start to flesh out some of what I believe God has been teaching me through this unique time.

Thanks for your viewing the blog and leaving comments. It means a lot to know that people are following our progress, and makes all the time it takes to put this up here more worthwhile.