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97-598: When Gregorios Palamas defended Hesychasm (the Eastern Orthodox Church 's mystical teaching on prayer), Barlaam accused him of heresy . Three Eastern Orthodox synods ruled against him and in Palamas's favor (two Councils of Sophia in June and August 1341, and a Council of Blachernae in 1351). Barlaam was born in what is now the comune of Seminara , Calabria , in a Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox environment. He

194-562: A free city of the Roman Republic under Mark Antony in 41 BC. It grew to be an important trade hub located on the Via Egnatia , the road connecting Dyrrhachium with Byzantium , which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centres of commerce such as Rome and Byzantium . Thessaloniki also lies at the southern end of the main north–south route through the Balkans along

291-472: A lengthy siege in 1383–1387 , along with most of eastern and central Macedonia, to the forces of Sultan Murad I . Initially, the surrendered cities were allowed complete autonomy in exchange for payment of the kharaj poll-tax . Following the death of Emperor John V Palaiologos in 1391, however, Manuel II escaped Ottoman custody and went to Constantinople, where he was crowned emperor, succeeding his father. This angered Sultan Bayezid I , who laid waste to

388-436: A Christian whom Galerius is said to have put to death. Most scholars agree with Hippolyte Delehaye 's theory that Demetrius was not a Thessaloniki native, but his veneration was transferred to Thessaloniki when it replaced Sirmium as the main military base in the Balkans. A basilical church dedicated to St. Demetrius, Hagios Demetrios , was first built in the fifth century AD and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site . When

485-611: A half-sister of Alexander the Great and princess of Macedonia as daughter of Philip II . Under the kingdom of Macedonia the city retained its own autonomy and parliament and evolved to become the most important city in Macedonia. Twenty years after the fall of the Kingdom of Macedonia in 168 BC, in 148 BC, Thessalonica was made the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia . Thessalonica became

582-599: A major imperial city and trading hub. Thessaloniki and Smyrna , although smaller in size than Constantinople , were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs. Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field of shipping , but also in manufacturing, while most of the city's tradespeople were Jewish . During the Ottoman period, the city's population of Ottoman Muslims (including those of Turkish origin, as well as Albanian Muslim , Bulgarian Muslim , especially

679-487: A political reform movement, which goal was to replace the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy with a constitutional government. The Young Turks started out as an underground movement, until finally in 1908, they started the Young Turk Revolution from the city of Thessaloniki, which lead to of them gaining control over the Ottoman Empire and put an end to the Ottoman sultans power. Eleftherias (Liberty) Square , where

776-711: A puppet state such as the Hellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised to Yugoslavia as a reward for joining the Axis on 25 March 1941). As it was the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying forces, the first Greek resistance group formed in Thessaloniki (under the name Ελευθερία , Elefthería , "Freedom") as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe, also by

873-504: A republic, contrary to the rest of Greece. After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988. In 1997, Thessaloniki

970-1070: Is first attested in Greek in the Chronicle of the Morea (14th century), and is common in folk songs , but it must have originated earlier, as al-Idrisi called it Salunik already in the 12th century. It is the basis for the city's name in other languages: Солѹнъ ( Solunŭ ) in Old Church Slavonic , סאלוניקו ( Saloniko ) in Judeo-Spanish (שאלוניקי prior to the 19th century ) סלוניקי ( Saloniki ) in Hebrew , Selenik in Albanian language , سلانیك ( Selânik ) in Ottoman Turkish and Selanik in modern Turkish , Salonicco in Italian , Solun or Солун in

1067-536: Is located 502 kilometres (312 mi) north of Athens . Thessaloniki's urban area spreads over 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Oraiokastro in the north to Thermi in the south in the direction of Chalkidiki . Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe of the Thermaic Gulf on its eastern coast and is bound by Mount Chortiatis on its southeast. Its proximity to imposing mountain ranges, hills and fault lines, especially towards its southeast have historically made

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1164-598: Is the second-largest city in Greece , with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area , and the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia , the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace . It is also known in Greek as " η Συμπρωτεύουσα " ( i Symprotévousa ), literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as

1261-542: The Balkan Wars . In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deep L , characteristic of the accent of the modern Macedonian dialect of Greek . The name is often abbreviated as Θεσ/νίκη . The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon , on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and 26 other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonike ,

1358-637: The Macedonian Front , also known as the Salonika front. And a temporary hospital run by the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service was set up in a disused factory. In 1916, pro- Venizelist Greek army officers and civilians, with the support of the Allies, launched an uprising, creating a pro-Allied temporary government by the name of the " Provisional Government of National Defence " that controlled

1455-664: The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle ) served as the centre of operations for the Greek guerillas. During this period, and since the 16th century, Thessaloniki's Jewish element was the most dominant; it was the only city in Europe where the Jews were a majority of the total population. The city was ethnically diverse and cosmopolitan . In 1890, its population had risen to 118,000, 47% of which were Jews, followed by Turks (22%), Greeks (14%), Bulgarians (8%), Roma (2%), and others (7%). By 1913,

1552-534: The Ottoman Empire to the Kingdom of Greece on 8 November 1912. Thessaloniki exhibits Byzantine architecture , including numerous Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments , a World Heritage Site , and several Roman , Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. In 2013, National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide, while in 2014 Financial Times FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as

1649-659: The Ottoman succession struggle that broke out following the crushing defeat and capture of Bayezid at the Battle of Ankara against Tamerlane in 1402. In exchange for his support, in the Treaty of Gallipoli the Byzantine emperor secured the return of Thessalonica, part of its hinterland, the Chalcidice peninsula, and the coastal region between the rivers Strymon and Pineios . Thessalonica and

1746-679: The Port of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland. On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece. The city also forms one of the largest student centers in Southeastern Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and was the European Youth Capital in 2014. Thessaloniki

1843-661: The Thessaloniki–Istanbul Junction Railway connected it to Constantinople in 1896. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , founder of the modern republic of Turkey , was born in Thessaloniki (then known as Selânik in Ottoman Turkish) in 1881. His birthplace on İslahhane Caddesi (now 24 Apostolou Street) is now the Atatürk Museum and forms part of the Turkish consulate complex. In the early 20th century, Thessaloniki

1940-525: The abdication of King Constantine in 1917. On 30 December 1915 an Austrian air raid on Thessaloniki alarmed many town civilians and killed at least one person, and in response the Allied troops based there arrested the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish vice-consuls and their families and dependents and put them on a battleship, and billeted troops in their consulate buildings in Thessaloniki. Most of

2037-609: The greater region had 1,092,919. It is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, notably through the Port of Thessaloniki . The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually. Thessaloniki

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2134-566: The local and neighboring South Slavic languages , Салоники ( Saloníki ) in Russian , Sãrunã in Aromanian and Săruna in Megleno-Romanian . In English, the city can be called Thessaloniki, Salonika, Thessalonica, Salonica, Thessalonika, Saloniki, Thessalonike, or Thessalonice. In printed texts, the most common name and spelling until the early 20th century was Thessalonica, matching

2231-652: The Συμβασιλεύουσα ( Symvasilévousa ) or "co-reigning" city of the Byzantine Empire alongside Constantinople . Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf , at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea . It is bounded on the west by the delta of the Axios . The municipality of Thessaloniki , the historical centre, had a population of 319,045 in 2021, while the Thessaloniki metropolitan area had 1,006,112 inhabitants and

2328-594: The "New Lands" (lands that were gained by Greece in the Balkan Wars , most of Northern Greece including Greek Macedonia, the North Aegean as well as the island of Crete ); the official government of the King in Athens , the "State of Athens", controlled "Old Greece" which were traditionally monarchist. The State of Thessaloniki was disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek governments under Venizelos, following

2425-538: The "glory of God" revealed in various episodes of Jewish and Christian Scripture (e.g., the burning bush seen by Moses , the Light on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration ) was in fact the uncreated Energies of God (i.e., the grace of God), Barlaam held that they were created effects, because no part of God whatsoever could be directly perceived by humans. The Eastern Orthodox interpreted his position as denying

2522-555: The 'Hellenic wisdom' which he considers to be the main source of Barlaam’s errors." To this day, the issues which Barlaam raised are treated by Eastern Orthodox theologians: Barlaam's views – that we cannot really know Who the Holy Spirit is exactly (an outgrowth of which is agnosticism ), that the ancient Greek philosophers are superior to the Prophets and the Apostles (since reason is above

2619-492: The 45,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz, only 4% survived. During a speech in Reichstag , Hitler claimed that the intention of his Balkan campaign, was to prevent the Allies from establishing "a new Macedonian front", as they had during WWI. The importance of Thessaloniki to Nazi Germany can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially, Hitler had planned to incorporate it directly into Nazi Germany and not have it controlled by

2716-630: The Byzantine mystics. However, Barlaam's triumph was short-lived. Ultimately, the Byzantines had a deep respect for mysticism even if they didn't understand it. And, in Palamas, Barlaam found an opponent who was more than his equal in knowledge, intellect and expository skills. In response to Barlaam's attacks, Palamas wrote nine treatises entitled "Triads For The Defense of Those Who Practice Sacred Quietude". The treatises are called "Triads" because they were organized as three sets of three treatises. The Triads were written in three stages. The first triad

2813-549: The European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire. The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889, efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879, the first tram service started in 1888 and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908. In 1888, the Oriental Railway connected Thessaloniki to Central Europe via rail through Belgrade and to Monastir in 1893, while

2910-557: The Greek Navy, General Hasan Tahsin Pasha soon realised that it had become untenable to defend the city. The sinking of the Ottoman ironclad Feth-i Bülend in Thessaloniki harbour on 31 October [O.S. 18 October] 1912, although militarily negligible, further damaged Ottoman morale. As both Greece and Bulgaria wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies. On 8 November 1912 (26 October Old Style ),

3007-587: The Greek element dominant, while the Jewish population was reduced to a minority for the first time since the 16th century. This was part of an overall process of modern Hellenization, which affected nearly all minorities within Greece, turning the region into a hotspot of ethnic nationalism. During World War II Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded by Fascist Italy (with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone), and,

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3104-537: The Hesychast teaching for which Palamas had become the chief proponent. Barlaam visited Thessalonica , where he made the acquaintance of monks who followed the Hesychast teachings. Runciman describes these monks as ignorant and lacking a real understanding of the Hesychast teaching. Barlaam issued a number of treatises mocking the absurdity of the practices which he reported included, "miraculous separations and reunions of

3201-526: The Holy Spirit proceeds. According to Sara J. Denning-Bolle, Palamas viewed Barlaam's argument as "dangerously agnostic". In his response titled "Apodictic Treatises", Palamas insisted that it was indeed demonstrable that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father but not from the Son. A series of letters ensued between the two but they were unable to resolve their differences amicably. In contrast to Palamas' teaching that

3298-453: The Italians having failed in their invasion of Greece , it fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on 8 April 1941 and went under German occupation. The Nazis soon forced the Jewish residents into a ghetto near the railroads and on 15 March 1943 began the deportation of the city's Jews to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps . Most were immediately murdered in the gas chambers . Of

3395-618: The Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by the Despotate of Epirus , a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, under Theodore Komnenos Doukas who crowned himself Emperor, and the city became the capital of the short-lived Empire of Thessalonica . Following his defeat at Klokotnitsa however in 1230, the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of the Second Bulgarian Empire until it

3492-477: The Latin name; through most of rest of the 20th century, it was Salonika. By about 1985, the most common single name became Thessaloniki. The forms with the Latin ending -a taken together remain more common than those with the phonetic Greek ending -i and much more common than the ancient transliteration -e . Thessaloniki was revived as the city's official name in 1912, when it joined the Kingdom of Greece during

3589-624: The Latins, condemning their insertion of the Filioque into the Nicene Creed . Palamas took issue with Barlaam's argument in support of it, since Barlaam declared that efforts at demonstrating the nature of God (specifically, the nature of the Holy Spirit) should be abandoned, because God is ultimately unknowable and undemonstrable to humans. Thus, Barlaam asserted that it was impossible to determine from whom

3686-592: The Monastery of Our Savior, and two confidential missions on behalf of the emperor were entrusted to him. Historian Colin Wells characterizes Barlaam as "brilliant but sharp-tongued", describing him as "thoroughly versed in the classics, an astronomer, a mathematician, as well as a philosopher and a theologian. However, according to Wells, "this formidable learning was coupled with an arrogant, sarcastic manner, so caustic at times that he put off even friends and allies." During

3783-586: The Ottomans. In 1423, Despot Andronikos Palaiologos ceded it to the Republic of Venice with the hope that it could be protected from the Ottomans who were besieging the city . The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430. When Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki and sacked it in 1430, contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of

3880-405: The Pomaks and Greek Muslim of convert origin) and Muslim Roma like the Sepečides Romani grew substantially. According to the 1478 census Selânik ( Ottoman Turkish : سلانیك ), as the city came to be known in Ottoman Turkish, had 6,094 Christian Orthodox households , 4,320 Muslim ones, and some Catholic. No Jews were recorded in the census suggesting that the subsequent influx of Jewish population

3977-434: The Roman Empire was divided into the tetrarchy , Thessaloniki became the administrative capital of one of the four portions of the Empire under Galerius Maximianus Caesar , where Galerius commissioned an imperial palace, a new hippodrome , a triumphal arch and a mausoleum , among other structures. In 379, when the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki became

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4074-421: The Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire . It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430 and remained an important seaport and multi-ethnic metropolis during the nearly five centuries of Turkish rule , with churches, mosques, and synagogues co-existing side by side. From the 16th to the 20th century it was the only Jewish-majority city in Europe . It passed from

4171-447: The Tome does not mention Barlaam by name, the work clearly takes aim at Barlaam's views. The Tome provides a systematic presentation of Palamas' teaching and became the fundamental textbook for Byzantine mysticism. Barlaam also took exception to the doctrine held by the Hesychasts as to the uncreated nature of the light, the experience of which was said to be the goal of Hesychast practice, regarding it as heretical and blasphemous . It

4268-433: The Young Turks gathered at the outbreak of the revolution, is named after the event. Turkey's first president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , who was born and raised in Thessaloniki, was a member of the Young Turks in his soldier days and also partook in the Young Turk Revolution. As the First Balkan War broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. When Eleftherios Venizelos , Prime Minister at

4365-671: The best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle. The original name of the city was Θεσσαλονίκη Thessaloníkē . It was named after the princess Thessalonike of Macedon , the half sister of Alexander the Great , whose name means "Thessalian victory", from Θεσσαλός Thessalos, and Νίκη 'victory' ( Nike ), honoring the Macedonian victory at the Battle of Crocus Field (353/352 BC). Minor variants are also found, including Θετταλονίκη Thettaloníkē , Θεσσαλονίκεια Thessaloníkeia , Θεσσαλονείκη Thessaloneíkē , and Θεσσαλονικέων Thessalonikéon . The name Σαλονίκη Saloníki

4462-459: The capital of the Sanjak of Selanik within the wider Rumeli Eyalet (Balkans) until 1826, and subsequently the capital of Selanik Eyalet (after 1867, the Selanik Vilayet ). This consisted of the sanjaks of Selanik, Serres and Drama between 1826 and 1912. With the break out of the Greek War of Independence in the spring of 1821, the governor Yusuf Bey imprisoned in his headquarters more than 400 hostages. On 18 May, when Yusuf learned of

4559-402: The capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum. The following year, the Edict of Thessalonica made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire . In 390, troops under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I led a massacre against the inhabitants of Thessalonica , who had risen in revolt against the detention of a favorite charioteer. By the time of the Fall of Rome in 476, Thessaloniki was

4656-414: The city continued through the 12th century as the rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the Fourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the Kingdom of Thessalonica — which then became the largest vassal of the Latin Empire . In 1224,

4753-495: The city prone to geological changes. Since medieval times, Thessaloniki has been hit by strong earthquakes , notably in 1759, 1902, 1978 and 1995. On 19–20 June 1978, the city suffered a series of powerful earthquakes , registering 5.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale . The tremors caused considerable damage to a number of buildings and ancient monuments, but the city withstood the catastrophe without any major problems. One apartment building in central Thessaloniki collapsed during

4850-477: The city was reunited with the rest of the Empire. The capture of Gallipoli by the Ottomans in 1354 kicked off a rapid Turkish expansion in the southern Balkans , conducted both by the Ottomans themselves and by semi-independent Turkish ghazi warrior-bands. By 1369, the Ottomans were able to conquer Adrianople (modern Edirne ), which became their new capital until 1453 . Thessalonica, ruled by Manuel II Palaiologos (r. 1391–1425) itself surrendered after

4947-428: The city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917. The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an "official" face with the creation of the Government House while a number of new public buildings were built in the eclectic style in order to project

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5044-408: The city's population was enslaved. Ottoman artillery was used to secure the city's capture and bypass its double walls. Upon the conquest of Thessaloniki, some of its inhabitants escaped, including intellectuals such as Theodorus Gaza "Thessalonicensis" and Andronicus Callistus . However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as

5141-401: The city's population. Some historians consider the Ottoman regime's invitation to Jewish settlement was a strategy to prevent the Christian population from dominating the city. The city became both the largest Jewish city in the world and the only Jewish majority city in the world in the 16th century. As a result, Thessaloniki attracted persecuted Jews from all over the world. Thessaloniki was

5238-421: The city. On 30 October 1944, after battles with the retreating German army and the Security Battalions of Poulos , forces of ELAS entered Thessaloniki as liberators headed by Markos Vafiadis (who did not obey orders from ELAS leadership in Athens to not enter the city). Pro-EAM celebrations and demonstrations followed in the city. In the 1946 monarchy referendum , the majority of the locals voted in favor of

5335-487: The defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, a population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey. Over 160,000 ethnic Greeks deported from the former Ottoman Empire – particularly Greeks from Asia Minor and East Thrace were resettled in the city, changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims, including Ottoman Greek Muslims , were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people. This made

5432-406: The dispute between Barlaam and Palamas was irreconcilable and would require the judgment of an episcopal council. A series of six patriarchal councils was held in Constantinople on 10 June 1341, August 1341, 4 November 1344, 1 February 1347, 8 February 1347, and 28 May 1351 to consider the issues. The dispute over Hesychasm came before a synod held at Constantinople in May 1341 and presided over by

5529-426: The dogmatic definition of Hesychasm in the Eastern Church. A master of the Greek language , he taught Petrarch some rudiments of Greek. Critics see Barlaam's elevation of philosophy above theology as being the reason for his condemnation by the Eastern Church: Barlaam overestimated the significance of philosophy for theology, asserting that only through philosophy could humanity arrive at perfection. He thus denied

5626-431: The emperor Andronicus III . The assembly, influenced by the veneration in which the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius were held in the Eastern Church, condemned Barlaam, who recanted . The ecumenical patriarch insisted that all of Barlaam's writings be destroyed and thus no complete copies of Barlaam's treatise "Against Messalianism" have survived. Barlaam's primary supporter Emperor Andronicus III died just five days after

5723-401: The end of the century for the city's Greek community to recover. Thessaloniki was also a Janissary stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while also killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known as The Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history. In 1870–1917, driven by economic growth,

5820-407: The ethnic composition of the city had changed so that the population stood at 157,889, with Jews at 39%, followed again by Turks (29%), Greeks (25%), Bulgarians (4%), Roma (2%), and others at 1%. Many varied religions were practiced and many languages spoken, including Judeo-Spanish , a dialect of Spanish spoken by the city's Jews. Thessaloniki was also the centre of activities of the Young Turks ,

5917-436: The exiled Pope Benedict XII at Avignon to suggest a crusade against the Turks and to discuss the union of churches, but he was not successful in this endeavour. On this occasion he met Petrarch . Returning to Constantinople, Barlaam worked on commentaries on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite under the patronage of John VI Kantakouzenos . Around 1336, Gregory Palamas received copies of treatises written by Barlaam against

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6014-416: The feast day of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrius , the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki. The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece and Hasan Tahsin Pasha, commander of the city's defences, told the Bulgarian officials that "I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered". After the Second Balkan War , Thessaloniki and

6111-425: The hands of monks who were inadequately instructed and ignorant of the true Hesychast teaching, the psycho-physical precepts of Hesychasm could produce "dangerous and ridiculous results". To many of the Byzantine intellectuals, Hesychasm appeared "shockingly anti-intellectual" Barlaam nicknamed the Hesychasts "Omphaloscopoi" (the navel-gazers); the nickname has coloured the tone of most subsequent Western writing about

6208-442: The insurrection to the villages of Chalkidiki , he ordered half of his hostages to be slaughtered before his eyes. The mulla of Thessaloniki, Hayrıülah, gives the following description of Yusuf's retaliations: "Every day and every night you hear nothing in the streets of Thessaloniki but shouting and moaning. It seems that Yusuf Bey, the Yeniceri Agasi, the Subaşı, the hocas and the ulemas have all gone raving mad." It would take until

6305-518: The monks had claimed to see the divine essence with bodily eyes, which he viewed as sheer Messalianism. When asked about the light which they saw, the monks told him that it was neither of the superessential Essence nor an angelic essence nor the Spirit itself, but that the spirit contemplated it as another hypostasis. Barlaam commented snidely, "I must confess that I do not know what this light is. I only know that it does not exist." According to Runciman, Barlaam's attack struck home. He had shown that, in

6402-420: The name Eleftheria . Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" ( Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp), where members of the resistance and other anti-fascists were held either to be killed or sent to other concentration camps. In September 1943, the Germans established the Dulag 410 transit camp for Italian Military Internees in

6499-415: The ninth century, the Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius , both natives of the city, created the first literary language of the Slavs, the Old Church Slavonic , most likely based on the Slavic dialect used in the hinterland of their hometown. A naval attack led by Byzantine converts to Islam (including Leo of Tripoli ) in 904 resulted in the sack of the city . The economic expansion of

6596-475: The old centre of the city was destroyed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 , which was started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917. The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless; according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were unemployed. Two churches and many synagogues and mosques were lost. More than one quarter of

6693-969: The power and energy of the Most Holy Spirit and the experience which he himself had acquired as a successor to the Holy Fathers, he confronted this great danger and preserved unadulterated the Orthodox Faith and Tradition. Works by Barlaam Works About Barlaam Gregory Palamas Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 385250252 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:42:26 GMT Thessalonica Thessaloniki ( / ˌ θ ɛ s ə l ə ˈ n iː k i / ; Greek : Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici] ), also known as Thessalonica ( English: / ˌ θ ɛ s ə l ə ˈ n aɪ k ə , ˌ θ ɛ s ə ˈ l ɒ n ɪ k ə / ), Saloniki , Salonika , or Salonica ( / s ə ˈ l ɒ n ɪ k ə , ˌ s æ l ə ˈ n iː k ə / ),

6790-546: The remaining Byzantine territories, and then turned on Chrysopolis, which was captured by storm and largely destroyed. Thessalonica too submitted again to Ottoman rule at this time, possibly after brief resistance, but was treated more leniently: although the city was brought under full Ottoman control, the Christian population and the Church retained most of their possessions, and the city retained its institutions. Thessalonica remained in Ottoman hands until 1403, when Emperor Manuel II sided with Bayezid's eldest son Süleyman in

6887-489: The renewing power of the Holy Spirit , which, in the words of various Eastern Orthodox hymns, "made apostles out of fishermen" (i.e., makes saints even out of uneducated people). In his anti-hesychastic works Barlaam held that knowledge of worldly wisdom was necessary for the perfection of the monks and denied the possibility of the vision of the divine life. Steven Runciman reports that, infuriated by Palamas' attacks against him, Barlaam vowed to humiliate Palamas by attacking

6984-461: The renewing power of the Holy Spirit, which makes saints even out of uneducated people, as it made the fishermen apostles. Being a humanist, Barlaam placed emphasis on created means of salvation (e.g., philosophy and knowledge) and reduced the role of the grace of the Holy Spirit. According to Fr. John Meyendorff , "Gregory Palamas orients his entire polemic against Barlaam the Calabrian on the issue of

7081-401: The rest of the Greek portion of Macedonia were officially annexed to Greece by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. On 18 March 1913 George I of Greece was assassinated in the city by Alexandros Schinas . In 1915, during World War I , a large Allied expeditionary force established a base at Thessaloniki for operations against pro-German Bulgaria. This culminated in the establishment of

7178-403: The rival Ottoman pretenders in 1412 (by Musa Çelebi ) and 1416 (during the uprising of Mustafa Çelebi against Mehmed I ). Once the Ottoman civil war ended, the Turkish pressure on the city began to increase again. Just as during the 1383–1387 siege, this led to a sharp division of opinion within the city between factions supporting resistance, if necessary with Western help, or submission to

7275-474: The second earthquake, killing many and raising the final death toll to 51. Thessaloniki's climate is transitional, lying on the periphery of multiple climate zones. According to the Köppen climate classification , the city generally has a cold semi-arid climate ( BSk ) while a hot semi-arid climate ( BSh ) is found in the center. Mediterranean ( Csa ) and humid subtropical ( Cfa ) influences are also found in

7372-525: The second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire . From the first years of the Byzantine Empire , Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire after Constantinople , both in terms of wealth and size, with a population of 150,000 in the mid-12th century. The city held this status until its transfer to Venetian control in 1423. In the 14th century, the city's population exceeded 100,000 to 150,000, making it larger than London at

7469-631: The seeds for Thessaloniki's first Christian church. Later, Paul wrote letters to the new church at Thessaloniki, with two letters to the church under his name appearing in the Biblical canon as First and Second Thessalonians . Some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the first written book of the New Testament . In 306 AD, Thessaloniki acquired a patron saint, St. Demetrius ,

7566-421: The spirit and the soul, of the traffic which demons have with the soul, of the difference between red lights and white lights, of the entry and departure of the intelligence through the nostrils with the breath, of the shields that gather together round the navel, and finally of the union of Our Lord with the soul, which takes place in the full and sensible certitude of the heart within the navel." Barlaam said that

7663-520: The surrounding region were given as an autonomous appanage to John VII Palaiologos . After his death in 1408, he was succeeded by Manuel's third son, the Despot Andronikos Palaiologos , who was supervised by Demetrios Leontares until 1415. Thessalonica enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity after 1403, as the Turks were preoccupied with their own civil war , but was attacked by

7760-464: The synod ended. Although Barlaam initially hoped for a second chance to present his case against Palamas, he soon realised the futility of pursuing his cause, and left for Calabria where he converted to the Latin Church and was appointed Bishop of Gerace . After leaving Constantinople, Barlaam was received into the Latin Church at Avignon in 1342 and was consecrated Bishop of Gerace . In 1346, he

7857-614: The third Triad, Palamas refuted Barlaam's charge of Messalianism by demonstrating that the Hesychasts did not share the antisacramentalism of the Messalians nor did they claim to physically see the essence of God with their eyes. According to John Meyendorff, "Gregory Palamas orients his entire polemic against Barlaam the Calabrian on the issue of the Hellenic wisdom which he considers to be the main source of Barlaam’s errors." It became clear that

7954-418: The time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (now Bitola , Republic of North Macedonia ), Venizelos replied " Θεσσαλονίκη με κάθε κόστος! " ( Thessaloniki, at all costs! ). With the outnumbered Ottoman Army fighting a rearguard action against well-prepared Greek forces at Yenidje , Bulgarian troops advancing close by, and the Ottoman naval base at Thessaloniki blockaded by

8051-488: The time. During the sixth and seventh centuries, the area around Thessaloniki was invaded by Avars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several times, as narrated in the Miracles of Saint Demetrius . Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki; however, modern scholars consider this migration to have been on a much smaller scale than previously thought. In

8148-545: The total population of approximately 271,157 became homeless. Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it could implement the new redesign of the city according to the European-style urban plan prepared by a group of architects, including the Briton Thomas Mawson , and headed by French architect Ernest Hébrard . Property values fell from 6.5 million Greek drachmas to 750,000. After

8245-601: The treatise "Against the Messalians" linking the hesychasts to the Messalians and thereby accusing them of heresy. In "Against the Messalians", Barlaam attacked Gregory by name for the first time. Barlaam derisively called the Hesychasts omphalopsychoi (men with their souls in their navels) and accused them of the heresy of Messalianism , also known as Bogomilism in the East. According to Meyendorff, Barlaam viewed "any claim of real and conscious experience of God as Messalianism". In

8342-576: The valleys of the Morava and Axios river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece. The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia. At the time of the Roman Empire, about 50 AD, Thessaloniki was also one of the early centres of Christianity ; while on his second missionary journey, Paul the Apostle visited this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed

8439-537: The vision of the Apostles), that the light of the Transfiguration is something which is created and can be undone, that the hesychastic way of life (i.e. the purification of the heart and the unceasing noetic prayer) is not essential – are views which express a supra-scholastic and, subsequently, a secularised point of view of theology. Saint Gregory Palamas foresaw the danger that these views held for Orthodoxy and through

8536-550: The years 1333–1334, Barlaam undertook to negotiate the union of churches with the representatives of Pope John XXII . For this occasion he wrote twenty-one treatises against the Latins in which he opposed papal primacy and the filioque doctrine. Emperor Andronicus III sent Barlaam on important diplomatic missions to Robert the Wise in Naples and to Philip VI in Paris. In 1339, he was sent to

8633-459: Was an ethnic Greek . Bernardo moved to Constantinople in the 1320s, where he soon gained entrance into ecclesiastical and political circles, especially those around the emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus , who gave him a teaching position at the university. He was tonsured a monk at the monastery of Sant'Elia di Capassino and given the name Barlaam. Eventually, he was made the Hegumen (abbot) of

8730-500: Was appointed Papal Ambassador to Constantinople but, his mission having ended in failure, he returned to Gerace where he died in 1348. Barlaam, by his upbringing and philosophy, spanned the gap between the Christian East and West. Though he was never able to synthesize both traditions in a satisfactory manner, he did end up influencing both. The Zealots of Thessalonica were influenced by Barlaam's teachings, and his arguments affected

8827-550: Was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture , sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in existence by 2010. In 2004, the city hosted a number of the football events as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics . Today, Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in Southeastern Europe , with its port,

8924-801: Was in the centre of radical activities by various groups; the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization , founded in 1897, and the Greek Macedonian Committee , founded in 1903. In 1903, a Bulgarian anarchist group known as the Boatmen of Thessaloniki planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki, including the Ottoman Bank , with some assistance from the IMRO. The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki (now

9021-584: Was maintained by the Hesychasts to be of divine origin and to be identical to the light which had been manifested to Jesus' disciples on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration . Barlaam viewed this doctrine of "uncreated light" to be polytheistic because as it postulated two eternal substances, a visible and an invisible God. Barlaam accuses the use of the Jesus Prayer as being a practice of Bogomilism . The second triad quotes some of Barlaam's writings directly. In response to this second triad, Barlaam composed

9118-500: Was not linked to the already existing Romaniots community. Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th century, however, nearly 20,000 Sephardic Jews immigrated to Greece from the Iberian Peninsula following their expulsion from Spain by the 1492 Alhambra Decree . By c. 1500, the number of households had grown to 7,986 Christian ones, 8,575 Muslim ones, and 3,770 Jewish. By 1519, Sephardic Jewish households numbered 15,715, 54% of

9215-565: Was recovered again in 1246, this time by the Nicaean Empire . In 1342, the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots , an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor, which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary. The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire, as it had its own government, a form of republic. The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and

9312-482: Was the 2014 European Youth Capital . The city's main university, Aristotle University , is the largest in Greece and the Balkans . The city was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon , who named it after his wife Thessalonike , daughter of Philip II of Macedon and sister of Alexander the Great . It was built 40 km southeast of Pella , the capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia . An important metropolis by

9409-471: Was written in the second half of the 1330s and are based on personal discussions between Palamas and Barlaam although Barlaam is never mentioned by name. Gregory's teaching was affirmed by the superiors and principal monks of Mt. Athos, who met in synod during 1340–1. In early 1341, the monastic communities of Mount Athos wrote the Hagioritic Tome under the supervision and inspiration of Palamas. Although

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