White Tower of Thessaloniki

The White Tower of Thessaloniki (Greek: Λευκός Πύργος Lefkós Pýrgos; Turkish: Beyaz Kule; Ladino: Kuli Blanka) is a monument and museum on the waterfront of the city of Thessaloniki, capital of the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. The present tower likely replaced an old Byzantine fortification, known to have been mentioned around the 12th century, that the Ottoman Empire reconstructed to fortify the city's fortress some time after Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki in 1430. During the period of Ottoman rule, the tower became a notorious prison and the scene of numerous mass executions, most famously of the Janissaries who revolted during the reign of Mahmud II.

In 1912, as Greece gained control over the city, the White Tower was substantially remodeled and its exterior was whitewashed. The White Tower has been adopted as the symbol of the city.

Text adapted from “White Tower of Thessaloniki” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

White Tower of Thessaloniki ranks #180 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #3 of the 119 mapped in Greece. Founded 1500, it is older than 44% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 410 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗