Another long day geared up to visit Thessaloniki (thessali means region and niki means victory , region of victory), started early with a plan to visit historic churches , the tombs of the Alexander the Great at Macedonia. Thessaloniki was liberated in Oct 1912 , often referred to has ‘Mother of Israel’ due to the second home of largest number of Jews. The history states that according to Acts17:5 that Thessalonica was visited by Apostle Paul , debated in the synagogues about the religious doctrines and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ which made some of the Jews realize and welcome the truth while few were agitated and organized a mob against Jason where Paul was staying , got Paul arrested and brought to the forum where judges prosecuted while nothing against Paul was proved wrong . Later Paul left to Beroea , many Jews and non Jews welcomed the Gospel while the Jews of Thessaloniki stirred against Paul and before they came to Beroea , Paul was sent to Athens.
The historical church visits of St. Demetrius and Hagia Sophia , a detailed walk thru of the churches from the 4th – 5th AD . Interesting fact about St. Demetrius when died , his body was not decomposed for a very long time and from his coffin a oily liquid was sweating from his body and it was so much that they diverted the liquid to a font like dwelling where the believers on their visit to St. Demetrius basilica took the oil and used as symbol of healing on application. The remains of the archeological site give a great reflection of roman period. Hagia Sophia ( Holy Wisdom) which was a church and later converted to a mosque during byzantine ( Ottoman) rule and later as a church museum after Thessaloniki museum provides the greater insights on the how the Epiphany of Cross was upheld with a beautiful mosaic iconography of the paradise with the cross in the south entrance and is the second largest of rotunda(circular) architecture with 75 & 125 feet in area after Pompeli of Rome.
Later in the day was the visit to the excavation of the tombs of Alexandar the great , Phillip his father and few other royal personalities with the museum visit of the various historical observants .The irony of the tombs was the in tactful preservation of the structure and excavation of the valuable treasures of the times of Alexander the great. Overall the day was filled with these informational and theological evidential sites which helps one to learn and reflect. Next stop at Meteora / Kalambaka for the night rest and next day expedition to some of the monasteries.
-Lax
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