The Roman Forum

Info

  • Coordinates:

    40.637540, 22.946447

  • Phone:

    (+30) 2310 221 266

  • Working hours:

    8:30-15:30, Tuesday: closed

  • Ticket price:

     € 3, Concession ticket:  € 2

At the junction of Olympou Street and Filippou Street, you can find the Roman Forum, the social and religious center of Roman Thessaloniki. Its construction was completed in two phases (mid 2nd and mid 3rd century A.C.) and includes the large rectangular square, the ground floor of the double underground Cryptic Galleria (functioned most probably as a warehouse), the odeon, the mint, the city’ s registry, as well as the circle baths. A contemporary Museum has been established displaying the process of the excavation, the place’s history since the Hellenistic era, and data concerning the construction of the Museum. Walking the Roman Forum, the visitor comes across the famous Magemenes (The Enchanted Ones), or as the Hispanic Jews living in the area used to call them, Las Incantadas. It’s about the upper part of a two-storey colonnade, decorated, on its two main sides, with eight sculptured mythological figures: that of a Maenad, Dionysus, Ariadne, Leda, Nike, Aura, one of the Dioskouri, and Ganymede, all of which were detached in 1864, and can be admired today in the Museum of Louvre, Paris. The site can be accessed through the Cryptic Galleria, and is handicap friendly. On the west side you can find a cafeteria, restrooms, and two underground multipurpose and exhibition halls.