Editing Thessaloniki (section)

===Archaeological sites===
{{see also|Thessaloniki Metro#Archaeology}}
[[File:The Roman forum.jpg|alt=The Roman Forum (Ancient Agora)|thumb|View of the [[Roman Forum (Thessaloniki)|Roman Forum]] (Ancient Agora)]]
Thessaloniki is home to a number of prominent archaeological sites. Apart from its recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Thessaloniki features a large two-terraced [[Roman Forum (Thessaloniki)|Roman forum]]<ref name="Frommer's Greece Forum 1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5Gdko3i7BYC&q=thessaloniki+forum&pg=PA611 |title=Frommer's Greece |author1=John S. Bowman |author2=Sherry Marker |author3=Peter Kerasiotis |author4=Rebecca Tobin |date=25 January 2008 |publisher=Frommer's |access-date=5 December 2011 |isbn=9780470260814 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315032053/https://books.google.com/books?id=t5Gdko3i7BYC&q=thessaloniki+forum&pg=PA611 |url-status=live }}</ref> featuring two-storey [[stoa]]s,<ref name="A Guide"/> dug up by accident in the 1960s.<ref name="Frommer's Greece Forum 1"/> The forum complex also boasts two [[Roman baths]],<ref name="A Companion 1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&q=thessaloniki+forum&pg=PT275 |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |author1=Joseph Roisman |author2=Ian Worthington |year=2011 |publisher=Wiley-Backwell |access-date=5 December 2011 |isbn=9781444351637 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315032055/https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&q=thessaloniki+forum&pg=PT275#v=snippet&q=thessaloniki%20forum&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> one of which has been excavated while the other is buried underneath the city.<ref name="A Companion 1"/> The forum also features a small theater,<ref name="Frommer's Greece Forum 1"/><ref name="A Companion 1"/> which was also used for [[gladiatorial games]].<ref name="A Guide"/> Although the initial complex was not built in Roman times, it was largely refurbished in the second century.<ref name="A Companion 1"/> It is believed that the forum and the theater continued to be used until at least the sixth century.<ref name="From Early Roman">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8f_f04haw8C&q=forum&pg=PA169 |title=From Roman to early Christian Thessalonikē: studies in religion and archaeology |author1=Laura Salah Nasrallah |author2=Charalambos Bakirtzis |author3=Steven J. Friesen |year=2010 |publisher=Harvard College |access-date=5 December 2011 |isbn=9780674053229 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315032020/https://books.google.com/books?id=o8f_f04haw8C&q=forum&pg=PA169#v=snippet&q=forum&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another important archaeological site is the imperial palace complex which Roman emperor [[Galerius]], located at [[Navarinou Square]], commissioned when he made Thessaloniki the capital of his portion of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref name="Roman Empire"/><ref name="Roman Empire 2"/> The large octagonal portion of the complex, most of which survives to this day, is believed to have been an imperial throne room.<ref name="A Guide">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=248rXe16v9YC&q=palace+of+galerius&pg=PA136 |title=A guide to biblical sites in Greece and Turkey |author1=Clyde E. Fant |author2=Mitchell Glenn Reddish |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=5 December 2011 |isbn=9780195139174 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315031928/https://books.google.com/books?id=248rXe16v9YC&q=palace+of+galerius&pg=PA136#v=snippet&q=palace%20of%20galerius&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Various [[mosaic]]s from the palatial complex have also survived.<ref name="The Archaeology">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5g9AAAAIAAJ&q=palace+of+galerius&pg=PA108 |title=The archeology of the New Testament: the Mediterranean world of the early Christian Apostles |author=Jack Finegan |year=1981 |publisher=Westview Press |access-date=5 December 2011 |isbn=9780709910060 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315031940/https://books.google.com/books?id=L5g9AAAAIAAJ&q=palace+of+galerius&pg=PA108 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some historians believe that the complex must have been in use as an imperial residence until the 11th century.<ref name="From Early Roman"/>

{{Easy CSS image crop|image=Column pedestal with reliefs personifying Rome and, probably, Thessaloniki, 5th cent. (9168356588).jpg|desired_width=220|crop_left_perc=30|crop_right_perc=20|crop_top_perc=20|crop_bottom_perc=25|align=right|Description=A 4th-century Roman column with a female figure in relief, perhaps the personification of Thessalonica.}}

Not far from the palace itself is the [[Arch of Galerius]],<ref name="The Archaeology"/> known colloquially as the ''Kamara''. The arch was built to commemorate the emperor's campaigns against the [[Persia]]ns.<ref name="A Guide"/><ref name="The Archaeology"/> The original structure featured three arches;<ref name="A Guide"/> however, only two full arches and part of the third survive to this day. Many of the arches' marble parts survive as well,<ref name="A Guide"/> although it is mostly the brick interior that can be seen today.

Other monuments of the city's past, such as ''[[Las Incantadas]]'', a [[Caryatid]] portico from the ancient forum, have been removed or destroyed over the years. Las Incantadas in particular are on display at the [[Louvre]].<ref name="Frommer's Greece Forum 1"/><ref name="Skai Incantadas"/> Thanks to a private donation of €180,000, it was announced on 6 December 2011 that a replica of Las Incantadas would be commissioned and later put on display in Thessaloniki.<ref name="Skai Incantadas">{{cite web |url=http://www.skai.gr/news/culture/article/188325/thessaloniki-kataskeui-adigrafon-apo-to-louvro/ |script-title=el:Θεσσαλονίκη: Κατασκευή αντιγράφων από το Λούβρο |trans-title=Thessaloniki: Construction of replicas from the Louvre |language=el |date=6 December 2011 |publisher=[[Skai TV]] |access-date=6 December 2011 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204090748/http://www.skai.gr/news/culture/article/188325/thessaloniki-kataskeui-adigrafon-apo-to-louvro/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The construction of the [[Thessaloniki Metro]] inadvertently started the largest [[Excavation (archaeology)|archaeological dig]] not only of the city, but of [[Northern Greece]]; the dig spans {{cvt|20|sqkm|sqmi}} and has unearthed 300,000 individual artefacts from as early as the [[Roman Empire]] and as late as the [[Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917]].<ref name="am 83 deth">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ametro.gr/?p=13667 |script-title=el:ΑΤΤΙΚΟ ΜΕΤΡΟ: "Το Μέτρο στη πόλη μας" με το πρώτο του βαγόνι. Συμμετοχή της Αττικό Μετρό Α.Ε. στην 83η Δ.Ε.Θ. |website=www.ametro.gr |language=el |trans-title=Attiko Metro: "The Metro in our city" with the first carriage. The participation of Attiko Metro S.A. at the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair |access-date=8 September 2018 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909035429/http://www.ametro.gr/?p=13667 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.protagon.gr/epikairotita/thessaloniki-ola-ta-arxaia-pou-anadythikan-mesw-metro-44341572063 |website=www.protagon.gr |script-title=el:Θεσσαλονίκη: Ολα τα αρχαία που αναδύθηκαν μέσω... Μετρό |trans-title=Thessaloniki: All the antiquities that surfaced via... the metro |language=el |access-date=9 September 2018 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073924/https://www.protagon.gr/epikairotita/thessaloniki-ola-ta-arxaia-pou-anadythikan-mesw-metro-44341572063 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ancient Thessaloniki's [[Decumanus Maximus]] was also found and {{convert|75|m|ft}} of the marble-paved and column-lined road were unearthed along with shops, other buildings, and plumbing, prompting one scholar to describe the discovery as "the Byzantine [[Pompeii]]".<ref name="Byzantine Pompeii">{{cite news |author=Giorgos Christides |date=14 March 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21743758 |title=Thessaloniki metro: Ancient dilemma for modern Greece |website=www.bbc.co.uk |access-date=13 August 2018 |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416202648/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21743758 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of the artefacts will be put on display inside the metro stations, while {{metro|Venizelou}} will feature the world's first open [[archaeological site]] located within a metro station.<ref name="Excavations">{{cite web |author=Attiko Metro S.A. |url=http://www.ametro.gr/?page_id=165 |title=Αρχαιολογικές ανασκαφές |trans-title=Archaeological excavations |website=www.ametro.gr |access-date=13 August 2018 |language=el |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514120617/https://www.ametro.gr/?page_id=165 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="you go">{{Cite web |url=https://yougoculture.com/news/first-metro-network-ancient-monuments |title=The first Metro network with ancient monuments |date=16 March 2018 |website=www.yougoculture.com |publisher=[[National and Kapodistrian University of Athens]] |language=en |access-date=11 September 2018 |archive-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911225231/https://yougoculture.com/news/first-metro-network-ancient-monuments |url-status=live }}</ref>