|
WHITE TOWER
WHY WE
(THE TEAM) USED THE TITLE OF
‘’WHITE
TOWER’’?
BECAUSE
THE BASE OF THE TEAM IS THE CITY THESSALONIKI
AND OF COURSE THE EMBLEM OF THE CITY IS THE WHITE TOWER.
The White
Tower of Thessaloniki (in Greek: Lefkos
Pyrgos) is a monument and museum on the waterfront of the city of Thessaloniki, capital of the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. It has been adopted as the
symbol of the city, and also as a symbol of Greek sovereignty over Macedonia.
History
The
present tower dates from the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent (1520-66). There was an older tower on the same site, probably
built by French knights during the period of the Latin Empire in Constantinople. The Tower was used by the Ottomans
successively as a fort, garrison and a prison. In 1826, at the order of the
Sultan Mahmud II, there was a massacre of the prisoners in the Tower. Owing to
the "countless victims of Ottoman torturers and executioners", the
tower acquired the name "Tower
of Blood", which it
kept until the end of the eighteenth century.
The
Tower was for centuries part of the walls of the old city of Thessaloniki (known as Salonik in Ottoman
times), and separated the Jewish quarter of the city from the cemetaries of the
Muslims and Jews. The city walls were demolished in 1866. When Thessaloniki was captured by the Greeks
during the Balkan War of 1912, the tower was whitewashed as a symbolic gesture
of cleansing, and acquired its present name. King George I of Greece was assassinated not far from the White Tower
in March 1913.
The WHITE TOWER and the OLYMPIC FLAME
The
Tower is now a buff colour but has retained the name White Tower.
It now stands on Thessaloniki's
waterfront boulevard, Nikis (Victory) Street. It houses a Byzantine museum and
is one of the city's leading tourist attractions. The Tower is under the
administation of the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of
Culture.
|
The Name 
Sign
