Thessaloniki Metro to Present Five Stations-Museums and Two Archaeological Sites

The archaeological site near the Agia Sophia metro station. Photo source: Culture Ministry.

Thessaloniki’s new metro system, slated to open in 2024, is set to transform the city’s daily life, not only by providing a modern and efficient transportation network but also by showcasing the city’s rich cultural heritage.

According to Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, who spoke about the project during a contract signing event in Thessaloniki, five of the metro stations will also run as museums. Also, two archaeological sites are to be integrated into the metro system.

“The presence of antiquities in the context of a major public infrastructure project is an important asset,” said Mendoni, highlighting the importance of archaeological research, which in the case of Thessaloniki, offered unique findings and stories about the city’s 2,300-year-old history.

The archaeological site near the Agia Sophia metro station. Photo source: Culture Ministry.

The archaeological excavations at the Thessaloniki metro stations have revealed a wealth of history, dating back to the city’s founding in the 4th century BC.

Archaeological sites, stations-museums

At the Venizelou station, which is home to the largest international archaeological site integrated into a major infrastructure project, archaeologists uncovered the remains of the ancient city of Thessaloniki, including a Hellenistic road, the Roman and Late Antique Decumanus Maximus, and the Byzantine Avenue or Central Road.

The Agia Sophia metro station, just 800 meters from the Venizelou station, also yielded important archaeological finds, including the remains of a unique image of the early Byzantine city. At the junction of the Decumanus Maximus (Egnatia Avenue) and the Cardo (at the level of Agia Sophia Avenue), archaeologists found semicircular colonnaded arcades, defining marble paved squares.

Photorealistic portrayal of the museum’s exhibition areas. Photo source: Ministry of Culture.

In addition to the archaeological sites, five Thessaloniki metro stations (Venizelou, Agia Sophia, Sintrivani-Ekthesi, Fleming and Dimokratias Square) will also feature exhibitions that outline the character of each area of the city.

In Agia Sophia, the main focus will be on the presentation of the entire stratigraphy with the overlapping of phases in order to reflect the entire historical timeline of the city, while at Venizelou the exhibition will focus on the remains of the ancient city of Thessaloniki.

Photo source: Attiko Metro SA

More specifically an 800-square-meter new archaeological site will be created north of the Agias Sophias station by the local Antiquities Ephorate and the Thessaloniki Municipality funded by the RRF and scheduled to open to the public by the end of the year.

During the event, Mendoni also announced that many important antiquities extracted during the excavation period will be exhibited in the two museums designed by the Culture Ministry for the cause. One will be located in Western Thessaloniki at the Pavlos Melas Metropolitan Park, with a completion date of 2025, and the second in the underground Crossover building by the Sintrivani-Ekthesi metro station with a projected completion date of 2027.