Thessaloniki: Military cemeteries and places of sacrifice

The Aristotelous Square

Start your tour of Thessaloniki at Aristotelous Square, a central and easily accessible point in the city.

The National Resistance Monument

Make a short stop at the National Resistance Monument, a work by Evangelos Moustakas. This multi-figure sculpture is dominated an eerie female figure representing freedom, awakening the People and inciting them to struggle.

The War Museum

Next, visit the Thessaloniki branch of the War Museum. In the first-floor halls, relics and narratives on Greece’s military adventures from the late 18th century until 1974 await you, with particular focus on the Second World War, which has an entire hall dedicated to it. Make sure to visit the basement, which houses Greece’s largest collection dedicated to the great singer Sofia Vembo, who lifted the spirits of the people with her songs during the Greco-Italian War of 1940.

The Monastir Road Indian Cemetery

The international dimension of the two great wars, through the participation and sacrifice of soldiers from every corner of the world, is clearly reflected at Monastir Road Indian Cemetery.

The Zeitenlik Allied Military Cemetery

The Zeitenlik Allied Military Cemetery, located in Thessaloniki, is the largest military cemetery of the First World War in Greece. It serves as the final resting place for thousands of Allied soldiers from various nations, including France, Serbia, Italy, the United Kingdom, and others who fought on the Macedonian Front. Carefully maintained, the cemetery is divided into sections by nationality and stands as a powerful symbol of international cooperation, sacrifice, and remembrance.

The New Jewish Cemetery of Thessaloniki

The memory of the city’s once-thriving Jewish community is kept alive at the New Jewish Cemetery of Thessaloniki, in Stavroupoli. A prominent feature of the site is the menorah placed in memory of the approximately 50,000 Jews who were exterminated by Nazi troops during the Holocaust. 

The Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Commonwealth Military Cemetery

The Mikra British Cemetery