The Port of Our Heart and Our Future

The port of Thessaloniki was established at the same time as the city, 315/6 BC, by the King of Macedonia Kassandros, being an important naval center throughout the period of the Macedonian Empire.

During the Roman Empire, Egnatia Street used to offer the port easy access to a large hinterland, while its strategic location and connections made it one of the most appreciated ports.

During the Byzantine Empire, Constantine built a new harbor outside the city walls. Throughout the over one thousand years of history of the Byzantine Empire, the port of Thessaloniki was the natural choice for serving import, export and transit trade of the wider region.



In the first decades, after the occupation of Thessaloniki by Sultan Murad II in 1430, the city almost deserted. Thessaloniki and its port slowly recovered their old glory after the city’s colonization by Greeks, Turks and Israelites.

The port of Thessaloniki was connected by regular shipping lines to all the well-known Mediterranean ports and served with great success the needs of its large hinterland, making it once again one of the first ports of the East.

Its modern history begins in the late 19th century with the extension of the Thessaloniki waterfront to the sea and the creation of a section of the eastern side of today’s 1st pier.



Since the end of the Second World War, the port of Thessaloniki has been continuously expanding to the west, beginning with the restoration of the facilities and later with the construction of new piers, storage areas, roads and railway lines, while simultaneously purchasing modern mechanical equipment.

Today, with a new stock structure and foreign investment funds, the port looks optimistically towards the future of the city, since it is the largest transit trade port of the country and the main pillar of development for the local economy and the country, as well as the gateway serving Northern Greece and South Balkan trade as well as millions of tons of goods each year.



The 1st pier is the connecting point of the Port with Culture, as it hosts the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museums of Cinema and Photography, but also a favorite area for rest and walk for locals and visitors.