The Thessaloniki History Centre was created in 1983. Since its foundation
it has served the needs of the public and especially those of the scholarly community
according to the aims set out by its founders.
The Centre belongs to the Library Division of the Cultural Services
of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and seeks to coordinate relevant municipal
activities with those of other scholarly and cultural institutions of the city
and of individual scholars in the field of history. Aims
The Centre has been designed to accomplish the following:
•To collect, preserve, catalogue and study primary and secondary sources
related to the history, cultural heritage, administrative, social and economic
life of Thessaloniki and its environs.
•To carry out and encourage research in the history of Thessaloniki and
Macedonia.
•To promote national and international interest in the history of Thessaloniki
and Macedonia and to encourage collaboration among scholars.
•To develop the interest of Thessaloniki residents in the history of their
city. Operation
Since 1995 the Centre operates in its own building at Hippodrome Square,
donated by Anastasios and Ioulia Billis. It is supervised by an Advisory Committee,
which includes distinguished scholars and other men of letters of Thessaloniki.
This Committee, in turn, has been divided into sub-committees corresponding to
the various activities of the Centre. Archive
The Thessaloniki History Centre houses the municipal historical archive.
Part of this archive is actually located in the Centre building and is gradually
becoming accessible to scholars. The Centre also possesses a number of important
private archival collections. Library and collections
The Centre Library specializes in the city's historical literature.
It also contains an important photographic collection, a map collection and a
collection of cart-postals publicated in the beginning of the twentieth century.
The library is located on the second floor. Other Events
The exhibition hall on the ground floor houses temporary exhibitions
of historical material on the city history, either from the Centre's own collection
or from private collections. The auditorium on the third floor is provided with
modern audio-visual equipment suitable for the organization of conferences and
lecture series. Publications
The Centre publishes historical monographs, conference proceedings
and "Thessaloniki", an annual publication of scholarly articles related
to the history of the city from antiquity to the modern age. Conferences
The Centre organizes conferences and other scholarly meetings alone
or in cooperation with other institutions of Thessaloniki and publishes their
proceedings. Prospects
The Thessaloniki History Centre wishes to serve as the principal documentation
and research centre for the history of Thessaloniki and to highlight the features
of continuity in the city's past, no less than its metropolitan characteristics.
