Thessalonike

   Second most important city of Byzantium (q.v.), after Constantinople (q.v.). It was also the chief city of Thrace (q.v.) whose port was a major center of trade. The 12th-century Timarion (q.v.) describes the annual fair of the city as hosting merchants from as far away as Egypt and Spain (qq.v.). The city's strategic importance derived mainly from its location at the juncture of two main highways: the Via Egnatia (q.v.) and the route that went south from the Danube (q.v.) via Belgade and Skopje (qq.v.). It was the capital of the prefecture of Illyricum (qq.v.) from the fifth century, and capital of the theme (q.v.) of Thessalonike from the ninth century. Its history was punctuated by sieges and conquests, in part because any invasion of the Balkan Peninsula (q.v.) along its major land routes put the city at risk. There were numerous sieges by Avars Slavs (qq.v.), the first in 586; on these occasions, according to The Miracles of St. Demetrios, the city's patron saint, Demetrios, aided the city's defense. It was also besieged by the Serbs and by the Catalan Grand Company (qq.v.). The city was captured by Leo of Tripoli in 904, briefly by the Normans (q.v.) in 1185, by Boniface of Montferrat in 1204, by Theodore Komnenos Doukas in 1224, by John III Vatatzes in 1246, and by the Ottomans (qq.v.) in 1387 (and again in 1394). The Zealots (q.v.) held it from 1342-1350. It surrendered to Venice (q.v.) in 1423, but Murad II (q.v.) seized it for the Ottomans in 1430. Thessalonike preserves numerous Byzantine monuments, from its circuit walls (ca. 450) to splendid churches that include the famous fifth-century church of St. Demetrios, also the churches of Acheiropoietos, Hosios David, and Hagios Georgios (all fifth century in date), as well as the later churches of Hagia Sophia (eighth century?), Panaghia ton Chalkeon (1028), Nicholas Orphanos (early 14th century), St. Catherine (late 13th century.), and of the Holy Apostles (ca. 1329).