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Veria, also known as Véroia.
Ancient name Beroea or Berea.
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| location: |
Veria is the capital of Imathía prefecture,
and is around 68 km west of Thessalonica.
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| local time: |
Eastern European Time (EET)
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| currency: |
Euro
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| climate: |
Mediterranean
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Though Veria has been an important settlement since ancient times, the Roman statesman Cicero (100-43 BC) described it as an "out-of-the-way town" because of its distance from Thessalonika (68 km) and the Roman Via Egnatia. Today, despite being close to a throbbing motorway, it remains a small, neat provincial town amongst the hilly farmland of central Macedonia, with a view across the the broad plain below. It is supposed to have a population of over 38,000, but it's difficult to see how that many inhabitants could fit in here; it only takes about 20 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other.
20 minutes is also all it takes to drive to the ancient Macedonian capital Aigai (today known as Vergina, see Pella). Veria is the capital of Imathía prefecture and a hub for visitors to other historical sites as well as hikers, climbers and skiers.
Saint Paul the Apostle preached in Veria on his evangelical tour of Macedonia (around 49-51 AD) and found a very receptive audience. A grand outdoor marble and mosaic monument to his visit of has been built on the Víma, the square where he preached, at the edge of the town (gallery photos 6-8).
One of the main mosaics depicts Paul's "Macedonian vision" (gallery photo 8), a scene found in many churches in Macedonia. See details below.
Downtown has a couple of main streets lined with smart shops, cafés and offices full of well-dressed young people. Pleasant but unremarkable. As ever, it's when you go behind this modern veneer and explore the side streets and alleys that things get interesting.
As so often in Greece, one comes across the widespread ambivalence to its own history and heritage. Ancient mosques, churches and houses have been left to decay.
During the five centuries of Turkish occupation, churches were disguised as barns and warehouses. There are said to be 48 of these, which explains Veria's epithet "Little Jerusalem". But the stories of disguise seem odd, as you only have to walk past one and peer into a window to see the magnificant frescoes or smell the incense. It it is impossible not to conclude that there must have been a degree of collusion or laissez-faire between the local Greek and Turkish populations. This was certainly not always the case, and the Turkish authorities were known to inflict vicious retribution, such as the hanging of the archbishop in 1436.
Macedonia only became part of modern in Greece in 1913 after the Balkan Wars. Despite the ancient emnities between Greeks and Turks, it is surprising that in many Greek towns the old mosques (and sometimes even hamams and medresas) were not simply torn down or converted into churches. A local I met (who spoke heavily-accented Greek, and a dialect I could not identify) told me that one of the mosques had originally been a church (photos 13 and 14).
Older Greek people have told me of the sadness caused by the enforced exchanges of Greek and Turkish poulations over the century following Greece's independence. The loss of Turks must have left quite a hole in many smaller communities. I also met an elderly couple in Turkey who had been forced out of Crete. They still spoke Greek and felt considerable nostalgia for their home.
Very few people mourn the loss of the Ottoman empire which oppressed just about everybody, but centuries of shared culture, especially amongst the poor, have laid deep roots which politics have not managed to erase.
This may help explain why many old mosques have not been demolished to make way for supermarkets or hotels. but what to do with them? All over Greece Muslim buildings, some very fine architecturally, slowly rot. Of course this is also true of churches and other buildings. Unfortunately, there is neither the means nor the political will to do anything about it.
Likewise, until recently, a synagogue in Veria lay neglected since the 1940s. Now an international fund is planning to renovate it. The Jews had thriving communities in Macedonia from classical times (synagogue is a Greek word meaning coming together). This all ended abruptly when the Nazis invaded and deported them to the concentration camps, including over 800 from Veria.
See: www.isjm.org/jhr/nos3-4/veroia.htm |
Saint Paul's Macedonian Vision
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According to the Book of Acts in the Bible's New Testament, Paul had a vision in Troy (Troas) while on his second missionary journey around the eastern Mediterranean. "A man of Macedonia" appeared to him and asked Paul to go there and help.
Paul was joined on his mission by Silas and Timothy. Interpreting the vision as God's call for them to preach the Gospel in Macedonia, they set off by ship for Neapolis (modern Kavala), stopping overnight on the North Aegean island of Samothraki.
Book of Acts chapter 16, verses 8-12
8. and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us".
10. When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis
12. and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.
Paul eventually went to Thessalonika where he met with opposition to his work from the local jews. So he and Silas moved on to Veria where they received much warmer response. However, their Thessalonian detractors arrived to stir up trouble, forcing Paul to leave for Athens.
Book of Acts chapter 17, verses 10, 11, 13
10. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
13. But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. |
Text and photos: © David John 2004 - 2010
map of Macedonia and the North Aegean
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Some of the information and photos in this guide to Greece originally appeared in 2004-2005 on davidjohnberlin.com.
page 2: history of Veria >
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