Veria

Veria, sometimes spelled Veroia, is one of those cities that repays the traveller who stops. It climbs a hillside above the plain of Macedonia, its old quarter a network of steep lanes and courtyards that looks as if the last five centuries have barely touched it. The wandering begins in Barbouta, the old Jewish quarter, past synagogues and Ottoman houses with their projecting wooden upper storeys, and climbs to the Kastro, the old Turkish quarter, where the lanes narrow and the rooftops tumble down the hill. Veria's great gift is its churches — dozens of them, Byzantine and post-Byzantine, many with their frescoes still intact. And it was here, in this ordinary, beautiful Macedonian town, that the apostle Paul preached during his second journey, and the place is still marked: a whole quarter of the old town is called the Apostolic district, with monuments to his visit. Veria is also the gateway to the magnificent royal tombs of Vergina, twenty minutes away, and to the mountain country of the Vermion and the Pieria. It is a city that does not shout about itself — and that is precisely its charm.

Veria's history goes back to antiquity; it was one of the great cities of the Macedonian kingdom, mentioned by the historians as a city of importance even before the time of Philip and Alexander. In the centuries of the Roman empire, it was a prosperous city of the province of Macedonia, and it was here, in about 51 AD, that the apostle Paul preached in the synagogue during his second missionary journey — the Bereans who heard him were, in the words of the Book of Acts, 'more noble than those in Thessalonica', and examined the scriptures daily. The city's Byzantine centuries were its golden age of building: Veria retains a remarkable group of Byzantine churches, including the round Church of the Resurrection, whose date is disputed but which is usually placed in the 11th or 12th century, the Church of St. Nicholas of the Poor (one of the masterpieces of 14th-century Macedonian painting), and the great Church of Christ. Under Ottoman rule, Veria (Karaferye) became a city of mosques, synagogues, and churches coexisting in the old quarter. It was a centre of the Macedonian Struggle at the turn of the 20th century, when the Greeks and Bulgarians contested the region, and it was liberated in 1912 during the First Balkan War. The modern city, with its textile mills and its prosperous economy, still preserves its extraordinary historic heart.

The name is recorded by Stephanus of Byzantium in the sixth century AD. His Ethnica is not a book of stories but a dictionary of Greek place-names, and for this one it says: "Others say the name comes from Beres, son of Macedon". (Ethnica, s.v. Βέροια).

That is the whole of what an ancient source has to say about how the place got its name. It is a shorter answer than the guidebooks give, and it is the only one with a source behind it.

Veria is a mountain city, and the sea is close enough to matter: the coast of the Thermaic Gulf at Katerini is about fifty kilometres east, and the beach there is the obvious answer to a hot afternoon. The regional unit is water in a different sense. Edessa, half an hour north, is the city of waterfalls — the Edessaios comes down through the town in a series of falls and canals, and it is the one place nearby where you can walk in spray. Below Veria the river cuts a canyon through the rock on its way out of the plain, and the springs of the Vermion above the city give the whole area its water. Milies, up in the mountains, is the coldest place in Imathia and ends at a gorge. And south of the city the plain opens on Aigai, the old Macedonian capital, which has its own guide here: this county is unusually rich in the remains of the kingdom, and the royal tombs of Vergina are only twenty minutes away.

Veria is a serious food city of the Macedonian tradition. The old town's tavernas serve the classics: souvlaki and souvla, the great grilled meats of northern Greece, the pies filled with the local cheeses, and the beans and the greens of the plain. The region is famous for its peaches (the plain of Imathia is the fruit basket of Greece), its honey, and its wine. Do not miss a spoon sweet made from the local fruit, and the strong coffee of the old town's kafeneia. The tavernas of the old quarter, beneath the trees and the Byzantine walls, are among the most atmospheric in Macedonia.

Spring and autumn are the finest seasons in Veria — mild, golden, and quiet, with the mountains green and the plain in flower. Summer is warm and busy, with the mountain villages and the Pierian beaches providing relief. Winter is cold and can bring snow to the mountains; the ski resort of Seli, on the Vermion, is a short drive away, and the city, with its warm tavernas, is an atmospheric winter base. The Christmas season in Veria, when the old quarter is lit up, is famous throughout the region.

Veroia lies on the Thessaloniki–Platy–Veroia–Edessa–Florina line, the regional route run from Thessaloniki's central station. It is not on the Athens–Thessaloniki intercity axis, which runs north via Larissa rather than through Veroia. The nearest major airport is Thessaloniki International Airport "Makedonia", and the A2 Egnatia Odos covers the remaining distance by road.

Allow a day for the old town alone — it is larger and richer than it looks, and the churches are the finest of their kind. Veria is the perfect base for Vergina: the royal tombs are twenty minutes away and are unmissable. In the evening, eat in the old quarter and let the atmosphere do its work. If you have time, drive up the Vermion for the mountain views, and visit the pierian coast for a beach day. Veria is an easy stop between Thessaloniki and the west.