By Nicolas Bard

The city of Veria is built at the foot of Mount Vermio and very close to the Aliakmonas River and today has about 52,500 inhabitants. The capital of Imathia has a rich history, lost in the depths of centuries, but also a particular identity that differentiates it from other Macedonian cities.

The city is also known as “Little Jerusalem” as it has 48 small and large churches, most of which are inside the urban tissue. However, apart from its great religious interest, Veria stands out for its particular architecture and imposing mansions, which are still in very good condition today in the historic “mahalades” of the city.

Take a stroll through the paved straits, you will feel traveling back in time, somewhere in the mid -19th century, when Veria numbered 16 total districts.

Lord, Barbututa and Our Lady on the right are three traditional neighborhoods that have maintained their identity and color in the hard passage of time. There you will see many mansions, excellent examples of traditional Macedonian architecture that have been restored and fully functional and habitable, while giving an additional value to the modern city. Together with the churches, these mansions literally adorn the city center and create a highly cinematic setting. In your wandering in the Straits, you will have the opportunity to see many traditional Greek, Turkish and Jewish mansions of the 19th century, Byzantine and post -Byzantine churches, the old metropolis, the Jewish synagogue and the emblematic industrial buildings that “carry” much of the most of the new.

The traditional mansions of Veria are stone -built, with their features colorful “sahki” protruding the successive windows, which are at different heights. These houses, with its numerous rooms and rich interior decoration, are very close to each other, and they pass small cobbled streets between them. Still, the courtyards are surrounded by high walls and hiding in blossomed gardens, though some of them are covered! Most of the alleys in these neighborhoods end up in a church, which were and still constitute a gathering of the community’s faithful. Our Lady of Valtesiani, Saint Vlasios, Ypapanti, Saint Savvas and Saint Andrew are some of the historic churches of the city.

Another feature of Veria that will undoubtedly fascinate you is the green spaces within the urban fabric and the Tripotamos River, which crosses the western part of the city and creates the ideal area for walking or sports. The picturesque bridges in the shadow of the centuries -old plane trees and the Its compose a place that we can hardly find in the center of a big city. Still, the plain of Veria extends in front of the city, and when the peachs bloom late February by mid -March, the landscape looks like an impressionistic painting. Indeed, the blooming peaches of the area became a central theme in the National Geographic documentary entitled “Europe from Above”, highlighting Veria to a world -renowned destination!

Before leaving there, you must definitely try the famous Veria Revani, available in all pastry shops and is a sweet “symbol” of the city. Its history begins during the Turkish occupation, and a milestone year was in 1886, when the Ottoman authorities granted permission to open a dairy shop in the city. There, in addition to yogurt and syrupy sweets, the sought after Rani was sold. Tradition wants the recipe to stay the same since then, and to be inherited with love from generation to generation, so as not to lose this sweet shade of the city …