White Tower – Thessaloniki, Greece

Overview & Quick Tips

The first tower was built as a Byzantine fortification in the 12th century, and it was replaced and reconstructed in the 15th century by the Ottomans. Through history, it was used as a fort for the harbor's defense, as a garrison and as a prison, while today it is a museum that shows the life of Thessaloniki through the centuries. The highest level of the White Tower is used as a viewpoint.

Detailed information

After its long history and different kinds of purposes, the White Tower is today used as a museum, which displays the history of the city and its people as a permanent exhibition. At the same time, many temporary exhibitions are held from time to time, and there are many interactive exhibitions for the kids, but also for the adult visitors. In addition to its primary purpose, the White Tower’s highest point serves as a viewpoint, from which you can see a good part of the city, as well as the port, the park and the sea. Altogether, there is plenty to photograph within the Tower, and it all requires different setup.

Exhibition related tips – if you plan to visit the exhibition inside the tower, make sure to take an audio guide in your language or in English. The museum has six floors, each of them contains a themed part of the exhibition – and everything is written in Greek. That is why audio-guide is preferable to use, unless you speak Greek.

 

Inside – the museum has six floors, each of which contains a part of the exhibition related to a particular topic (e.g. journeys and trade on one floor, Byzantine home on the other, etc). Every floor can be reached by climbing up a circular staircase, and some of the floors contain several rooms to be explored. All in all, the museum is very well thought of and the concept is very interesting. Inside the museum, there are stairs, walls and arches made of stone, which gives a special mood and the atmosphere to the whole building. Each of the floors is quite dark, so if you plan to take any photos inside, you will most definitely need to use a tripod. When it comes to a lens, even prime lens like 35 mm or 50 mm can be satisfactory, since they have a wide aperture and the museum is full of details to capture, rather than photographing anything with a zoom or wide-angle lens. As far as I can remember, it is not forbidden to take photos with a flash, so you can use it if you do not want to use a tripod – but keep in mind that it changes the mood of the photos immensely.

What you need to pay attention to when photographing are people. Since the White Tower is the heart of the city, it is visited by many tourists from all around the world, throughout the year. If you want to take many photos here, it is better to come in September or October, when the vacation season is on the decline and there are no so many tourists.

 

Outside – the roof of the Tower serves as a viewpoint, from which the view is truly magnificent. Since the opening hours of the museum are from 8:30 to 15:00 h, you do not have too much of a choice if you want to come during the afternoon hours. The view of the sea is on the western side of the Tower, but you will not be able to see the sunset, since the Tower is only open till 3 p.m.  However, if you come during September/October, the Sun will be lower on the sky than during summer months, which has several advantages. First, the shadows of the trees in a park below the tower can help create interesting photos. Then, the Sun creates sparkly reflection on the water surface, and finally – the view on eastern side is better lit than in the morning hours.

 

When it comes to the equipment needed for the outside photos, it varies on your preferences, but these are some basic tips:

–Tripod – even though there is enough light outside, the tripod can be useful here just like in the dark inner rooms of the tower. This is because the tower’s roof is ideal for making panoramic photos, and you will agree that it is not easy to do without a tripod.

–Lenses – there is so much to see from the top of the tower, that I can hardly decide what type of lens or lenses would be the best to use. Personally, I liked taking photos of the details around and below me rather than using wide angles, but there is no doubt that a wide angle lens would be suitable for a view like this. On the other hand, if you prefer taking photos of the details, such as shadows, buildings, boats, a zoom lens is preferable.
What makes the decision difficult is that whole other type of lenses are suitable for indoor and outdoor shooting when it comes to the White Tower. Therefore, in order not to carry tons of equipment, I would recommend to take one prime lens (30 mm would probably be the best) for indoor photos, and a zoom lens that also covers wide angle (18-105 mm or whichever you have) for taking photos from the roof.

–External flash – you may need it for taking photos inside the Tower, since it gives much better light and more alternatives than a built-in flash.

• Contact & Links
• Best Times
• Send To A Friend
• Get Directions