Tower of Anaglifos: A Byzantine Fortification Tower in Thessaloniki
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Greece
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Byzantine
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Tower
History
The Tower of Anaglifos is a Byzantine fortification tower in Thessaloniki, Greece, forming part of the city’s walls at the Vardari Fortress, also known as Top Hane. A marble inscription found during consolidation work on the fortifications dates a renovation of the tower to AD 862, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Michael III. The inscription names Marinos, a royal protopspatharios, a senior Byzantine court official, and Kakikis, a royal strator, an official who supervised the work.
The tower is also called the Tower of the Relief because a Hellenistic marble relief was incorporated into its eastern wall. This reused sculpture gives the fortification its distinctive name and connects the surviving Byzantine structure with an earlier artistic tradition.
Remains
The tower stands at the southwestern end of the Thessaloniki fortifications within the Vardari Fortress. It is described as a square structure measuring 9 by 6 metres. Its eastern wall contains the Hellenistic relief, which shows a seated figure on a klismos, an ancient Greek chair with curved legs and a curved backrest. The scene has been interpreted in several ways: it may depict a deceased man receiving an offering from an attendant slave, a host welcoming a guest, or a teacher with a student.
