The White Tower, the landmark of Thessaloniki, has been standing at the city’s center for about 480 years now.  Formerly, the tower was called “Tower of Lions”, and during the Ottoman Empire it was used as a prison for death row inmates. This is when it acquired the name Kanli-Kule, which means “Tower of blood”, since the walls were filled with blood after the massacre and torture of the prisoners.  Its current name was acquired when a Jewish inmate whitewashed the tower in exchange for his freedom. After the demolition of the surrounding wall during the late 19^th-early 20^th century, the tower housed the allied forces’ communication center during WWI.  The monument became public property after the liberation of Thessaloniki (1912) and since then thousands of travelers from all over the world come to visit it, making it the ‘most viewed’ monument of Northern Greece. The visitors can admire the view to the city from the top of the 34m tower and the exhibition about the history and arts of the city hosted in its interior. On your way down, enjoy the sun and the cool breeze or listen to the music played by groups of young people who gather around the tower when the night falls.