Hamza Bey Mosque “Alcázar” (49, Egnatia Av., Thessaloniki)
The Hamza Bey Mosque—widely known as the "Alcázar"—is being returned to the city of Thessaloniki after decades, with the monument's inaugural exhibition featuring the city itself in a starring role. The exhibition under the title “Thessaloniki: The Footprint of Transition (1960-1980). Through the photographs of Pete Marifoglou” offers a visual journey through Thessaloniki during a twenty-year period of rapid transformation. Through the black-and-white lens of Thessaloniki-native Pete Marifoglou and images presented to the public for the first time, the city is revealed as a living organism in transition, where tradition coexists and clashes with the new.
The exhibition is structured into three thematic sections that make up the mosaic of postwar Thessaloniki:
The Commercial Character and the Market: It captures the pulse of economic life in the city center and the historic markets, where the birth of modern consumerism still maintains a human touch.
People's Everyday Life: It focuses on the authentic, human rhythm of the city. From the fog of the Thermaic Gulf and the traditional coffee shops (kafenia) to the courtyards of the Upper Town (Ano Poli), it documents a daily life that still retained its bonds with tradition and the countryside.
Monuments in the Modern Urban Fabric: It captures the moment when the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman heritage is "encircled" by the wave of antiparochi (the land-for-apartment exchange system) and reconstruction, while simultaneously beginning its own struggle for preservation and rescue.
Many of the landmarks shown in the exhibition as neglected or choked by traffic have today been restored, exemplarily preserved, and fully integrated into the modern life of the city through pedestrianization and redevelopment projects. The exhibition is not a simple exercise in nostalgia, but a benchmark that highlights Thessaloniki's journey toward modernization, inviting us to recognize the birth of the contemporary city.
Biographical note
Pete (Panagiotis) Marifoglou was born in 1944 in Thessaloniki. His family emigrated to the United States and settled in New York in 1950. Marifoglou lived in Manhattan, where he also studied. As a young student—and later a graduate—of the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, he worked at the legendary Factory sets, where Andy Warhol’s experimental films were produced. Despite the distance, Thessaloniki remained a subject of his photographic gaze; he photographed the city during sporadic trips to Greece from the 1960s through the 1980s. A few years ago, he returned to Thessaloniki following a long career in New York.
Curated by: Thouli Misirloglou, Artistic Director of MOMUS-Museum of Contemporary Art, Theodore Markoglou, Curator at MOMUS-Museum of Contemporary Art
Info useful to know
Address: Hamza Bey Mosque “Alcázar” (49, Egnatia Av., Thessaloniki, 54631, Greece).
Opening days & hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10:00-18:00, Mondays closed. Last entrance, by 17:30. Visitors depart 15’ earlier than the closing time of the monument.
Admission: the entrance to the monument is admission free, until 25 October 2026. Then, there will be a 5€ entrance ticket; reduced prices and admission free, applied to certain groups (student, 65+, etc).
An audio guided tour is available for the monument and the exhibition, in Greek, English and Turkish, powered by Smartify.
