Among the more unusual monuments on the Thessaloniki list is the Byzantine bath, one of the few surviving examples of the public bathing establishments that the empire inherited from Rome. The building dates from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and it stands in the upper part of the old town, a low, vaulted structure of stone and brick with a cluster of small domes that let in light. Inside there are the traces of a series of chambers, a changing room, a warm room and a hot one, with the remains of the hypocaust, the system of channels under the floor that carried hot air from a furnace. Bathing was not purely a matter of hygiene in the Byzantine world, but also social life, gossip and business.
The bath changed hands as the city did. After 1430 the Ottomans kept the hamam tradition alive in Thessaloniki, with their own domed bathhouses, and the Byzantine building was in use for a time in that way. The city's later fires and building have hidden many such structures, and it is easy to walk past without noticing. Look for the little domes, which stand a bit above the rooftops, with glass lights in them like small eyes.
Riding in this part of the city is slow going. The streets around the bath are narrow and steep, with traffic lights at the bigger junctions and buses on the main roads. Motorbikes are everywhere, and you will fit in if you keep a steady pace and watch the car doors. The surface is a mix of asphalt and old paving, with manhole covers and wet leaves for hazards. If it is hot, take the shade of the plane trees on the squares and drink plenty of water, which is on sale at every kiosk.
Ágios Pávlos has about seven thousand people, and Sykiés about forty-five thousand, with fuel on the main roads and groceries on every corner. For a meal, try a souvlaki wrapped in pita or a plate of mezedes with a glass of tsipouro, the local grape spirit that Thessalonians are proud of. A coffee at a hillside cafe will show you the whole bay, with Mount Olympus faint in the distance on a clear day. The bath is small, so a visit takes only a short time, but it is a good reminder that the city's history was ordinary as well as grand.