If you want to drive to the Arch of Galerius the easiest way from any location of the city, you can Rent a Car in Thessaloniki
Arch of Galerius in Thessaloniki – Its Architecture & History
The Arch of Galerius,also known as Kamara, was built in 305 AD after the final victory of the Emperor over the Persians and built when Galerius returned to Greece to be commended for his victory. At its original form the Arch was a 4-eightgates massive central pillar with 4 subs on its side, as many bows and a low spherical dome.
Nowadays, two main pillars and a secondary remain, associated with a brick arch. We should not neglect its distinguishing ornamentation. The main feature of the decoration is the multitude of performances and styles. For decorative goals often natural proportions are overlooked (elephants have the same height as the horse or horses are smaller than humans). The art of bolections is based much more on the visual values than on plastic ones. The bolections of the Αrch can be distinguished through a Hellenistic grace, proving most certainly that Greeks built it. Evidence of this is the Greek inscriptions that are engraved between representations of the reliefs: River, tiger, universe, etc. In 14 areas of northern pillars depicting battles and the course of Galerius and his army to the country of the Persians. In contrast the 14 zones of the south piers, reproduce the military power of Galerius and the political strength and unity Tetrarchy as a system that can govern the world.
The first fixative operations were performed under the Turkish rule (1889). In 1952 a large and extensive fixative and conservative operation was performed on the surfaces of the two central pillars. In 1954 the ground level of the Egnatia street descended to their present level exposing the bases of the columns. Finally, P. Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities did maintenance, fixing and cleaning works on the marble reliefs in the period 1991-2001 due to air pollution.
Today, the Arch of Galerius is located next to the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, and therefore very close to the homes of students. For this reason, in the Arch area, there are many cafeterias and it is the most famous meeting place for students before their evening outings. It would be a mistake for someone who wants to know the city of Thessaloniki not to visit such a remarkable sight as the memorial Arch. It is impressive to still find that such an important monument as the Kamara standing amongst other such tasteless buildings in central Thessaloniki. Most people today do not even consider the value of this monument, and its age.
Arch of Galerius is one of the greatest monuments of Thessaloniki. The easiest way to visit it is to rent a car from our Car Rental Agency to avoid unnecessary waste of time and money.
We also offer transfer from Thessaloniki airport to the Arch of Galerius. Our transfer service offers economic transfers by shuttle, taxi for 1-3 people or mini-bus for 4-8 people, from Thessaloniki Airport to Thessaloniki center.