Eleftherias Square (, Platía Eleftherías, ) is a central square in downtown Thessaloniki, Greece. It takes its name from the Young Turk Revolution, which began in the square in 1908. The square is currently a car park, but a public competition was launched by the Municipality of Thessaloniki in 2013 to select a design for its redevelopment into a park. Construction was initially expected to start in 2018 at a cost of €5.1 million ($ million).
The square is bound by Mitropoleos street to the north, Nikis Avenue and the old waterfront of Thessaloniki to the south, Ionos Dragoumi street to the west and Venizelou street to the east. It is trapezoidal in shape and covers an area of approximately . The square is surrounded by banks, insurance companies, and offices.
On 11 July 1942, thousands of Greek Jewish men were rounded up, publicly tortured and humiliated before being registered for forced labour during the Holocaust in Greece.
History
Before becoming a square, the Walls of Thessaloniki ran through the site, along with a Byzantine-era tower to guard the entrance of the port. In the Ottoman period this tower was called (Cannon House). After 1870, when the demolition of the southern and eastern city walls began, the sea would reach the middle of the known square.
The demolition of the wall to make easier the entry to the port created more space and helped the mobility of the ships. The opening of the Mehmet Sabri Pasha road (nowadays Venizelou Street) in 1867 created a small square as the road widened towards the wharfs. It was initially called (Wharf Square) and later (Olympus Square) on account of the views of Mount Olympus across the sea. During the late Ottoman Empire the square became an important cosmopolitan centre of the neighbourhood, known as (, European or Frankish Quarter), and the wider city. It also evolved into centre of commerce and finance, making Thessaloniki the financial capital of the Ottoman Balkans and a substantial economic player in the eastern Mediterranean. The buildings of the Bank of Salonica, the Bank of the Orient, and the Ottoman Bank were all within walking distance of a square. The Olympos Hôtel, including its restaurant, as well as the Hôtel Royale, were focal points of the early Ottoman square. The square itself became the point of entry to the city for visitors travelling by boat.
Beginning in 1893, a rapid transit system is implemented in Thessaloniki by means of a tram network, with Eleftherias Square as the western starting point. Later in the decade the square is lit as part of the introduction of gas lighting in the city, while in 1908 the tram network passing through the square is electrified.
In April 1903, Bulgarian anarchists, members of the Boatmen of Thessaloniki, plant a bomb at a beer hall on the square; this was part of a coordinated terrorist attack which also saw the sinking of the French ship and the bombing nearby Ottoman Bank among others. This event was the starting point of the Macedonian Struggle.
The rise of Thessaloniki as an Ottoman economic powerhouse meant an increase in western travellers, which rendered the original square unfit to cater to their needs. Between 1898 and 1911, the square was entirely rebuilt. Initially, the is expanded and renamed ; soon after, the is demolished and rebuilt. The Ahmet and Mehmet Kamapci brothers, who owned , built another luxury hotel on the square, the , while the , the city's then most modern building, was completed in 1911 under the sponsorship of mayor Hulusi Bey. The also opened on the square, as well as numerous cafés, restaurants, and pâtisseries.
The Jewish , with its library, was also based in the square. It was an upper class progressive society promoting philanthropy and various Jewish causes but at the same time pro-Ottoman and vehemently anti-Zionist; this created a lot of friction between the and the , a rival pro-Zionist private members club on the waterfront which split from the . In his state visit to Thessaloniki in 1908, Sultan Abdulhamid II's official procession passed through the square and in front of the . The standards at the were so high that they impressed a visiting British gentleman.
The events of the Young Turk Revolution gave the square its current name. The Young Turks began the revolution in Thessaloniki and Enver Pasha declared to a crowd gathered on Eleftherias Square that "today the capricious ruler has ended, bad government is no more. We are all brothers. There are no Bulgars, Albanians, Greeks, Serbs, Romanians, Jews, Muslims. Under the blue sky we are all equal, we are proud to be Ottomans!" In old Ottoman and Greek postcards, it henceforth appears in French as Place de la Liberté (Liberty Square).