Street names in cities often seem to exist only to guide lost travelers, however the story behind street names reveals a past that reflects their true meaning as well as the history of the city itself.
Street names give character and life to the place they refer to and often serve the meaning of a historical landmark for a city. They reveal the politics, culture and ideologies of cities and also provide a common language for the city and its inhabitants.
The placement of 450 smart street name signs with historical information using QR-Code and NFC (Near Field Communication) labels in the historical center of the city is an initiative of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and D. MASOUTIS SA.
D. MASOUTIS SA in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility and its active presence in Thessaloniki wishes to express its interest in the city and the citizens by donating all the necessary equipment for the study, design, construction and placement of the smart street name signs in order to facilitate residents and visitors.
The purpose of this is first to have the needful street signage in the city, for residents and visitors and then to get familiar with the history of the streets we pass every day.
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On 26 October 1912 Thessaloniki was liberated. The protocol of surrender of the city was signed by Hasan Tahsin Pasha, Ioannis Metaxas and Victoras Dousmanis. That night, the first Greek soldiers entered the city. The 26th of October is the date when Saint Demetrius, the Patron Saint of Thessaloniki, is commemorated.
Urania was one of the nine Muses of the Greek mythology. She was a daughter of Jeus. She was the Muse of Astronomy and the celestial bodies. U
Georgios Modis was born in 1887 in Monastiri (Bitola) and died in 1975 in Thessaloniki. He was a politician and author. He took part to the Macedonian Struggle. He was elected MP in Florina and he was appointed, inter alia, Minister and Head of the Prefecture.
Michalitsi was an important town of Minor Asia, 60 km away from Bursa. In the ancient times, it was the location of a city called Militoupoli. After the Minor Asia Catastrophe, its Greek population fled to various parts of Greece and to Thessaloniki.
Ioannis Michael was a politician from Thessaloniki. He was appointed Minister of Employment under the government of Nikolaos Plastiras (1950 – 1951).
Minos was the mythical King of Crete. The capital of his kingdom was Knossos. The Minoan Civilization that flourished on Crete, was named after him. The prosperity and the power of Crete were attributed to him.
The Mitsa family was a family of Militants who took part in the national revolutions and the military operations of the Greek State from the Revolution of 1821 to the Balkan Wars, such as the brothers Ioannis Kastritis and Stamatios Mitsas from Kranidi, who were militants of 1821.
Metsovo is a historical town of Epirus, whose residents are of Vlak origins. Many fighters of freedom and national benefactors such as Averof, Tositsas, Stournaris etc were born in Metsovo.
Vassilis Mesolongitis was a journalist and publisher of newspapers of Thessaloniki. Among others, he published the newspapers Eleftheros Makedonikos Typos, Makedonika Nea and he worked for Ellinikos Voras, Macedonia, Nea Evropi, Phos etc. He died in 1953.
Merope was the wife of the mythical King of Messene, Cresphontes. Merope was also the name of one of the mythic Pleiades. She was the only one to marry a mortal. Jeus turned her into a star.
