One of Thessaloniki’s most famous landmarks has a new reason to catch your eye after sunset. The White Tower, the imposing stone monument that has watched over the city’s waterfront for centuries, has received a new lighting system designed to bring its architectural features into sharper focus after dark. The project was made possible through a 2.5-million-euro donation from Athens-based company METLEN Energy & Metals, covering the design, lighting equipment and installation.

Designed by the office of lighting designer Eleftheria Deko, the new system emphasizes the White Tower’s distinctive geometry and the three-dimensional texture of its stonework. Carefully directed beams highlight the monument from different viewpoints while minimizing light pollution. Special lighting scenarios are also planned for the nearly 34-meter-tall Tower on selected occasions, offering a more dynamic display while respecting its historic character.

A Symbol of the City

Few buildings embody Thessaloniki’s layered history quite like the White Tower. Built on the site of an older Byzantine tower, the present structure was erected by the Ottomans following their conquest of the city in 1430, forming part of its coastal defenses. It later served as a prison and place of executions, earning the sinister name “Tower of Blood.” Its present name – Lefkós Pýrgos in Greek – dates to the late 19th century, when the structure was whitewashed, symbolically distancing it from its grim past.

Today, the Tower is both an iconic feature of Thessaloniki’s seafront and a museum dedicated to the city’s history. The new lighting is part of a wider effort to highlight Thessaloniki’s historic monuments. METLEN’s donation also covers lighting interventions at the Heptapyrgion fortress and sections of the Byzantine Walls, with completion expected in January 2027.

A separate project, scheduled for completion in March 2028, will illuminate several more landmarks, including the Rotunda, the Arch of Galerius and historic churches along the Egnatia Road axis. For a city whose history is woven into its streets, fortifications and waterfront, the White Tower’s new nighttime glow offers another opportunity to appreciate the monument that has become inseparable from Thessaloniki’s identity – and to see a familiar part of the city in a different light.