Mitsotakis unveils new White Tower lighting in Thessaloniki, sponsored by Metlen

The unveiling

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took part in the ceremony on Tuesday, 27 October, at which the new lighting of the White Tower in Thessaloniki was presented. President Konstantinos Tasoulas attended the event. The project was carried out with sponsorship from Metlen, which Mitsotakis thanked for what he called its generous contribution. The lighting design was developed with full respect for the monument's history and architectural structure, using contemporary techniques to bring out its particular details.

“Today we are lighting up not only the White Tower, but also all of Thessaloniki, all of Macedonia, because this government's attention is focused on Thessaloniki, is focused on Macedonia.”

Investment in the city

Mitsotakis said the government had not limited its interventions to completing large infrastructure projects that Thessaloniki had long awaited. He said that since 2019 he and Culture Minister Lina Mendoni had made a deliberate choice to highlight the city's cultural history. He put the national and European resources committed to Thessaloniki's cultural interventions at more than 100 million euros and said the results were already visible. Mendoni said that under the new lighting the White Tower "really looks white".

A wider fortifications programme

The White Tower lighting is part of a broader programme to showcase Thessaloniki's fortifications rather than a standalone project. According to NewsIT, the programme also includes the Heptapyrgion and the Byzantine Walls. Both are monuments of international significance listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.