Modiano Market gets its sparkle back
Historic Thessaloniki food emporium is slated for a relaunch in the fall after a radical makeover
The lights go back on briefly at the Modiano Market, and photographs from the testing of the listed monument’s new lighting system quickly start making the rounds on social media. The iconic building in downtown Thessaloniki’s commercial district sparkles with newness and elegance. Thanks to long horizontal windows and skylights, the impressive roof seems to float on air, while the neoclassical-style pediments gracing the main entrances on the northern port city’s Ermou and Vassileos Irakleiou streets are beautifully showcased. On the ground floor, the poured pebble-mosaic floor and well-designed lighting set off the small, white shops, their austere symmetry and linear layout, and the market’s airy yet cozy characteristics.
It will function in the style of Spain’s Mercado de San Miguel and La Boqueria, and will aim to become a new culinary destination
Everything is the same, yet everything has changed at Thessaloniki’s historic market, which instantly won the hearts and minds of the city’s denizens with its aromas, flavors, colors and music when it first opened on March 23, 1925, and helped shaped their collective memories. In recent decades, however, the market had started showing serious signs of neglect and wear. The acquisition of its commercial rights by the Fais Group, according to General Manager Hasdai Capon, will breathe new life into the building, which will continue to sell choice products from all over Greece and other parts of the world, and make it a landmark destination once more.
The gastronomic paradise being promised to city residents is due to open in the fall after a hiatus of five years. The restoration of the listed building is finished and the first batch of businesses renting space here are starting to set up shop. Overall, the market will host 117 stores. It will not function like a supermarket or a deli, but, in the style of Spain’s historic Mercado de San Miguel and La Boqueria, will aim to become a new culinary destination. It will also have a restaurant and a cafe-bar overlooking the food court, which will be an open public gathering space.
The ambitious project was designed by Rena Sakellaridou and Morpho Papanikolaou from the architectural firm Sparch, who worked with restoration specialist Cleopatra Theologidou, civil engineer Athanasios Kontizas and lighting designer Eleftheria Deko. They were joined by dozens of specialized builders and craftsmen who contributed know-how, traditional techniques and attention to detail in order to highlight the building’s dual character as both a vibrant social center point and a historic landmark, while keeping the original reinforced concrete construction – a bold and pioneering proposition at the time – designed by architect and civil engineer Eli Modiano, son of the prominent banker Saul Modiano, after whom it was named.
Many of the original materials have been kept. Metal frames and railings, curving marble staircases and the steel in the roof that was brought in from Belgium last century, have been showcased, while the things that needed to change were replaced with materials that are compatible with the building’s character, original architecture and history.
The Modiano Market, stresses architect Morpho Papanikolaou, has not changed; it has been given its original sparkle back. Again an intrinsic part of the urban fabric, tucked away between the conventional Vlali and Vatikioti markets, it is ready to stride confidently into the next century.
