Thermaic Gulf in the context of "Mount Olympus"

Thessaloniki (/ˌθɛsələˈniːki/; Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici] ; also known by various spellings and names) is a city in northern Greece. The nation's second-largest, with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, it is the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. It is also known in Greek as i Symprotévousa, literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the "co-reigning" city (Symvasilévousa) of the Byzantine Empire alongside Constantinople.

Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf, at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. It is bounded on the west by the delta of the Axios. The municipality of Thessaloniki, the historical centre, had a population of 319,045 in 2021, while the Thessaloniki metropolitan area had 1,006,112 inhabitants and the greater region had 1,092,919. It is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, notably through the Port of Thessaloniki. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually. Thessaloniki was the 2014 European Youth Capital. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.

The Axios Delta National Park (Greek: Εθνικό Πάρκο Δέλτα Αξιού), officially the Axios-Loudias-Aliakmonas Delta National Park (Εθνικό Πάρκο Δέλτα Αξιού-Λουδία-Αλιάκμονα), is a national park on the west coast of the Thermaic Gulf in Greece, consisting of multiple wetlands. It covers an area of 33,800 ha and is a Ramsar site, an Important Bird Area and part of the Natura 2000 network.

Therma or Thermē (Ancient Greek: Θέρμα, Θέρμη) is the unknown city incorporated into the new city of Thessaloniki by the Macedonians on its synoecism and foundation. Little is known of literary Therma, including its exact location.

Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece. It surrounds the entire north of the Thermaic Gulf, named after its predecessor. Exactly where Therma was remains a mystery. There is not much room for archaeological excavation between all the modern skyscrapers, and the parklands are valued as such. However, two large habitation mounds remain available and have been extensively excavated. No literary or inscriptional fragment ties them to Therma. The pottery is Greek, but such is the case for any settlement of the times around the Aegean, regardless of known language or ethnic connections. Nearly all of Lower Macedonia was Macedonianized in classical times by the aggressive Argead dynasty, in which the original Thessaloniki, half-sister of Alexander the Great, became queen.

Cape Megalo Embolo (Greek: Μεγάλο έμβολο, 'Great Point') or Karaburnu (Turkish 'Black Cape'), probably the ancient Aeneium or Aineion (Ancient Greek: Αἰνειῶν), is a cape southwest of Thessaloniki, Greece, located next to the village of Angelochori. There is a lighthouse.

The line from Megalo Embolo to the mouth of the Vardar/Axios is sometimes considered to define the entrance of the Thermaic Gulf.

The Gallikos (Greek: Γαλλικός) is a river in Central Macedonia, Greece. It was known as the Echedoros (Εχέδωρος) in antiquity and the Gomaropnichtis (Γομαροπνίχτης) in the Middle Ages. The current name probably derives from the ancient Roman colony of Callicum (modern Kilkis) near the river.

It rises in the Krousia Mountain and flows into the Aegean Sea in the Thermaic Gulf, near Sindos. It is 70 km (43 mi) long. Its drainage basin is 1,055 km (407 sq mi).

Lower Macedonia (Greek: Κάτω Μακεδονία, Kato Makedonia) or Lower Macedon or Macedonia proper or Emathia is a geographical term used in Antiquity referring to the coastal plain watered by the rivers Haliacmon, Axius and Loudias, stretching along the coast of the Thermaic Gulf, which was the core and defined the center of the Argead kingdom of Macedon. Its districts were: Emathia, Pieria, Bottiaea, Almopia, Amphaxitis. Aigai (near modern Vergina), the original capital of Macedon, and Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great and the new capital of the kingdom since the 4th century BC, were in Lower Macedonia, in modern Central Macedonia, in Greece.

Pydna (/ˈpɪdnə/; Greek: Πύδνα, Pýdna) is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pydna-Kolindros, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 105.059 km, the community 41.334 km. Pydna is situated in fertile land close to the Thermaic Gulf coast. The main village of the former municipality is Kitros. It lies 6 km north of Korinos, 8 km south of Methoni and 13 km northeast of Katerini. The A1 motorway and the Piraeus–Platy railway (nearest station at Korinos) pass east of the village.