‘A blend of ancient and modern’: inside Thessaloniki’s new €3bn metro system

The project, which took 22 years to complete, unearthed more than 300,000 treasures now on display across its subway stations

It caused untold commotion, decades of disruption and – among historians and archaeologists – controversy and despair. But at midday on Saturday, the antiquities-rich subterranean world of Thessaloniki will open to a world of driverless trains and hi-tech automation with the inauguration of its long-awaited subway.

The excitement on the streets of the northern Greek port city is almost palpable. “Archaeologically, it has been an extremely complex and difficult endeavour,” said the culture minister, Lina Mendoni, of the more than 300,000 finds made since construction began 22 years ago. “To get here required a battle on many fronts.”

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