Jewish Hertiage tour of Greece

Jewish Travel
Division of EMCO Travel, LLC

Since 1993

Toll-free 877-466-2934. Phone 727-254-4373
Fax: 203-653-5586
email: info@JewishTravelAgency.com

Jewish presence in Greece spans more than 2,300 years. For more than 20 centuries, Thessaloniki (honored by the tittle “Mother of Israel") was the shelter for the persecuted Jews of Europe. Uprooted throughout their long history from other historical centers of the Diaspora, they were transplanted in this city creating a large and vibrant Jewish Community, indisputably one of the most important ones in the world, especially during the period 1492-1943! Our Jewish Heritage tours,carefully designed with the valuable assistance of the Jewish Museum of Greece, is a journey to all the Jewish sites of Greece. It is a journey through timeless roads, much traveled. It is a homecoming!

Day 1 - Athens
Arrival Athens. Meet and transfer to hotel. Overnight.

Day 2 - Athens
AM - Orientation at the Jewish museum - lecture on the Jews of Greece and tour.
PM - Agora tour (Synagogue), and visit of Acropolis. The present day Jewish community of Athens dates from the end of the 19th century. It is made up of both Romaniotes and Sephardic. Overnight.

Day 3 - Athens / Halkis / Larissa
AM - Departure for Halkis by deluxe coach. Halkis had a community that claimed to have been founded by none other than Alexander the Great, when he send back Jewish slaves from Judea. Visit the Synagogue.
PM - Departure for Larissa. Overnight.

Day 4 - Larissa / Trikala / Kalambaka
AM - Visit the Synagogue in Larissa. Located in central mainland Greece, Larissa had earned the name “Mother of Israel” and nearby Trikala was closely connected to it. After our visit, depart for Trikala.
PM - Visit the Synagogue and continue on for Kalambaka. Overnight.

Day 5 - Kalambaka / Thessaloniki (Salonica)
AM - Visit Meteora, a particularly impressive scenery: Ageless Monasteries suspended between earth and sky, atop huge granite rocks.
PM - Continue on through beautiful countryside, traditional towns and villages, through breathtaking a Valley of Tempi, to arrive in Thessaloniki. Overnight.

Day 6 - Thessaloniki
AM - Visit the Synagogue. After the expulsion from Spain, Spanish and Portuguese Jews arrived in great numbers and over 32 synagogues marked the Jewish quarter. The Jewish Mystics, legalists, poets and rabbis were famous throughout the Near East and Europe. Without a doubt Thessaloniki was a Jewish city in its heart until World War II and was rightly claimed “Mother of Israel”.
PM – Visit the museum. Overnight.

Day 7 - Veria
AM - Departure for Veria, visit the Synagogue and 18th century Jewish quarter. The Jews of Veria were Sephardic and strongly connected with those of Salonica. They inhabited a Mahalasi (quarter) that survives almost completely intact, though today empty of Jews since the Nazi action of 1943.
PM - Visit Vergina. Overnight in Thessaloniki.

Day 8 - Ioannina
Early morning departure for Ioannina.
Overnight.

Day 9 - Ioannina
AM - Visit of Ioannina Synagogue (Kal Kadosh Yashan). From the medieval times until the Holocaust, the Jewish community of Ioannina was one of the leading centers of the Levent. Overnight.

Day 10 - Athens
Depart for Athens. Overnight.

Day 11 - Departure
Transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Below you find suggested itineraries for individuals and groups, prices are on request, please email number of people, hotels category choice (3* or 4* or deluxe), dates and we will provide you a quote.

EMCO Travel LLC, DBA Jewish Travel Agency is registered with State of Florida as Seller of Travel Registration No. ST36902
California Travel Seller # 2079011-40
Privacy statement