Sfageia

West of the centre, where the city turns industrial, Sfageia is Thessaloniki's answer to Europe's converted factory districts.

Character & history

The area takes its name from the old municipal slaughterhouses. As that activity moved away, the large buildings and warehouses passed into other hands and became concert venues, clubs and artists' studios.

What's here

• Live music venues and clubs in industrial shells, with line-ups that draw people from across the city.
• Art spaces and studios in reoccupied buildings.
• A face of the city completely unlike neoclassical Aristotelous.

When to come

This is a night-time district: by day it stays quiet and workaday, but from late evening onward it comes into its own, especially at weekends.

Getting around

By taxi or car; it's a few minutes from the centre and Ladadika.

Best for: alternative music, clubbing, a young night out.