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Alexander the Great Statue

Alexander the Great Statue

The statue of Alexander the Great, King of the Macedonians, is located next to the White Tower in the city of Thessaloniki. He is depicted riding Bucephalas, his war horse that accompanied him on his campaigns for 20 years. It was erected in 1973 with money from fundraising committees and was inaugurated in 1974. It is the work of the sculptor Evangelos Moustakas, who sculpted it in his workshop in Pallini. The bronze statue was cast at the “Renzo Michelucci” foundries in Pistoia, Italy. The height of the statue is 6 meters and it weighs 4 tons. The height including the podium is 11 meters.

The pedestal on which the bronze statue stands is covered with dark colored Melissochori marble. The surrounding area is lined with white marble from Veria, which makes the place suitable for skateboarders. Also, on the western side of the monumental complex is a wall with a bronze relief representation of the Battle of Issus, during which Alexander the Great drove Darius III, King of the Persians, to flee from the battlefield. The artistic depiction consists of 45 figures, with Alexander the Great leading the sarissoforoi Macedonian hoplites and Darius III leading the Persian troops.

Also in the complex are two arrays of shields and sarisses (long spear or pike about 4 to 7 m in length). The array to the west consists of 5 shields and sarisses while the one to the north of 3 shields and sarisess. The arrays of shields with sarisses symbolize the ordinary Macedonian soldiers who took part in the campaign of Alexander the Great. The full dimensions of the complex are 23 x 30 meters.