Greece · Central Macedonia · Thessaloníki
Charilaou, Thessaloníki — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Charilaou is a densely built residential district in the eastern reaches of Thessaloníki, set on rising ground inland from the seafront. It grew up around the estate of Epameinondas Charilaos, the banker and landowner whose name it still carries. The district is best known as the base of the Aris football club, whose Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium sits on its main street. Few visitors sleep here.
About Charilaou
Where to stay in Charilaou
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Charilaou is a place people live in, not a hotel district, so beds are thin on the ground. Staying here makes sense mainly on an Aris match day, when the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium draws crowds through the surrounding streets. The trade-off is distance, since the centre's monuments and seafront museums sit a long walk or a short bus ride downhill.
For sightseeing you are better based in central Thessaloníki. It stays quiet after dark.
About Charilaou
What are the main landmarks in Charilaou?
Charilaou keeps few grand monuments; its landmark is the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, the compact home ground of Aris on Papanastasiou Street. Its terraces roar on match days. Ainou Square gives the district a civic centre, named for the Thracian town of Ainos that its founding landowner came from.
The rest of its notable buildings are parish churches serving the residential blocks. Saint Eleutherius Church stands just downhill in the Depo quarter.
What is the history of Charilaou?
The district takes its name from Epameinondas Charilaos, a banker and entrepreneur who owned the land here before the city reached it. He traced his own roots to Ainos in Thrace, and Ainou Square still records that origin. As Thessaloníki spread eastward through the early twentieth century, the old estate filled with streets and apartment blocks.
Then came the football club. Aris was founded here in 1914 and has anchored the district's identity ever since.
Where is Charilaou?
The district occupies the inland slopes of eastern Thessaloníki, climbing from the Depo quarter below it toward the ring road that skirts Pylaia. Toumba adjoins it to the north, Pylaia to the east. Papanastasiou Street runs through the middle as its spine, opening at Ainou Square. The seafront lies well downhill.
Good for
More areas in Thessaloníki
Updated July 2026