Ancient seaport of Greece, in western Macedonia. Saint Paul addressed two Epistles to the community there, which was an important center of early Christianity. The city was taken in 904 by the Saracens, in 1185 by the Sicilian Normans, in 1430 by the Turks, and in 1912 by the Greeks. It has some famous churches and mosques of ancient Christian origin. The Latin Vicariate Apostolic of Thessalonica was erected in 1926, with residence at Salonica.