The old slaughterhouse of Thessaloniki was built in 1896 and operated until 1988. It is located in the industrial area of the city, next to the commercial section of the port. In 1994 the building was declared a protected monument. Recently the old industrial building was transformed into a cultural multi-space!

The Municipality of Thessaloniki named the experimental project Labattoir, which means slaughterhouse in French. It’s a very ambitious project which aims to function as a cultural platform for the city of Thessaloniki and use its creative potential! To put it simply, Labattoir was established in order to produce culture and creativity for the benefit of local citizens. That is going to be realized through concerts, exhibitions, community-based art, lectures, workshops, presentations and much more. Well, it’s more than obvious that art is the core of Labattoir’s concept.

The first event that was organised in the Old Slaughterhouse after its renovation, was a 10-day project that started on December 13, 2015 and included a lecture about the old slaughterhouse in relation with the area, exhibitions, art workshops, documentaries, conferences and a very interesting presentation regarding the mapping of the area. I had the pleasure to attend some of them and I have to admit that the whole experience was fascinating! 

Actually the Municipality labeled that 10-day project as a “warm up” for the citizens in order to be informed about the practices and the concepts that are going to be used!