The core complexes of the North Aegean result from the gravity spreading of a thrust wedge, driven by the Hellenic slab rollback, since middle Eocene. The development of the Southern Rhodope Core Complex occurred in two stages: (i) core complex exhumation accommodated by the Kerdylion detachment and (ii) steep normal faulting controlling the deposition of Neogene sedimentary basins that segmented the core complex. Both stages have been controlled by a clockwise rotation of the detachment hanging wall. The bulk amount of extension along the Aegean coastline in Northern Greece reached 120 km. The transition between the two stages occurred in middle Miocene due to an increase in extensional displacement by a factor 5. This transition between two different modes of extension, from localized detachment (i.e., core complex mode) to distributed steep normal faulting (i.e., wide rift mode), occurred at Aegean scale as a result of an acceleration of slab rollback. The Neogene basins emplaced close to the detachment, where brittle upper crust was thin (around 7 km) but containing weak marble layers allowing the formation of ramp-flat extensional systems with rollover-type basin fill. Since Pliocene, the stretching direction changed, from NE-SW to NS, due to the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault in the North Aegean domain.