Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City

This study aims to evaluate the 1890 Salonica fire and its effects on the development of the city. Fires caused by natural causes or human error were part of everyday life in Salonica. Small fires were common for everyday life. But when fires grew, the consequences became de...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Özer Özbozdağlı
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Türk Tarih Kurumu 2024-08-01
Series:Belleten
Online Access:https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/doi/10.37879/belleten.2024.513
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841545398925131776
author Özer Özbozdağlı
author_facet Özer Özbozdağlı
author_sort Özer Özbozdağlı
collection DOAJ
description This study aims to evaluate the 1890 Salonica fire and its effects on the development of the city. Fires caused by natural causes or human error were part of everyday life in Salonica. Small fires were common for everyday life. But when fires grew, the consequences became devastating. The narrow and dead-end streets most affected by the fires were the Jewish quarters in the city center, where wooden houses were located. The existing wooden building stock of these neighbourhoods was the most important cause of the fires. These neighborhoods, with their old and wooden buildings, did not match the new modern face of the city. These neighborhoods had to be transformed according to the new urbanism and the zoning law of 1882. However, due to the current property situation of the region and the high cost of expropriation, the Municipality of Salonica could not enter these areas. At this point, the fire of 1890 was a turning point for the city. The fire caused a major humanitarian disaster, leaving thousands of people homeless. But the fire was an opportunity for the transformation of Salonica. The fire destroyed some of the Jewish neighborhoods with wooden buildings in the city center. The Municipality of Salonica, using the authority given by the zoning law of 1882, prohibited reconstruction in the area and prepared maps of the area. The burned areas were rebuilt according to the understanding of modern urbanism. This transformation marked the final phase of Salonica’s modernization.
format Article
id doaj-art-f5173f80d363404294e3c87ac70cca53
institution Kabale University
issn 0041-4255
language English
publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher Türk Tarih Kurumu
record_format Article
series Belleten
spelling doaj-art-f5173f80d363404294e3c87ac70cca532025-01-12T07:21:27ZengTürk Tarih KurumuBelleten0041-42552024-08-018831251354010.37879/belleten.2024.513 Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City Özer Özbozdağlı0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3486-7270MUSTAFA KEMAL ÜNİVERSİTESİ This study aims to evaluate the 1890 Salonica fire and its effects on the development of the city. Fires caused by natural causes or human error were part of everyday life in Salonica. Small fires were common for everyday life. But when fires grew, the consequences became devastating. The narrow and dead-end streets most affected by the fires were the Jewish quarters in the city center, where wooden houses were located. The existing wooden building stock of these neighbourhoods was the most important cause of the fires. These neighborhoods, with their old and wooden buildings, did not match the new modern face of the city. These neighborhoods had to be transformed according to the new urbanism and the zoning law of 1882. However, due to the current property situation of the region and the high cost of expropriation, the Municipality of Salonica could not enter these areas. At this point, the fire of 1890 was a turning point for the city. The fire caused a major humanitarian disaster, leaving thousands of people homeless. But the fire was an opportunity for the transformation of Salonica. The fire destroyed some of the Jewish neighborhoods with wooden buildings in the city center. The Municipality of Salonica, using the authority given by the zoning law of 1882, prohibited reconstruction in the area and prepared maps of the area. The burned areas were rebuilt according to the understanding of modern urbanism. This transformation marked the final phase of Salonica’s modernization.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/doi/10.37879/belleten.2024.513
spellingShingle Özer Özbozdağlı
Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
Belleten
title Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
title_full Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
title_fullStr Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
title_full_unstemmed Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
title_short Salonica Fire of 1890 and its Impacts on the Transformation of the City
title_sort salonica fire of 1890 and its impacts on the transformation of the city
url https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/doi/10.37879/belleten.2024.513
work_keys_str_mv AT ozerozbozdaglı salonicafireof1890anditsimpactsonthetransformationofthecity