THE TRANSFORMATION OF THESSALONIKI, THE INSTALLATION OF REFUGEES IN THE CITY (1920-1940) – SEMINAR PRACTICES

Thessaloniki in the 19th and early 20th centuries was the city of the Ottoman Empire, Selanik for the Gate, but also the “Jerusalem of the Balkans” for the Jews of Europe. At the same time, together with its Macedonian hinterland, it recommended the “apple of contention” of Balkan nationalisms, which with the Balkan Wars attempted to resolve the outstanding issues of the Aimos Peninsula. Since 1912 the population ratio has tended to be reversed, as the former multinational city of a declining empire changes into an urban environment of a nation state. The fire of 1917 adds to the gradual population change the forced changes that occur in the architectural landscape, which is cut off from traditional icons and the past of the 19th century. However, the above changes, however subversive they may have been in relation to the Ottoman past, would not be able to overturn the population map of the city in such a short period of time since its liberation.