VII. Macedonia in the 16th and 17th centuries
2. Macedonia in the second half of the 17th century
c) Central Macedonia
1. Following the coast road westwards, we come to the region of the Chalcidic Peninsula. At this period, one would say that its most celebrated township and principal centre was Siderokávsia (Seder Kapsi in Turkish). Set in the mountains some 11 to 16 kilometres from the sea, the town had great charm and enjoyed a healthy climate. It had at this time a mosque, two public baths and a small market-place. It came under the administration of Thessalonica, and had a Chief Supply Officer, a commander of janissaries, and an inspector in charge of all business; but the supreme authority was the emin (Controller) of the silver-mines, who judged civic and penal cases. The country around was well covered with vegetation and was very picturesque, with high mountains and dense forests full of game. Woodcutting was forbidden in the forests, since the trees were used to fire the furnaces in which the silver was smelted [3]. There was plenty of water-power for the mining establishments, and the vegetable-gardens and fruit-orchards were well irrigated, as were the vineyards that abounded throughout the neighbourhood [4].
Around the middle of the 17th century, the silver-mines were worked by the kâhya of the Grand Vizir, Ebul Hayir Ibrahim Ağa, and yielded 10-11 hundred-weights of silver annually. The town also housed a mint, though this had been closed down by the Sultan Ibrahim (1640-1648) [5]. During the reign of its previous owrıer, Murad IV (1623-1640), it
3. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 14 (1938) 498-499. See also the almost contemporary description in Hadschi Chalfa, ibid., pp. 82-83.
4. Belon, Observations, 45a.
5. Moschopoulos, ibid., 498-500. See also for the time when the mints were working in the European provinces of Turkey in Anhegger, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Bergbaus, 1, pp. 80-81.
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issued coins bearing the inscription Sultan Murad Han ibn Ahmed azza nasarruhu daraba Seder Kapsi (Sultan Murad, son of Ahmed Khan: may his conquests be glorious: struck at Seder Kapsi) [1].
There were mints in other Macedonian towns besides Siderokávsia, i.e. at Thessalonica, Sérres and Kavála [2].
But the gradual decline of Siderokávsia is discernible already from the middle of the 17th century, and becomes more so from the end of that century [3]. The following extract from the Sultan's directive of 1700-1701 is typical: "...The mining expert, the raya Kirkor, in his report submitted to my Sublime Porte, states that the mining of silver has existed in that place from ancient time, and that when the shafts were working the state revenue derived from the mines was considerable; but the mines have been in a state of ruin and decay for quite some time now, and only four shafts are in use, each producing for the benefit of the management of this land, which is a wakf [meaning the mine], an annual yield of a thousand kuruş. And he requests that the metal-bearing ground of the above-mentioned kaza be ceded to him, that he may excavate the area at his own expense and work the shafts: for his part, he is to pay an annual sum of a thousand kuruş for each of the four shafts in use, on condition that this sum be augmented proportionately to the number of fresh shafts opened henceforth..." [4].
The directive goes on to say: "...The following appointments are to be made: a trustworthy man is to be designated by the afore-mentioned most excellent Vizir: and a naib (judge) is to be appointed by the Islamic court, so that under the supervision of these two men, the mines pertaining to the said kaza, which were worked of old, might be further worked, as well as any parts in which ores have been found, and any metalliferous areas indicated by the above mentioned mining-expert. Samples of each kind of ore are to be kept. And should any profit to the State be recorded the miners should be called to work in the mines; and a true assessment of the situation should be made before the board of inquiry. But, if, when the resumption of work at the old mines had been permitted (that is at the mines that have been abandon-
1. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 14 (1938)499.
2. Moschopoulos, ibid., p. 500. With regards to the mint at Sérres at the time of Mehmed II, see Beldiceanu, Règlements miniers, p. 187. Regarding the appointment of sahibi sayan (superintendant) of the mint, see Beldiceanu, ibid., p. 190.
3. See details in Anhegger, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Bergbaus, I, 2, pp. 308-311, 323-334. See also I, 1, pp. 87-88, 184-187.
4. Ahmed Refik, Türkiye madenleri, pp. 46-47.
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ed for some time), the inhabitants should offer some opposition with a view to preventing it, and should put obstacles in the way, under the impression that service at the mines will be imposed upon them, their protests are not to be heeded. However, this must not be used as a pretext for loading upon these poor rayas services for which they are not paid..." [1].
To the south of Siderokávsia lies Athos; and we have some interesting details about the Holy Mountain at this time from John Covel [2] and Father Braconnier. The former was an English chaplain from the British embassy at Constantinople, who in 16 7 [3] was the first Englishman to visit the Mountain during the Turkish occupation. Braconnier was there in 1706. Covel (upon whom Ricaut was to base himself) describes the largest of the monasteries and tells us about the organization of the Mountain and in particular about the offices and the administration of the monastery of Lavra [4]. Robert de Dreux, who was almost a contemporary of the English traveller, in a reference to the Holy Mountain, writes that a certain sculptor had proposed to Alexander the Great that he should shape the mountain in such a way as to depict the Macedonian king holding a city in one hand and pouring out a stream seawards with the other [5].
Braconnier considers the position unique and wonderfully isolated for such as wish to withdraw from worldly things. The sea cuts it off on almost every side and there is no safe anchorage for ships, while beautiful forests cover all the slopes. The numerous springs with abundant water give rise to streams great and small. These make fertile the vine-yards and orchards, the corn-fields and vegetable-gardens, that are indispensable for the monks' sustenance.
Braconnier considers that those accounts which put the number of monks at between ten and twelve thousand are exaggerated. He himself does not believe that they can be as many as four thousand. The twenty monasteries or 'πύργοι' were enclosed within stout walls,
1. Ahmed Refik, Türkiye medenleri, p. 47.
2. Concerning Covel and his relations with the Orthodox monks, see Arabatzoglou, Φωτίειος Βιβλιοθήκη, part 1, pp. 169 ff.
3. The earlier writer W. Wey (15th cent), like the Italian Aless. Ariosto (15th cent.) and the Frenchman J. Thenaud (16th cent.), had not visited the Holy Mountain in person (Hasluck, The fist English Travellers, etc., BSA 17 (1910-1911) 104, note 7).
4. Hasluck, ibid., p. 115.
5. R. de Dreux, Voyage, p. 90.
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which were strengthened at intervals with large square towers. There was usually one stout tower that stood higher than the others and this was armed with a canon and long-range artillery of some kind. In addit-ion to the monasteries there were some four or five hundred cells and hermitages (see fig. 77).
Lower down, Braconnior proceeds to examine each monastery in turn, starting with the most important. Nor does he omit to mention the rulers abroad — particularly those of Wallachia and Moldavia— who from time to time sent contributions as benefactions to be used on behalf of the various monasteries. Of the munerous other items of
Fig. 77. The hermitage of Kavsokalyvia.
(Photo S. Stergiopoulos)
information that Braconnier gives us, we shall cite only those which are of particular interest. Thus, for example, at the monastery of Lavra he was impressed by the six-storeyed tower-cum-arsenal, which was armed with several iron canon for the protection of the small ship-yard situated nearby. He was also impressed by the roads encircling the monastery, which were full of small work-shops in which one could see monks busy at every manner of craft. The lead roof of the 'katholikon' (central church) was a gift from the Wallachian ruler, Nicholas (rather: Neagoe) Basarab (1512-1521). The monasteries of the Grand Lavra and of Vatopediou were considered the richest, while that of Chilandariou was one
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of the most beautiful monasteries of the Holy Mountain, if not the most beautiful. It was said that there were at times as many as 400 monks in residence there.
The monks of the monasteries of Ayiou Pavlou, Chilandariou and Xenophontos came from Serbia and Bulgaria, and it was difficult to find in them anyone who knew Greek. As one can see, with the steadily growing resistance on the part of the Greek monks (a subject already discussed in the previous chapter), the Slav monks were by now limited to three monasteries only. The Greeks were obviously recovering the ground they had lost during the first two centuries of Turkish rule.
Braconnier observes how each abbot strove to distinguish himself by the additionof new buildings to his monastery — a practice which only served to arouse the covertousness of the Turks and resulted in the imposition of fresh taxes. In order to face up to these additional tax-burdens, the abbots were obliged to borrow money at high rates of interest, and to mortage or sell monastic property. Thus the larger part of the monasteries' agricultural holdings located in the plain of Thessalonica had been pledged or sold.
The bishop of Athos, who was directly under the Patriarch of Constantinople, had his seat at Karyés. In the church of the Protaton there was a seat prescribed for each abbot in order of importance: the first seat was occupied by the abbot of the Grand Lavra, the second by that of Vatopediou; then followed those of Chilandariou, Iviron, Pantokratoros, Saranta Martyron, Archangelon, Metamorphoseos, Dionysiou, etc.
Karyés was also the headquarters of the Turkish ağa who dealt with the monks' secular affairs. He was assisted by four monastic representatives drawn from the four chief monasteries of Athos. The Ağa was obliged to accept the co-operation of these representatives, since there was a danger that be would find himself immediately replaced at the slightest complaint against bim. Braconnier observes that owing to the desolate and remote situation, very few Turks found the post congenial. The majority were in a hurry to leave just as soon as they had completed their one-year term of office.
Each of the Athonite monasteries had a guest-house at Karyés. There were also numerous small workshops where caps were made, and several smithies, all run by monks. The pruning-hooks, axes and hatchets manufactured there were well-known and attracted customers from far and wide. Α weekly bazaar was held near the Protaton every Satur-
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day, and on that day monks from all the different monasteries of Athos would foregather there.
To ensure a sufficiency of the various necessities of life, the monks engaged themselves in a wide variety of work. The two main occupations were the cultivation of their fields and the manufacture of objects for liturgical use such as crosses made of wood or ivory and reliquaries. Others, again, copied books, wrote epistles, and — most frequently — composed sermons, in which they would insert quotations from the Gospels, to be distributed among the laity.
Yet by far the most effective means of increasing the subsistence of the monasteries were the ζητεῖαι (journeys of mendicant monks). Α considerable number of monks, equipped with letters of introduction from their respective monasteries, penetrated the various provinces of the Ottoman empire, sometimes even journeying beyond as far afield as Muscovy. If the fruits of his arduous travels proved plentiful, a lowly monk could become abbot of his monastery; but if another monk were shortly after to make a more significant contribution to the monastic community, then he in his turn would take the place of the recently appointed abbot (a custom which serves to emphasize the tenuous nature of an abbot's position).
Braconnier goes on to say that there were a number of foreigners living as monks in the monasteries, and that they came from a variety of European countries: he lists Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Spaniards, Italians, English, Dutch and Swedes, and supposes that there must have been some Frenchmen as well. But the fact is that not one of these foreigners came into his presence while he was there.
Finally, the feature which made such an impression on Braconnier, and for which he deems the monks worthy of the most unstinted praise, is the pains they took to decorate their churches in the most beautiful manner possible, and to keep them absolutely spotless. This, he found, was in striking contrast with the poverty of their clothing and the frugality of their diet [1].
Braconnier's description of life on Mount Athos supplements an almost contemporary account given us by that wise prelate of Drystra, Hierotheus (his lay name being John Comnenos) (1657-1719) [2], who was
1. See Omont, Missions archèologiques, part 2, pp. 994-1024. See also part 1, p. 277. See too a few relevant items of information from Braconnier in Aimé-Martin, Lettres, vol. 1, p. 82.
2. See B. de Montfaucon, Paleographica Graeca, Paris 1708, pp. 433-499.
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perhaps the last descendant of the imperial family of the Comneni [1].
The prosperity the monasteries had enjoyed under the Byzantine emperors was never to return; and confronted by so many difficulties they despatched envoys to the Greek communities abroad, which gave as much help as they could [2]. In addition, a large number of Orthodox rulers, particularly those of Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, as well as devout princes, boyars and even private individuals, used to send frequent gifts of money to alleviate the monasteries' difficulties or to pay off their debts. They also sent other dedicated objects—embroidered 'epitaphii' (sacred shrouds used on Good Friday in the ceremony of Christ's burial), manuscripts of the Gospels, and other theological books either in manuscript or printed in the presses of the Rumanian monasteries or cities (Jassy, Bucharest, Rimnik, Tirgovistea and Snagov). They would sometimes take upon themselves the patronage of certain monasteries, helping to build or repair their buildings; and all in all they maintained a variety of spiritual ties with the Athonite communities [3].
The relations between Athos and the Rumanian countries were particularly close. Α good number of Athonite monks went to Moldavia and Wallachia, while Rumanians came to live as monks onthe Holy Mountain [4]. Traces of Athonite influence can be discerned in the art of Wallachia
1. A. Papaiopoalos - Keramevs, Ὁ τελευταῖος Κομνηνός, ΔΙΕΕ 2 (1885-1889) 667-679.
2. See contribution from Venice between 1604-1611: K. D. Mertzios, Θωμᾶς Φλαγγίνης καὶ ὁ μικρὸς Έλληνομνήμων, «Πραγμ. Ἀκαδ. Ἀθηνῶν» 9 (1939) 216-218.
3. For information about the economic difficulties of the Holy Mountain in the 17th and 18th cents., see Lavriotes, Ἅγιον Ὄρος, pp. 105 ff.: and about monastic revenues and the help afforded by Moldavia, on pp. 17-104. The generosity of the Moldavian rulers came to an end in 1821. Between 1812 and 1821, the Phanariot ruler of Moldavia, Skarlatos Kallimaches (1812-1819), built from its foundations the monastery of Ayiou Panteleimonos ton Roson (see Tsioran, Relations between the Rumanian lands and Athos, p. 43. See also D. Hemmerdinger - Iliadou, Un hrisov de danie inedit de la Mihnea Turcitul (in Rum.), «Studii» 18 (1965) 913-916). For the relations between Rumanian rulers and for the most part Orthodox monasteries, see N. Iorga, Byzance après Byzance, Bucharest 1935, pp. 126 ff. See the short but in-teresting study recently composed by P. Ş. Năsturel, Aperçu critique des rapports de la Valachie et du Mont Athos des origines au début du XVIe siècle, RESEE 2 (1964) 93-126, where the most recent bibliography may be found. For the dating of buildings, see Hasluck, The first English Traveller's, etc.,BSA 17 (1910-1911) 129. In connection with this, one ought to look at Gedeon, Athos, pp. 157-199, and the relevant portions of the following works: Christ. Ktenas, Ἡ μονὴ Δοχειαρίου (963-1921), Athens 1926; Gabriel (archim.), Ἡ ἐν Ἁγ'ιῳ Ὄρει Ἱερὰ Μονὴ τοῦ Ἁγίου Διονυσίου, Athens 1959, pp. 14-16, etc; Oikonomides, Actes de Dionysiou, Texte, pp. 18, 19.
4. See Tsioran, ibid., pp. 91 ff. passim. Năsturel, ibid., pp. 123-124.
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especially, where the architecture of Athos was held in great esteem, particularly during the reign of Neagoe Basarab (1512-1521) [1].
The Phanariot rulers, who in 1711 succeeded to the trans-Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, were not so generous as their predecessors had been, since they possessed neither the wealth nor the political power of the latter [2]. Nevertheless, by virtue of gifts bestowed upon them by the rulers and by private individuals, the monasteries of Athos, not to mention ecclesiastical foundations elsewhere (the monasteries of Meteora, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, etc), acquired enormous wealth in Moldavia and Wallachia in the form of monasteries, churches, dependencies and other landed property. But after these states had gained their independence, such Athonite possessions created the great monastic problem.
Notwithstanding all these benefactions, the economic situation of the monasteries on Athos grew steadily worse on account of the intolerable taxation and interest-charges to which they were subjected. The innumerable debts that the Holy Community had contracted brought the monasteries into a wretched state around the year 1600 [3]. The situation grew even more serious after the Cretan war (1645-1669) [4], and was to continue so until the middle of the following century.
2. Following the road to Thessalonica, we reach the town of Besik (see fig. 78), which was situated on the shores of the lake Besik Göl (Vólvi). The town (doubtless the modern, insignificant village of Megáli Vólvi) was at this time in a flourishing state, full of the verdure of orchards and vineyards. It came under the general administration of Thessalonica, but had an Islamic court, a commander of Janissaries and of the army. Among its buildings one could distinguish the following: an Islamic court-house, an elementary school, public baths, a caravanserai, and a guest-house. Near Besik was a spring with hot medicinal waters, which were believed to be beneficial for sufferers from leprosy and syphilis [5].
Also situated on the road to Thessalonica was the large Moslem vil-
1. Năsturel, Aperçu critique, etc., p. 125.
2. See Tsioran, Relations etc., p. 117.
3. Tsioran, ibid., pp. 86-87.
4. Hasluck, The first English Travellers, etc., p. 128.
5. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 14 (1938) 496-497. Concerning the hot spring, see also Hadschi Chalfa, Rumeli und Bosna, p. 83.
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lage of Pazardjik Djedid ('New Market'), no doubt the modern Pazaroúda. Once but a small village, it had developed itıto a sizeable township thanks to its most favourable position and its waekly market [1]. Each year, on St. George's Day (rûz-i hızır Ilyasda), a market was held there, and it appears to have been well-known throughout all the cities of Macedonia (Thessalonica, Yenitsá, Véroia, Sérvia, Kastoriá, Flórina, Avret
Fig. 78. The lake of Besikya (Volvi) with the town of the same name.
(Clarke, Travels in various countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, Cambridge (1812), vol. 2, facingp. 384)
Hisar, Sérres, Dráma, Zichna, Monastir, Prilep, Istip, Kratova, Kyustendil, Strumica), as well as some in Western Thrace (Gyumuljina and Kara Yenidje), and in Thessaly (Elassóna, Yeni Shehir (Lárisa) and Chataldja (Phársala) [2].
Beyond Pazaroúda, on the road to Thessalonica, lay Áyios Vasíleios, a sizeable village standing near the lake of the same name. As we saw earlier, its castle had been destroyed by Gazi Evrenos. The inhabitants of Áyios Vasíleios and the surrounding villages gained their livelihood
1. Hadschi Chalfa, Rumeli und Bosna, p. 83. See also Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 14 (1938) 498.
2. See Šopova, Macedonia in the 16th and 17th cents., p. 25, document no. 14.
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by selling at Thessalonica the abundant fish which they caught in the lake. The scale of their fishing activities may be judged from the fact tbat there was a special official to collect the tax imposed upon this fishing industry, equal to a tenth of the total catch [1].
Some 12 kilometres distant from Thessalonica stands the village of Peristerá, which was centred around the monastery which bears the same name and now serves as a church for the village (see fig. 79).
Fig. 79. The catholikon of the Byzantine monastery of Peristerá.
(Photo Ch. Bakirtzis)
Α little to the north is Langadá, while some 25 kilometres to the south-east is Galátista, both of these being townships still well-known today. At the beginning of the 18th century, Braconnier tells us that Galátista was inhabited by Greeks, with a well organized and self-governing community. He also mentions the activities of the Jesuits in the town [2]. At Langadá, on the other hand, according to Hadji Kalfa, the population was made up of Greeks, Serbs and Moldavians [3]. There can be no doubt that by 'Moldavians' he means Vlachs; in fact Vlachs are specifically mentioned by Evliya Çelebi [4]. It is worth noting, too, that speaking
1. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, p. 507.
2. Aimé - Martin, Lettres, 1, p. 90.
3. Hadschi Chalfa, Rumeli und Bosna, p. 80.
4. Moschopoulos, ibid., p. 503.
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of Langadá, Evliya Çelebi writes Bulgars instead of Serbs. This confusion as to the distinction between Serbs and Bulgars (and we find numerous other instances) demonstrates the fact that in these districts a dialect was spoken which had much in common with the two respective Slav languages — the result of a mixture of Slavs which varied from place to place, sometimes the Bulgarian influence predominating and sometimes the Serbian. It is a striking fact that all the travellers who visited Macedonia during this obscure period (including the fanciful Evliya Çelebi) distinguished the inhabitants according to nationalities, i.e. Greeks, Jews, Bulgars, Serbs, etc; and they did not discern a single οverriding nationality which could be termed 'Macedonian', as the present scholars of Skopje are wont to do. Such a nationality (particularly one of a Slavic character) was non-existent. The same goes for theories quite outside the scope of history, such as the 'lllyrian' nationality (meaning South Slav) which patriotic Yugoslavs invented during the last century. This confusion as to the significance of the terms 'Macedonians' and 'Macedonia', which in modern times denote strictly geographical designations and nothing more, has been aggravated in recent years by Western European scholars who employ the terms in a political sense to mean Slavs and Slav territories [1].
Writing about the medicinal springs of Langadá, Evliya Çelebi says that during the summer months (as is the case even today) people congregated there from all over Macedonia to take baths, and amongst these were a good number of wealthy Thessalonians, particularly city notables (âyan).
The inhabitants of the villages to the north of the lake of Langadá — Greeks, Vlachs and Bulgarians — had abandoned their villages and become bandits (hayduks), and for that reason their houses had crumbled into ruins [2]. It is not difficult to surmise the identity of those Turks who had so harassed the Christian villagers, if we remember that the Turks who inhabited the surrounding villages were the Yürüks — descendants of the first Ottoman conquerors. The complaints which the Christians raised against these Turks were to be repeated in later years, as we see from a firman dated 27 December 1695, according to which the Sultan ordered that a stop should be put to the violence practiced by "some Yürük bandits" inhabiting the villages of Mavrovo, Soulovan,
1. See, for example, G. Gianelli - A. Vaillant, Un lexique Macédonien du XVIe siècle, Paris 1958.
2. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, p. 503.
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Yeni Mahalé, Delidjeli, Yaïkin, Göldjik, Mergamali, Chali Obashi, Kurfali and Sariyar. These Yürüks apparently came to Sochos and made off with food, sheep, lambs, geese, chickens, honey and butter, and even seized women and children [1].
The largest city in the region, and by and large the capital of Macedonia, was Thessalonica. It was by this time a predominantly Turkish city with a large population, the seat of the Sancak Beyi, with a molla (i.e. a judje of the highest rank), an officer of the rank of Kâhya
Fig. 80. Church of Our Lady of Chalkeon at Thessalonica in Turkish times.
(Arclıives of IMXA)
yeri of the army, and a yeniceri-ağasi (Commander-in-Chief of the Jenissaries), not to mention numerous other officers of lesser rank. Fearing invasion by the Western European powers (Venice, the Knights of Malta, etc.), the Turks maintained in the city a large army, which had the additional duty of keeping guard over the sancaks of Elbashan, Ohrid, Veltserin, Skopje and Prizren [2].
Thessalonica had 48 Moslem districts, 56 Jewish, and 16 inhabited by Greeks, Armenians and others. The better known Turkisb districts included Yedi Koulè, Vardar, Kalamaria, Chortatz (Ayiou Georgiou), Kasim Pasha (Ayiou Demetriou) and Ayia Sophia. The Jews lived prin-
1. Vasdravellis, Ἀρχεῖον Θεσσαλονίκης, pp. 17-18.
2. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 16 (1940) 325.
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cipally in the harbour area within the Quayside Gate (Iskele Kapısı) [1], directly below the city wall [2]. In 1620 a great fire had forced a good number of them to disperse to various places outside Thessalonica, some of them making for Monastir [3].
The 16 Greek districts were located below the Moslem quarters on a level stretch of ground in proximity to the gate of Kalamaria. This section of the city was the heart — one might say, the very citadel — of
Fig. 81. The Mosque of St. George (the Rotonda).
(Diehl - Le Tourneau - Saladin, Monuments, p. 21)
Hellenism in Thessalonica during Turkish rule. It was, in fact, for Thessalonica what the Phanar was for Constantinople. These districts not merely afforded a haven of refuge for the descendants of the Byzantines; they preserved numerous elements of the Byzantine civilization as well. The houses of Thessalonica were orientated to the south-east; that is to say, they all faced the Gulf, with the exception of the fine Turkish houses of the western districts which looked towards the plain of the Axios. They were high, multi-storeyed buildings of dressed stone, di-
1. It lay just wlıere the marble quayside is situated today, in front of the Square of Liberty.
2. Moschopoulos, Ἡ Ἑλλὰς κατὰ τὸν Ἐβλιὰ Τσελεμπῆ, ΕΕΒΣ 16 (1940) 352-335.
3. Mertzios, Μνημεῖα, p. 176,
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Fig. 82. Interior of the Church of St. Demetrius in Turkish times (it was then a mosque).
(Archlves of IMXA)
Fig. 83. Mosque of Aladja Djamisi.
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vided into separate compartments and including two or even three court-yards, such as still exist in many Turkish houses of Thessalonica today. The houses had red-tiled roofs, windows, enclosed balconies (şahnişin), out-houses (çardak) and summer-houses (köşk).
Fig. 84. The mosque of the Hamja Bey.
Fig. 85. Interior of the mosque of Hamja Bey.
(Tafrali, Topographie, plate XXXII)
Fig. 86. Interior of a tekke at Thessalonica.
(Ancel, Macédoine, plate LVII)
In addition to the 48 mosques and 30 churches, there were 38 large synagogues and numerous small ones within the city. Each district had one or more mosques with their respective minarets. Many of these mosques were quite famous, like the Eski Djouma (the Acheiropoeitos), the Ayia Sofia Djamisi (Ayias Sophias), the Chortadji Suleiman-Efendi Djamisi (Ayiou Georgiou) (see fig. 81), the Kazandjilar Djamisi (see fig. 80), the Kasimie Djamisi (Ayiou Demetriou) (see fig. 82), the Aladja
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Djamisi ('Mosque of Many Colours') (see fig. 83), the Burmali Djamisi, Hamja Bey (see fig. 84, 85) etc.