Research Information System
METU JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE = ODTÜ MIMARLIK FAKÜLTESI DERGIS, vol.40, no.2, pp.123-151, 2023 (AHCI)
THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THESSALONIKI AFTER
TANZİMAT AND THE İDADİ (HIGH) SCHOOL
Thessaloniki witnessed considerable urban and demographical changes
during the last quarter of the 19th century. During the 300 year period
between the last quarter of the 16th century and the last quarter of the 19th
century, there had been no major building activity in the city, except for
the Kışla-I Humayun, (Military Barracks) which was built between 1830
and 1837 and later demolished. The earliest urban development was the
tearing down of the sea walls for the construction of a dock during the
third quarter of the 19th century. During the last quarter of the century
the city expands towards the east after the demolishing of the eastern city
walls and construction of a wide boulevard starting from the north of the
city and extending all the way down to the sea. The new orthogonal street
patterns were applied for the neighbourhoods in the city centre which
were devastated by fires and for the new quarterswhich were planned for
the settlement of the refugees. By the end of the century, the city had an
enlarged harbour and the railroad connection to Constantinople as well as
to European cities.
All the still remaining 19th centuryOttoman era public buildings of the city
were built during the reign of Abdülhamid II. The majority of them belong
to the military, administrative, health and education services. High school
of Thessaloniki is an example of the İdadi Schools which were a product
of the modernisation efforts in the Ottoman education system. Almost all
the sources which mention the building name the architect as the İtalian
architect Poselli, who was otherwise only mentioned on the inscription of
another building in Thessaloniki. However, according to documents in the
Ottoman archives the building was designed by Selim Efendi who was the
head engineer of the Thessaloniki County, in 1886 and was constructed
between 1889-1893. The text of the building inscription of the school,
which is lost today, survives in the archives, and it was written by Zihni
Paşa, the Governor of Thessaloniki. The construction was not contracted
to the lowest offer, which was the norm for 19th century Ottoman practice
in public constructions. It was probably built under the supervision
and control of senior officers of the county, as was the case with the
construction of the Thessaloniki City Hall. Thessaloniki High School
designed in three floors over the basement, formed by spaces connected by
corridors which surround a courtyard on three sides. The building has the
same layout as those high schools which were constructed in other great
counties like Sivas and Aydın. However as one of the earliest examples in
the Balkans, it is one floor higher than the other examples.