The subject of the lecture, “The Contribution of Ottoman State and Muslim Community of Thessaloniki to the Architecture of the City during the 19^th and 20^th century”, is organized into three units; the Introduction, the Muslim Settlements and Muslim Habitation. Each one of these has got its own sub-units.

Firstly some introductory elements about the city, are mentioned. There is a reference to its location, fortification and its gates. Also there is talk of its population, that was organized into three communities and its demographic progress, too. There are some numerical elements, that appear in different time periods, for each community separately and the whole population of the city, too. Here, the positions in the social scale, that each community occupied, are mentioned.

The topic of the next sub-unit is about the settlement of each community in the area presenting at the same time some general characteristics of each one separately. Then there is a reference to the demolition of the seaside walls of the city, to the landfill of the waterfront and generally to the program of the Prefect, Sabri Pasha. The four sub-units that follow include some elements about the most important markets in Thessaloniki, the fire in 1890 that influenced the latest period of modernization of the city, the main road axis inside and outside the Byzantine walls and the expansion of the city.

The last sub-unit contains elements about the buildings and the works that were materialized into the framework of modernization of Ottoman government. Particularly some companies invest in the city with European capital. So gradually it makes a sub-structure network, like tram, railway station as well as electrical and water network. There is a distinctive reference to the work in the harbor of the city. At the end there are some elements about the public and the private buildings that were built into the framework of Ottoman modernization. The introduction is completed with some references to the picture of the city through some travelers’ descriptions at the end of 19^th and the beginning of 20^th century.   

In the second unit there is a reference to the Muslim Settlements with a brief description for each one separately. Their borderline, their main roads and some buildings of special interest are mentioned here.

The last unit contains the Muslim Habitation in the Upper City. Here the position of the building in the plot is mentioned as well as the materials, the way of its construction, the typological characteristics of the Muslim habitation, the furniture and the internal design. Furthermore there is a detailed description of the morphology of the houses.

The research is completed with the today picture of the Upper City, that is its problems that have been faced since 1922, when some refuges from Asia Minor were settled in the area. The huge development of the area, that has come up since 1950, is added to that fact. Lately the State, in order to save the historical character of the area, has declared 328 scheduled buildings and imposed certain conditions of structure so that plenty new types and forms have resulted; most of them are incompatible with the character of the settlement that is presented in this project.