Part of the Byzantine fortifications are torn down in 1869. The burned down districts are being redesigned, narrow streets are widened, fresh running water is being introduced along with electricity and the streetcar, as well as the railroad, which from 1871 onwards, will connect Thessaloniki with Constantinople to the East, and Europe to the West. Jews own 38 out of the 54 commercial enterprises of the city, and constitute the overwhelming majority of its workforce. Even though Thessaloniki retains its multinational structure, the demographic and financial superiority of the Jewish Community, will constitute one of its more distrinct features. By the end of the 19 th century, Thessaloniki will number more than 70,000 Jewish souls, i.e. about half of the total population.
Jewish children constitute the majority within the numerous foreign schools.
The Community will receive thousands of refugees, victims of the pogroms in Czarist Russia. The first two above mentioned districts constitute the first attempt at modern city planing in Thessanloniki. Unless otherwise stated, copyright is held on all the above information by Sephardic House, Inc.